How Few Remain (1997) by Harry Turtledove is the first book in the *Timeline-191* series, an alternate history saga that imagines a world where the Confederacy won the American Civil War. Set in 1881, two decades after the South’s victory, the novel explores a fractured North America on the brink of another devastating conflict.
After the Confederacy purchases the Mexican provinces of Chihuahua and Sonora, tensions with the United States escalate into the Second Mexican War. Key historical figures take center stage:
- Abraham Lincoln, now a socialist agitator, rallies against slavery’s expansion.
- Theodore Roosevelt leads a cavalry unit in Montana, facing Confederate invaders.
- Stonewall Jackson and J.E.B. Stuart command Southern forces against George Custer’s Union army.
Turtledove meticulously reworks real-world politics and military tactics, showing how a single change—the loss of the Gettysburg Campaign—could reshape history. The novel’s battles, espionage, and diplomatic intrigue set the stage for the series’ later explorations of a 20th century where the USA and CSA become eternal rivals.
