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Red Inferno: 1945
In April 1945, the Allies are charging toward Berlin from the west, the Russians from the east. For Hitler, the situation is hopeless. But at this turning point in history, another war is about to explode.
To win World War II, the Allies dealt with the devil. Joseph Stalin helped FDR, Churchill, and Truman crush Hitler. But what if “Uncle Joe” had given in to his desire to possess Germany and all of Europe? In this stunning novel, Robert Conroy picks up the history of the war just as American troops cross the Elbe into Germany. Then Stalin slams them with the brute force of his enormous Soviet army.
From American soldiers and German civilians trapped in the ruins of Potsdam to U.S. military men fighting behind enemy lines, from a scholarly Russia expert who becomes a secret player in a new war to Stalin’s cult of killers in Moscow, this saga captures the human face of international conflict. With the Soviets vastly outnumbering the Americans—but undercut by chronic fuel shortages and mistrust—Eisenhower employs a brilliant strategy of retreat to buy critical time for air superiority. Soon, Truman makes a series of controversial decisions, enlisting German help and planning to devastate the massive Red Army by using America’s ultimate and most secret weapon.
353 pages, Paperback
First published February 23, 2010
136 people are currently reading
1641 people want to read
About the author
Robert Conroy
26 books196 followersRobert Conroy was a best selling author of alternate history novels. His 1942, which is set within a Japanese conquest of Hawaii, won the prestigious Sidewise Award for alternate histories.
After taking early retirement from automotive management, Conroy decided to combine his loves of history and writing. After discovering that Kaiser Wilhelm had plans to invade the U.S., he wrote his first alternate history, 1901 in which the invasion took place. He found alternate history fascinating and the possibilities never-ending. He also wrote for Military History Magazine.
Conroy had a MBA, was a US Army Veteran and was a retired instructor at Macomb Community College. He had a married daughter and two grandsons. He lived in southeastern Michigan with his wife of forty-plus years. He passed away in December 2014 from Cancer.
After taking early retirement from automotive management, Conroy decided to combine his loves of history and writing. After discovering that Kaiser Wilhelm had plans to invade the U.S., he wrote his first alternate history, 1901 in which the invasion took place. He found alternate history fascinating and the possibilities never-ending. He also wrote for Military History Magazine.
Conroy had a MBA, was a US Army Veteran and was a retired instructor at Macomb Community College. He had a married daughter and two grandsons. He lived in southeastern Michigan with his wife of forty-plus years. He passed away in December 2014 from Cancer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews
July 9, 2019
What if...it's been asked over and over. What if the sparks between east and West (the Western Allies vs. the Soviet Union) had grown to fire before WW2 ended? What if we didn't get to the Cold War but rolled right into a Hot War?
This question has been batted around for a long time (since WW2 really). General Patton was famously noted to have warned against the Soviet Union as had Winston Churchill. (Just a note it's interesting to note that another theory that has gained a lot of steam since the War has to do with the death of General Patton...)
Anyway here we have a "situation" where an American officer pushes in farther than he was supposed to (into an area reserved for the Soviet [or Red] Army). There's an accidental exchange of fire...orders from Stalin and WW3 is on.
Pretty good novel. Everything is feasible. There's no pro-American or pro-Soviet bias I can see it simply tells an interesting story.
And it's about a topic that has fascinated me for some time. How about you? I can recommend this.
This question has been batted around for a long time (since WW2 really). General Patton was famously noted to have warned against the Soviet Union as had Winston Churchill. (Just a note it's interesting to note that another theory that has gained a lot of steam since the War has to do with the death of General Patton...)
Anyway here we have a "situation" where an American officer pushes in farther than he was supposed to (into an area reserved for the Soviet [or Red] Army). There's an accidental exchange of fire...orders from Stalin and WW3 is on.
Pretty good novel. Everything is feasible. There's no pro-American or pro-Soviet bias I can see it simply tells an interesting story.
And it's about a topic that has fascinated me for some time. How about you? I can recommend this.
November 24, 2015
3 stars.
As purely an entertaining read, it met that goal, but as an alternate history, it fell incredibly flat. There were simply too many wild assumptions that didn't make sense.
First, the author stated several times that Germany invaded Russia in 1940 (in actuality, it was 1941). Not an egregious error, but it showed that there wasn't any sort of research was conducted in preparation to writing this book. An editor should have caught this one.
