Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Big Switch
    Unavailable
    The Big Switch
    Unavailable
    The Big Switch
    Audiobook17 hours

    The Big Switch

    Written by Harry Turtledove

    Narrated by Todd McLaren

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In this extraordinary World War II alternate history, master storyteller Harry Turtledove begins with a big switch: what if Neville Chamberlain, instead of appeasing Hitler, had stood up to him in 1938? Enraged, Hitler reacts by lashing out at the West, promising his soldiers that they will reach Paris by the new year. They don't. Three years later, his genocidal apparatus not fully in place, Hitler has barely survived a coup, while Jews cling to survival. But England and France wonder whether the war is still worthwhile.

    Weaving together a cast of characters that ranges from a brawling American fighter in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain to a woman who has seen Hitler's evil face-to-face, Harry Turtledove takes us into a world shaping up very differently in 1941. The Germans and their Polish allies have slammed into the gut of the Soviet Union in the west, while Japan pummels away in the east. In trench warfare in France, French and Czech fighters are outmanned but not outfought by their Nazi enemy. Then the stalemate is shattered. In England, Winston Churchill dies in an apparent accident, and the gray men who walk behind his funeral cortege wonder who their real enemy is. The USSR, fighting for its life, makes peace with Japan-and Japan's war with America is about to begin.

    A sweeping saga of human passions, foolishness, and courage, of families and lovers and soldiers by choice and by chance, The Big Switch is a provocative, gripping, and utterly convincing work of alternate history at its best. For history buffs and fans of big, blood-and-guts fiction, Harry Turtledove delivers a panoramic clash of ideals as powerful as armies themselves.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Audio
    Release dateJul 25, 2011
    ISBN9781400185870
    Unavailable
    The Big Switch
    Author

    Harry Turtledove

    Harry Turtledove is an American novelist of science fiction, historical fiction, and fantasy. Publishers Weekly has called him the “master of alternate history,” and he is best known for his work in that genre. Some of his most popular titles include The Guns of the South, the novels of the Worldwar series, and the books in the Great War trilogy. In addition to many other honors and nominations, Turtledove has received the Hugo Award, the Sidewise Award for Alternate History, and the Prometheus Award. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles, earning a PhD in Byzantine history. Turtledove is married to mystery writer Laura Frankos, and together they have three daughters. The family lives in Southern California.

    More audiobooks from Harry Turtledove

    Related to The Big Switch

    Related audiobooks

    Science Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Fighting For Attention

      Sep 28, 2023

      I really enjoyed the interview with Matt McDowell regarding sportswashing and the ways in which sport has been used to promote propaganda and shape public opinion (The Conversation, October). It reminded me of the joint WCW (World Championship Wrestl

      3 min read

    • Article

      ‘War Is…’

      Dec 29, 2020

      ‘War Is…’
      4 min read

    • Article

      War History Recommends…

      Jul 13, 2023

      Out now! Since his radicalisation in the wake of Germany’s WWI defeat, Hitler had desired a war that would secure the future of Germany and his idea of a ‘pure’ populace. But words and thoughts are one thing - actually conducting a war, required comm

      1 min read

    • Article

      Some Wars Are Just

      Nov 24, 2022

      Some Wars Are Just
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Making of CHURCHILL

      Nov 4, 2021

      The Making of CHURCHILL
      5 min read

    • Article

      Sea Change

      Feb 12, 2019

      Sea Change
      9 min read

    • Article

      Hitler's Ridiculous Coup Was No Laughing Matter

      Apr 5, 2023

      A hundred years ago, the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig wrote, Germany dodged a bullet: ‘During 1923, the swastikas disappeared, the storm troops and the name of Adolf Hitler all but fell into oblivion. Nobody thought of him any more as a possible poli

      3 min read

    • Article

      Reviews

      Oct 8, 2020

      Reviews
      6 min read

    • Article

      Before History Devolves Into Mythology: 2020’s Best Books On World War II

      Dec 2, 2020

      Historians grapple with the grimmest, toughest questions surrounding the war, about culpability, morality, and demagoguery during a fraught time.

