The Steel Tsar

Plot summary

In a story introduced by the ubiquitous Una Persson (who is also found in other works by Moorcock), the trilogy's hero, Captain Oswald Bastable, finds himself in an alternative twentieth century in which the Confederate States of America won the American Civil War and neither the First World War nor the October Revolution ever occurred. Over the course of the story Oswald witnesses the destruction of Singapore at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Aerial Navy, is imprisoned on Rishiri Island, joins the Russian Imperial Airship Navy and is sent to put down the rebellious Cossacks who follow the theocratic demagogue known as the 'Steel Tsar': Iosif Djugashvili. He also experiences a repeat of events from the first novel as he is assigned to drop an atomic bomb on the anarchist Nestor Makhno and his Black Flag Army, but ultimately this does not happen; the bomb is turned against the Steel Tsar's own forces and Makhno survives.

Themes

While imperialism and racism in nineteenth century "heroic" fiction were deconstructed in its predecessors, the final book of the trilogy deals with the benefits of socialism and anarchism in a third alternate twentieth century where there were no effective social democratic parties in Western Europe and Australasia, as in our world. Another notable feature of this installment of the series is the lack of conflict or tension between the Confederate States of America and the United States of America, both of whom have since settled their differences and become active trading partners and political/military allies.