Second, the way that the author portrays the American military as being stretched thin to the point of being unable to provided any backup to the troops already in Europe was completely wrong. The American military was gearing up to invade Japan in 1945 (in case the atomic bomb didn't work), and these troops could have easily been redirected. This was a major error in the book, and hard to overlook.
Third, I find it highly unlikely that American troops would have taken the Germans in as allies so soon after the atrocities they found in the concentration camps. I just don't see this happening, even against a greater military force such as the Soviet Union.
Aside from these errors, it was an entertaining read. Just don't take it as an alternate history that "could have" happened.
As purely an entertaining read, it met that goal, but as an alternate history, it fell incredibly flat. There were simply too many wild assumptions that didn't make sense.
First, the author stated several times that Germany invaded Russia in 1940 (in actuality, it was 1941). Not an egregious error, but it showed that there wasn't any sort of research was conducted in preparation to writing this book. An editor should have caught this one.
Second, the way that the author portrays the American military as being stretched thin to the point of being unable to provided any backup to the troops already in Europe was completely wrong. The American military was gearing up to invade Japan in 1945 (in case the atomic bomb didn't work), and these troops could have easily been redirected. This was a major error in the book, and hard to overlook.
Third, I find it highly unlikely that American troops would have taken the Germans in as allies so soon after the atrocities they found in the concentration camps. I just don't see this happening, even against a greater military force such as the Soviet Union.
Aside from these errors, it was an entertaining read. Just don't take it as an alternate history that "could have" happened.
October 8, 2014
Eh.
I mean, I know what he's trying to say and do, but the execution is just...crap. Many other people have given their summaries (and seriously, why does everyone on here write a summary before they give their opinions? There's already a summary right up there!) so I'll skip that part. There are several gaping flaws contained within that I'll point out:
1. Nukes.
2. Stalin being a moron. Conroy's concept of grand strategy is limited to "enemy is west. Go west with ALL the soldiers." What about sending an army group through Finland and landing in sparsely-defended Denmark/the Low Countries? Or maybe using boats through the Mediterranean? Or paratroopers? Or a pincer south via the Caucasus? Instead, Stalin supposedly takes all of his Far East troops and smashes them into the Allies like a toddler with two Hot Wheels simulating the time mommy drove her minivan into Mr. Morris' Cadillac while trying to snort ritalin. It's like a little kid writing a story.
3. Japan. Or rather, the lack of any nod towards that entire war over there in the great beyond known as the Pacific. Maybe Conroy forgot that USSR invaded Japanese territory in August 1945 with almost two million soldiers. Combined with the atomic bombs, that was the reason Japan had no alternative but surrender. Assuming the atom bombs were taken and used on the USSR in Europe, and Stalin had moved all of his troops away, Japan would not surrender and would thus have caused a gigantic global poostorm. Certainly it's convenient from a narrative perspective to ignore an entire theater of war, but no one ever said writing a book was easy work. And it could have been fixed with a few paragraphs here or there; just a mention that there was another front would have sufficed.
4. The Potsdam love story. "Yeah but the womens won't read muh bük without some smoochy-smoochy." I get it, it wasn't presented terribly, but it just felt so melodramatic and tacked-on. And plus, what's with all the mention of the other platoon guys looking at her lustfully? Are they planning a gangbang during an artillery barrage? I don't get it.
5. The DC love story. So a nerdy Notre Dame professor and a smoking-hot-but-actually-really-smart secretary walk into a bar.... Conroy must have gotten bullied pretty hard in high school because this one shouts "I got wedgied so many times, I just want the nerd to get the cheerleader!11!" Boring.
6. Again, the lack of grand strategy know-how. He assumes all Allied soldiers were committed to Operation Overlord, and that there were no men available anywhere on the planet. If only Soviet Russia could beat these few divisions, the world would be theirs! Except for, you know, the millions of men still volunteering for service and coming of age, not to mention all of the resistance/guerrilla fighters, or the enormous potential reserves of British India, or the tens of millions of industry workers and/or logistics personnel, or--god forbid!-- women. Or what about the former Axis armies of Bulgaria and Romania? Sure they didn't have huge numbers, but it's still something. And what did Soviet Mother Russialand expect AFTER the nukey-pookies were ready to use? "Oh, well Uncle Staly got all of Europe, so screw it, they'll just let me keep it." Seems reasonable.