      4 min read

    • Article

      'Alone' Examines the Cinematic Appeal of the 'England Alone' World War II Scenario

      Sep 25, 2017

      The book's memoir framing-device gives author Michael Korda a measure of dramatic license, and he uses it to good effect. "Alone" is relentlessly involving reading, full of masterfully-drawn set pieces.

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Roots Of German Militarism

      Sep 29, 2022

      The Roots Of German Militarism
      5 min read

    • Article

      You Recommend

      May 13, 2021

      Robert Harris’s Fatherland imagines a world in which Germany won the war. Excellent and believable take on what the Third Reich might have appeared like 15 years later. The Years of Rice and Salt really goes for it, with the Black Death killing more

      1 min read

    • Article

      Opposition Force

      Apr 2, 2019

      Opposition Force
      2 min read

    • Article

      What Churchill And Orwell Had In Common: Both Could Say, 'My Side Is Wrong'

      Jun 16, 2017

      In his new book, journalist Tom Ricks explains how the conservative British politician and the leftist author of 1984 challenged their respective political parties.

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Battle Of Britain

      Sep 6, 2018

      The reader is taken on a journey through Britain’s darkest days of the war in a vast ensemble of personal accounts. We meet some of the most extraordinary actors in the Battle of Britain. Pilot Flight Lieutenant Hug Ironside, for instance, voices con

      2 min read

    • Article

      A Mosaic Of Conflict

      Jan 18, 2024

      A Mosaic Of Conflict
      2 min read

    • Article

      Reviews

      Nov 26, 2020

      Reviews
      6 min read

    • Article

      We Shall Never Surrender

      Nov 2, 2022

      We Shall Never Surrender
      5 min read

    • Article

      False Hopes

      Dec 9, 2019

      False Hopes
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Leadership Paradigm

      Aug 2, 2023

      The Leadership Paradigm
      17 min read

    • Article

      The Bitter End

      Sep 29, 2022

      The Bitter End
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Centenary Of The Armistice

      Nov 5, 2018

      “When all was over, Torture and Cannibalism were the only two expedients the civilized, scientific, Christian States had been able to deny themselves: and these were of doubtful utility.” Such was Winston Churchill’s grim verdict on the Great War. It

