1901 (Robert Conroy)

I'm generally not into alternate history stories, but being interested in naval history, was intrigued enough to purchase the book. The fact that the Germans had considered landing troops in North America and had sent spies to the US to scout out possible landing sites (which was mentioned in Robert K. Massie's "Castles of Steel")made the story more plausible (also, the fact that during the Spanish-American War Admiral Dewey had had a run-in with the Germans- who hoped to snap up the Philippines from the defeated Spanish- made the premise more believable). I had previously read Massie's "Dreadnought" and felt that Mr. Conroy accurately depicted German leaders like Kaiser Wilhelm and Von Bulow. I also enjoyed reading the description of the naval battles. However, my biggest beef with the book was that the author takes no trouble to depict how the Germans could overcome the obstacles to carrying out such a task. He simply has the German invasion fleet magically appear off New York Cit... Read more

901 is an alternative history novel that explores the possibility of the Kiaser's Germany i nvading the US for her overseas colonies. Namely Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, recently conquered islands from the Spanish-American War. Unlike many American wars, Germany would have invaded US territory in order to gain the peace treaty that ceded such Islands to the German Empire. European nations are used to fighting wars in this manner. They create a crippling blow to their nemesis, not to conquer, but to dictate a surrender treaty. Whereas the United States typically conquered what they attacked, IE Cuba during the war with Spain or the Southern states reunification after the Civil War. Though it was desired, a single battle that led to Richmond did not win the war of brothers. I find the clash of concepts over the art of war very intriguing. I also did enjoy the book very much. The story contains great historical potential as the Kiaser did very much desire an overseas emp... Read more

When I heard the idea of this book, I was very interested. It seemed like something that, while done even half-assedly, would still be very entertaining. I couldn't have been more wrong. The only reason that this book does not receive one star is because of the concept. There is a poorly developed love story and very poorly developed heroes and villains in this book. All in all I would have to recommend Meyer's A War Undone instead of this book.

The whole premise for the story is a bit far fetched but the rest of the story and the believability of the scenario as it unfolds more than makes up for it.

Most people realize that an alternative history novel (just like a Science Fiction novel) requires some ability, on the part of the reader, to suspend one's disbelief. A good, well written, story assists the reader in doing this. For me this is the hallmark not only of a good story but also a good writer. In the case of Robert Conroy's 1901: A Novel, the premise behind the story certainly was engaging enough (a punitive German invasion of the United States in the aftermath of the Spanish American War) for me to pick this up from the $1 bin at my local used book seller. Not expecting great literature (it was in the $1 bin for crying' out loud) I assumed that the subject matter would keep me reading... however, the execution by the author, Conroy, failed to deliver on the promise. In other alternative history books that Conroy has written, he is praised for his historical research. However based on the conclusions that he drew from his "research" for this title I am highly suspic... Read more