-----
It wasn't poorly written or flat-out bad, but the logical gaps are enormous and frequent. Alternate history is a subgenre in desperate need of class, and since Turtledove can't figure out how to write dialogue beyond the third grade level, I expected Conroy to at least try. But yeah no, he failed. Hard.
I mean, I know what he's trying to say and do, but the execution is just...crap. Many other people have given their summaries (and seriously, why does everyone on here write a summary before they give their opinions? There's already a summary right up there!) so I'll skip that part. There are several gaping flaws contained within that I'll point out:
1. Nukes.
2. Stalin being a moron. Conroy's concept of grand strategy is limited to "enemy is west. Go west with ALL the soldiers." What about sending an army group through Finland and landing in sparsely-defended Denmark/the Low Countries? Or maybe using boats through the Mediterranean? Or paratroopers? Or a pincer south via the Caucasus? Instead, Stalin supposedly takes all of his Far East troops and smashes them into the Allies like a toddler with two Hot Wheels simulating the time mommy drove her minivan into Mr. Morris' Cadillac while trying to snort ritalin. It's like a little kid writing a story.
3. Japan. Or rather, the lack of any nod towards that entire war over there in the great beyond known as the Pacific. Maybe Conroy forgot that USSR invaded Japanese territory in August 1945 with almost two million soldiers. Combined with the atomic bombs, that was the reason Japan had no alternative but surrender. Assuming the atom bombs were taken and used on the USSR in Europe, and Stalin had moved all of his troops away, Japan would not surrender and would thus have caused a gigantic global poostorm. Certainly it's convenient from a narrative perspective to ignore an entire theater of war, but no one ever said writing a book was easy work. And it could have been fixed with a few paragraphs here or there; just a mention that there was another front would have sufficed.
4. The Potsdam love story. "Yeah but the womens won't read muh bük without some smoochy-smoochy." I get it, it wasn't presented terribly, but it just felt so melodramatic and tacked-on. And plus, what's with all the mention of the other platoon guys looking at her lustfully? Are they planning a gangbang during an artillery barrage? I don't get it.
5. The DC love story. So a nerdy Notre Dame professor and a smoking-hot-but-actually-really-smart secretary walk into a bar.... Conroy must have gotten bullied pretty hard in high school because this one shouts "I got wedgied so many times, I just want the nerd to get the cheerleader!11!" Boring.
6. Again, the lack of grand strategy know-how. He assumes all Allied soldiers were committed to Operation Overlord, and that there were no men available anywhere on the planet. If only Soviet Russia could beat these few divisions, the world would be theirs! Except for, you know, the millions of men still volunteering for service and coming of age, not to mention all of the resistance/guerrilla fighters, or the enormous potential reserves of British India, or the tens of millions of industry workers and/or logistics personnel, or--god forbid!-- women. Or what about the former Axis armies of Bulgaria and Romania? Sure they didn't have huge numbers, but it's still something. And what did Soviet Mother Russialand expect AFTER the nukey-pookies were ready to use? "Oh, well Uncle Staly got all of Europe, so screw it, they'll just let me keep it." Seems reasonable.
-----
It wasn't poorly written or flat-out bad, but the logical gaps are enormous and frequent. Alternate history is a subgenre in desperate need of class, and since Turtledove can't figure out how to write dialogue beyond the third grade level, I expected Conroy to at least try. But yeah no, he failed. Hard.
March 14, 2016
An interesting alternate history, written as though the Russians decided to start a war with America immediately following Hitler's death. I am in two minds about this book, because on the one hand I enjoyed it, but on the other, the flaws become more apparent.
Where Conroy is strong is in his cast of characters, and capturing the relationships between the main players, and the side cast.
The problems are several.
1) Conroy chooses to ignore Japan for most of the book. Sure, this is an obvious choice, because it's all about Russia, right? On several occasions, he mentions that going off to fight Russia would draw needed troops and material away from the pacific theatre. But aside from this, there is no further mention. This deficit becomes even more apparent at the end of the book.
2) Things just happen. And also, things just happen which aren't told, except in retrospect. Several major battles (as far as I can see) are not described, they are skipped over and talked about in the past tense. This is really very irritating, because Conroy attempts to get inside the heads of the every man fighting on the front line.