      1 min read

    Reviews for The Big Switch

    3.5/5

    50 ratings11 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      Read 100 pages; found it really hard to get into. Many characters, many little bits of equipment that don't have anymore explanation, and a vague impression that this may have been the second book in the series? It just made it kind of a hard slog without a lot of sympathetic characters.
    • 4/5
      This review is based on the uncorrected proof copy, but I've not found any significant changes in the published version.Turtledove is a master at alternative history, showing, without hammering you on the head with it, that historical events (and thus all events) are the result of innumerable circumstances, and changing any one of those circumstances snowballs into more and more changes in the events. While not as masterful in his storytelling as in his manipulations, he knows how to develop characters and move the story forward.The Big Switch is the third volume in his series The War That Came Early, another in his manipulations of World War II history. As always, he has multiple characters involved in multiple story lines showing what might have happened if, in this case, Hitler had not accepted the appeasement offered in 1938. I've found this series among his best written and most entertaining.That said, I believe that Turtledove's work is most appreciated by those who have at least some background in the history he is currently manipulating. A large part of his charm are those moments when you recognize which circumstances have changed and where his story veers from the real world history. Without that awareness, I'm not sure his general style would be able to keep one's interest through the long and multiple volumes of each series.If, however, one has that background, his sense of the ridiculous and his imagination are more than enough to entertain and enthrall. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series with great anticipation.
    • 2/5
      Note: this review is of a bound galley proof provided by Del Rey for that purpose, but no major changes are anticipated in the production run. The review contains one significant spoiler.Harry Turtledove is probably the single biggest name in English-language alternate history, and for good reason. Quite apart from the general gifts of a clear and pleasant writing style, he knows his history, has the imagination to come up with plausible alternate scenarios, and follows through with likely consequences, usually presented through the eyes of likable ordinary characters.That's the good, but sadly his output has recently been plagued by entirely avoidable weaknesses, which rather give the impression that he's beginning to "phone it in" as opposed to giving the story his considerable all.One symptom specific to alternate history is that Turtledove wanders in this series from the paradigm that has served him so well in the past: to alter a single historical event and follow through the ramifications. The survival of a die-hard Nazi general with a gift for asymmetrical warfare, a single decision by the Japanese to occupy Hawaii rather than just bomb it, the non-misplacing of a single telegram wrapped around cigars during the American Civil War... Turtledove followed through on the latter for an entire dekalogy!Right at the start of "The War That Came Early" Turtledove broke with this tradition by positing not one but two changes, one survival of a general who died (General Sanjurjo of Spain, allowing the Fascists of Spain to hold on longer than they did) and the death of someone who survived in reality (Konrad Henlein, a Sudetenland German leader, whose death gives Hitler the pretext to start the Second World War earlier, preventing Neville Chamberlain from attempting his initial policy of appeasement.This seems sloppy, somehow, but isn't entirely unreasonable; if one allows a single variance, why not two? However, in this third book, a follow-on third event occurs: Winston Churchill is killed by an automobile. This is either an accident, comprising a third historical change in the third book of the series, or it is an assassination the conditions for which didn't exist in true history. The latter would be fine if the groundwork had been laid - in fact it could have been an exciting subplot, had the author and thereby the reader been following the planning and execution.Instead, it is simply sprung without foundation or preparation, not even a hint that Churchill was even a serious threat to the incumbent British Government. Whether it was a genuine accident (in which case it is a third arbitrary change) or an assassination (in which case the lead-in should have been there), it is incredibly sloppy writing from an author of Harry Turtledove's experience.This plotting weakness is one reason I get the impression that a once-great (or at least very, very good) writer is merely going through the motions. Another is (there is simply no way to put this kindly) the deterioration of the storytellingMost notably, and this problem has been an increasing issue in his last several series, Turtledove repeats himself to a maddening degree. He's always had a tendency to do so, especially in his descriptions of soldiers at war, but it's getting worse. It's fine for characters to bitch during wartime about the lousy quality of the tobacco, the coffee and the bread; after all, those are genuine plausible topics, and no doubt people did obsess a bit about them.However, in fiction we don't need to read the exact same complaints, again and again and again and again, in precisely the same words each and every single time the characters have a moment in the authorial spotlight. It actually goes beyond plausibility, and even if it were realistic, it is *boring* to read again and again, and the cardinal sin of a fiction writer is to bore the audience. If it is a choice between being true to life and holding the reader's attention, it is best to fudge the realism.Turtledove knows of many of the telling little details of combat. It is good to learn of the severe limitations of the Panzer I, never intended as more than a training vehicle, and of how a bomber becomes instantly more maneuverable after dropping its load. However, Turtledove constantly tells rather than showing, and I do mean constantly. Virtually every scene containing a Panzer I or a bomber contains the same information, and it almost never actually makes a difference to the action; the viewpoint character worries about the tank's inferior armor, or notices the sudden improvement in flight characteristics. Then the next time, they worry again, notice again. And again. And again. The actual effects of these conditions remain almost entirely theoretical, though.I have long been an admirer of Harry Turtledove, but this series is definitely not up to scratch. His last WWII alternate history ("The Man With The Iron Heart") is a masterpiece, so it is doubtful that this is a matter of a simple decline in his powers; frankly, though, it whiffs more than a little of meeting contractual obligations to meet the bills. I hope he is able to get back to writing with some heart again soon.
    • 3/5
      The War That Came Early: West and EastHarry TurtledoveDel Rey (2010), Edition: 1, Hardcover, 448 pagesThis volume is a bit slower to engage than the first volume of this trilogy, Hitler's War (and I confess I missed the intermediate book entirely - which may or may not affect the overall review). The book stands on it's own well enough, but does take a while to engage the whole cast of characters as we meet them in short vignettes. Once we know who the players are it's a meandering stroll through their places in this alternate history. It's not a smashing, crashing climax, but an interesting view of a history that might have been.
    • 3/5
      Like the rest of the series and Turtledove's alternate history books, very consistently well written and engaging with enough known history and twists to keep readers entertained. If you like the other alternate history books, then this is a must read.
    • 4/5
      Told through multiple viewpoints, you get an overall view of how the war appears to participants and observers. Initially I found this a bit disconcerting as there were so many. Later on, I looked forward to the next appearance of certain characters. So that when I got to the end, I was looking for the next book. Based on a review of the previous volume, Turtledove continues to follow the same characters/units as he did in that volume.
    • 4/5
      Harry Turtledove is back with another edition of alternate history comfort food. For those who like Turtledove's writing style and have enjoyed his myriad previous works, "The Big Switch" is an enjoyable, reliable, filling helping of World War II alt history. It's not challenging, it's not exotic, it's not fresh, but what it is is the continuation of a particular universe where World War II started a year early. Continuing Turtledoves' usual style of switching perspectives between a dozen or so combatants (and a couple civilians) across several theaters of the war, the author keeps events moving along with realistic depictions of WWII-era combat and the travails of war. None of the characters are especially memorable, but they are feel familiar, like a comfortable old shoe. It's not until halfway through the book (the third in the series) when things truly get interesting and the "alternate" portion of history starts really meaning something, as several major powers take steps that (thankfully) never happened in the real conflict. As a Turtledove fan and alt-history buff, I enjoyed this book, as I have the previous books in this series, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to fans who have likewise read the previous volumes, but for folks new the Turtledove or new to alt history, I would recommend "How Few Remain" or "Ruled Britannia" as much superior examples of Turtledove's writing and better entries into this genre.
    • 2/5
      Turtledove writes to a formula- once you know the pattern it never varies. Nothing out the pattern. Read one series-you can predict them all. I wonder sometimes if he uses computer software or a writing team ala Victor Hugo. Hence a two.
    • 2/5
      Harry Turtledove’s newest volume in his “War that Came Early” series picks up where his last book, , left off with a war grinding on in the harsh winter of 1940. Both Germany and the Soviet Union find themselves facing two-front conflicts, and with the focus increasingly on the clash with each other, their leaders are willing to let go on the other front. For the Soviets, that means allowing Japanese triumphs in Siberia. For the Germans, however, a more radical move is attempted: convincing their opponents Britain and France to change sides and join the Nazis in their war against Communism. Yet as the prospects of an alliance grow increasingly likely, the question posed by Winston Churchill seems increasingly pertinent: can the proverbial lambs lie down with the Nazi lion, or are they just setting themselves up to be consumed in turn?