3) The Atomic Bomb. Basically Conroy diverts the air force squadron that was in training for dropping the bomb on Japan to the European theater. He does not do an especially good job of justifying the use of the bomb, other than the Americans didn't seem to want to bother fighting Russia, so they lobbed a couple of nukes at em. He also seems to have no concept of the devastation caused by the bombs, and makes somewhat glib reference to casualties.
I recently finished a non-fiction book about the development (scientific and technological) of the atomic bomb. Over the course of a century, it went from being a scientific research project for science's sake to being a military must have. I honestly don't think that it should be bandied about willy nilly, or treated without the respect that it deserves. It really irritates me when the use of nuclear weapons in fiction is trivialised.
I guess all of those things add up to me not liking the book.
Where Conroy is strong is in his cast of characters, and capturing the relationships between the main players, and the side cast.
The problems are several.
1) Conroy chooses to ignore Japan for most of the book. Sure, this is an obvious choice, because it's all about Russia, right? On several occasions, he mentions that going off to fight Russia would draw needed troops and material away from the pacific theatre. But aside from this, there is no further mention. This deficit becomes even more apparent at the end of the book.
2) Things just happen. And also, things just happen which aren't told, except in retrospect. Several major battles (as far as I can see) are not described, they are skipped over and talked about in the past tense. This is really very irritating, because Conroy attempts to get inside the heads of the every man fighting on the front line.
3) The Atomic Bomb. Basically Conroy diverts the air force squadron that was in training for dropping the bomb on Japan to the European theater. He does not do an especially good job of justifying the use of the bomb, other than the Americans didn't seem to want to bother fighting Russia, so they lobbed a couple of nukes at em. He also seems to have no concept of the devastation caused by the bombs, and makes somewhat glib reference to casualties.
I recently finished a non-fiction book about the development (scientific and technological) of the atomic bomb. Over the course of a century, it went from being a scientific research project for science's sake to being a military must have. I honestly don't think that it should be bandied about willy nilly, or treated without the respect that it deserves. It really irritates me when the use of nuclear weapons in fiction is trivialised.
I guess all of those things add up to me not liking the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2021
Okay, so I know in my last review of "Armistice" by Harry Turtledove that I complained about how long and drawn out the resolution was to the story after the climax (essentially, "Armistice" was the third book of "The Hot War" series, and was pretty much nothing but resolution). Saying that, one would then think something I would like about "Red Inferno" was that the resolution was seemingly quick, rushed, and condensed, but alas no. It was too rushed. Where's the happy medium?
Getting that out of the way, let's talk about story. It was not bad. However, Mr. Conroy here is painting a picture where all the Germans are secretly good guys (it was those other Germans who are all now either blissfully dead or somewhere else that did all the crimes - all the ones in the book are the good Germans), but all of the Russians are raving baddies. They all rape and murder and kill indiscriminately. All Russians, Soviets, and Commies are barbaric monsters who act just like the Mongol hordes.
I'm not saying he's completely wrong about the behaviors of the soldiers on the Eastern Front in World War Two, but it seems highly convenient that, since his story depends on getting the Nazis to join the Western Allies to defeat the Soviet Union, he writes all of the Germans as actually sympathetic good guys, who we should really feel for - it was just the SS who were bad, and maybe not even all the SS. I mean, sure they liked Hitler and stuff, but that was totally before everything and they're really just misunderstood and just like you. But yah, the Russians. Fuck those guys. All of them, every single one, is a monster who deserves to be killed. And if they're Americans - they're totally the gay commies that Hoover was always raving about - and apparently justifiably, as the only mention of a Hoover Witch Hunt just so happens to be an employee of the State Department who is gay, presumably to the left in his politics, and was being blackmailed by the Soviets...what an amazing coincidence.
And, of course, in the end Admiral Doenitz gets to lead the new Germany, free of prosecution for his crimes, because he's the leader now and thus immune, apparently (although, I thought that was the point behind Nuremburg). And the Soviet Union disintegrates into lots of little warring republics. The Japanese surrender. Truman's a hero. And one of the guys gets the girl...a Nazi...but totally a good Nazi, you guys.
This is American propaganda, morally black and white, mass media alternate history told for the knuckle-draggers who don't really like history...
I'd give it two stars, but it's actually competently written and structured, so ten points to Gryffindor for effort.