      Longtime fans of Turtledove’s alternate history novels will find much that is familiar within the pages of his latest book, as he describes the experiences of a cast of characters struggling to survive in a world where history takes a dramatic new turn. Yet the series does not measure up to his best efforts. The main flaw here seems to be one of characterization: unlike his Timeline-191 series, which offered a range of characters from different backgrounds and positions, nearly all of the characters in this series are enlisted men fighting in the war he described. This has the unfortunate effect of homogenizing the people and the action, as well as creating a similarity of perspective that limits his ability to offer exposition of the broader events that define alternate history. The problem is not without a solution – Turtledove has demonstrated in the past an ability to transition new characters into ongoing series – but he will need to do so soon or face squandering the effort he put into developing his latest alternate world.
    • 5/5
      Turtledove’s third book in the series is another excellent journey through alternate historical fiction. I must confess to being a raving fan of Harry Turtledove and his alternative history tales since I first read Guns of the South in paperback, a loan from a co-worker back in the early 1990’s.Part history and part science fiction Turtledove’s stories never fail to fascinate. In The Big Switch he continues the lives of characters introduced in the previous books and introduces new players too. The multiple story lines that interweave characters lives with each other is a hallmark of Harry’s historical fiction series I have always enjoyed and this book is no different. Peggy Druce’s struggle to return to the U.S. from Hitler’s Germany after the start of war is an ongoing adventure that succeeds in this volume only to turn into another story line with her and her husband loyal backers of FDR.The persecution of Jews in Germany is more than adequately demonstrated in the ongoing saga of the Goldmans who continue to survive despite being treated as less than human in Nazi Germany. The hardships they must endure are almost beyond belief although probably much better than how Jews were treated during the actual Nazi reign.Turtledove explores this alternate history where Churchill is not the PM of Great Britain but rather Neville Chamberlain who supports the Nazis is in power there. Alastair Walsh of the British army knows there is more to Chamberlain’s apparent switch to Nazi support than mere politics and enters into underground movement against the status quo in Britain. The reader sees life from different perspectives as French infantry soldiers and from the view of their enemy Nazi infantrymen. Pilots from Communist Soviet Union mix it up with the Luftwaffe and the Luftwaffe strafe the Soviet foot soldiers. Japanese war against the Chinese and Soviets in Siberia as the cruel, harsh winter rages against both sides. Turtledove leaves some intriguing story lines open by the end of the book while wrapping up previous ones carried forward from the previous volume, a trademark of his style that leaves you hungry for the next segment of the series. An excellent, action packed, historical fiction that balances truth with the “what ifs” in typical Turtledove style. Read this series, you will love it.
    • 4/5
      The War That Came Early 03 – The Big Switch Harry Turtledove Genre: Alternative History Publisher: Del Rey Trade Paperback 418 Pages Publication Date: July 19th, 2011 ARC Trade Paperback Uncorrected Proof ISBN-13: 978-0345491862How does he do it? Harry Turtledove, the foremost alternate history writer in the world, maintains an instinctive ability to write grand, sweeping novels incorporating larger-than-life historic events such as World War II (albeit alternate and unconventional views of the same) while still managing to compress it into the emotions, daily events, and actions of the least, common man. Master storyteller Harry Turtledove begins this series with an interesting “what if” premise and follows it through to its logical conclusion. “What if U. K. Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, instead of placating Hitler, had defied him by not signing the Munich Agreement in 1938?” No other author working in the field of speculative fiction today has such an accomplished grasp of narrating the all-encompassing alternate big picture while still retaining the ability to drill down to and explain all the fears, the uncommon bravery, and the irrational behavior of the common soldier, no matter what his nationality or which country he fights for. Mr. Turtledove entwines the alternate world-view with the human condition and continues to hold our attention throughout. And few, if any, can include so many characters in such an extensive, world-wide saga and still manage to draw them all back together. In fact, there are so many characters here that I found it hard to connect with some of them. While all were intriguing some of their stories were less interesting (and satisfying to me) than others, which may be the worst thing I can say about the book.So, here’s the thing, why I think The War That Came Early is an exceptional work of alternate fiction. If you are not extremely familiar with World War II history you’ll be convinced that things happened exactly as Mr. Turtledove chronicles in The Big Switch. That’s because the stories are stimulating, fascinating, and entirely credible works of alternate history which tend to show how minor changes in the action or inaction by prominent players (and sometimes totally improbable characters) can cause huge changes in historic events. Mr. Turtledove accomplishes this better than anyone else in the genre and tells a great story in the process.Recommended for history buffs, military strategists, alternate historians, and fans of sprawling, blood-and-guts war fiction.Review copy provided free as part of the LibraryThing.com Early Reader program.4 stars out of 5The Alternative Southeast WisconsinThe War That Came Early by Harry Turtledove 1. Hitler's War (2009) 4 stars out of 5 2. West and East (2010) 4 stars out of 5 3. The Big Switch (2011) 4 stars out of 5