Getting that out of the way, let's talk about story. It was not bad. However, Mr. Conroy here is painting a picture where all the Germans are secretly good guys (it was those other Germans who are all now either blissfully dead or somewhere else that did all the crimes - all the ones in the book are the good Germans), but all of the Russians are raving baddies. They all rape and murder and kill indiscriminately. All Russians, Soviets, and Commies are barbaric monsters who act just like the Mongol hordes.
I'm not saying he's completely wrong about the behaviors of the soldiers on the Eastern Front in World War Two, but it seems highly convenient that, since his story depends on getting the Nazis to join the Western Allies to defeat the Soviet Union, he writes all of the Germans as actually sympathetic good guys, who we should really feel for - it was just the SS who were bad, and maybe not even all the SS. I mean, sure they liked Hitler and stuff, but that was totally before everything and they're really just misunderstood and just like you. But yah, the Russians. Fuck those guys. All of them, every single one, is a monster who deserves to be killed. And if they're Americans - they're totally the gay commies that Hoover was always raving about - and apparently justifiably, as the only mention of a Hoover Witch Hunt just so happens to be an employee of the State Department who is gay, presumably to the left in his politics, and was being blackmailed by the Soviets...what an amazing coincidence.
And, of course, in the end Admiral Doenitz gets to lead the new Germany, free of prosecution for his crimes, because he's the leader now and thus immune, apparently (although, I thought that was the point behind Nuremburg). And the Soviet Union disintegrates into lots of little warring republics. The Japanese surrender. Truman's a hero. And one of the guys gets the girl...a Nazi...but totally a good Nazi, you guys.
This is American propaganda, morally black and white, mass media alternate history told for the knuckle-draggers who don't really like history...
I'd give it two stars, but it's actually competently written and structured, so ten points to Gryffindor for effort.
June 21, 2011
Well, my first Robert Conroy novel. I had heard mixed reviews of some of his earlier works, but that did not keep me from getting my hands on Red Inferno: 1945. You see, I am German, which makes my Kraut-Sense tingle with delight whenever an author of alternate histories with some repute - such as Robert Conroy - sets out to twist the actual events around and make history diverge from what we know has happened. An interesting point of divergence (POD) can make for some truly great stories, especially if an author knows the time and the historical protagonists he is writing about. Naturally, for those who have not yet read the novel, let me warn you: there will be spoilers in this review.
General Review
Conroy's POD is believable enough. President Truman, still new to the office, and General Marshall are concerned over Stalin`s apparent lack of concern for honoring the Yalta Agreements. To teach the Russians a lesson, they order Eisenhower to move a small, mobile force of two divisions to Potsdam, in the outskirts of Berlin (yes, I know it's technically a separate city). Publically, the move is sold as a way to support the Russian advance against Berlin. The true motivation, however, is to send a signal to Joseph Stalin and the Soviet leadership: we are watching you, so behave. Of course, Stalin - being in possession of Eastern Europe and a massive armed force that has honed its skills against the bulk of the German Wehrmacht - isn`t going to put up with the plans of the Western Powers. He orders Zhukov to teach the Americans a lesson and trap their units heading for Potsdam, to be then used as political hostages.
A Red Army officer in the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C. betrays the plan to the United States in an effort to stop the columns heading towards Berlin. However, lead by a gung-ho commander, the lead unit does not stop immediately when ordered to and instead advances further, mistakenly engaging Russian T-34s for German Panther tanks. They exchange fire and get trounced by the Russian guard formation they are facing. Quite some space of the following pages is filled with contemplations about 'Who shot first?', a question that becomes redundant once Russian POWs are interrogated. Still, the following Red Army offensive knocks all the Allied forces back across the Elbe River, and eventually the U.S. forces in Potsdam are trapped behind enemy lines. They will remain so for the rest of the story. Stalin's masterplan seems to be a repeat of the Battle of the Bulge: His plan calls for an advance on Antwerp which will split the Allied forces, annihilate their main resupply port and ultimately force their surrender.
Eisenhower falls back and uses his air superiority to bleed the Soviets, while the Allies hit with small attacks and falls back to the Weser River. Meanhwile, Field Marshal Montgomery suffers a nervous breakdown after the Russians manage a break through his forces' lines. A separate peace with the rump of Germany is concluded between Truman and a German government lead by Albert Speer and Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz, leading to the western Allied forces using an increasing number of Germans as well as their equipment (though most of that is, at best, noted in subordinate clauses). They however refuse to use SS and other war criminals. In the United Kingdom, violent anti-war riots break out. There is a brief attempt by the Soviets to institute a communist uprising in France, and the Soviet ambassador insults De Gaulle who agrees to help the Allies - but keeps his troops inside France, making the Communist revolution a stillborn concept. The most helpful events for the Allies are first a massive air raid against the Soviet oil fields in the Caucuses and then Romanian oil fields. This cripples the Russian gas production and puts strains on their already over taxed supply system. Another clever strategy by Eisenhower and the Allied commanders is the creation of a fake supply depot in the Ruhr area to lure the Red Army into a trap. Zhukov, desperate for fuel, falls for the trick and sends his Armies to the empty depot after they have crossed the Weser River. The Soviets stop out of gas.
This is when the Allied secret weapons are used. Unbeknownst to even the British, Truman had the three existing nuclear warheads (three, since the test at Los Alamos never happened in this timeline) transported to the European theatre. Two of them are used, one against Zhukov's concentrated forces, the second one against Koniev's. The attack cripples the Soviet offensive capability and leads to a total collapse, and the book jumps a year ahead, very briefly recounting what has happened, including a coup and the assassination of Stalin through Beria, civil wars in Eastern Europe against the Soviets and, among other things, that Japan is contemplating to surrender after Hiroshima has been nuked - in 1946.
The Problems
And believe me, this novel has some. That begins with some stupid editing mistakes (and I hope they are editing mistakes, not problems with Conroy's actual historical knowledge), like the claim in the introduction that Nazi Germany invaded Russia in 1940. Last time I checked, Barbarossa started in 1941. Either way, it's not a good start for a novel to get such fundamental facts wrong. Secondly, the German side is badly underutilized. At the start of the book, there are still several million men of the Wehrmacht under arms, and yet they hardly make an appearance - in a book playing smack in the middle of their country. The German units trapped in Potsdam with the American force are all fictitious. Seriously? We get tertiary characters on the U.S. side that are historical personalities (Paul Tibbets gets a horribly underused POV), but we cannot get one actual historical German unit. Are you kidding me? Conroy couldn`t spend an hour looking at one of the probably thousands of books that cover the fall of Nazi Germany? Would it have been that hard for Conroy to find a real unit that was on the Elbe in April 1945? Ande he somwhow could not come up with units that would have fit the Potsdam Pocket and fill them with a mix of fictional and historical characters? Please. I understand that the novel is mainly there to tell an American story, but it does so in Germany, surrounded by Germans. Not using them is not just sloppy, it's lazy.
Secondly, if you expect there to be truly breathtaking battle scenes between the Red Army and the Western Allied Armies in this novel you will be disappointed. Those battle scenes that were featured lacked any good description. That, and there really aren't that many of them in the first place. The characters are what I'd call solid cardboard cut-outs. They are no great works of fiction, but they serve their purposes, and they are ultimately likeable enough. Still, don't expect any of them to become part of your standard repertoire of characters you use as a reference when talking about fictional protagonists. There are, among others, a Lt. Colonel working for Intel who makes a critical decision, Harry S. Truman, Omar Bradley, Patton, a German ex-officer, a German girl and her eventual American lover, a U.S. sergeant later made lieutenant. Some rather unremarkable Russians round out the cast. Paul Tibbets of the historical Enola Gay also is featured, but strangely enough not in the chapter when the bombs are dropped. That is a massive wasted opportunity at some good characterization there. In general, I'd say that Conroy wastes too much time on characters who in the end have no impact on the greater flow of events.
Third, he seems to be hell-bent on using real historic dates (and vessels) for whatever reason. For example, the nuclear attack against the Soviet spearheads is on August 6, 1945. Yes, when IRL Hiroshima was bombed. And which ship transports the bombs? The USS Indianapolis, of course. Only that she was engaged in the Pacific theatre and sending her all around the world makes no sense at all. We also get little input on how the war in the Pacific is progressing, despite the fact that the first chapters of Red Inferno deal with a situation in Europe where peace is within arms reach.
In the end, one gets the impression that it would have been more interesting to read about what has happened between 1945 and 1946 rather than linger on the conflict that he did describe in unfortunately badly placed focus. The turmoil created by the US-USSR War and the completely changed political and military landscape in Europe most certainly would have interested me personally more than the vantage point from a few widely dispersed characters who had little impact on the conclusion of the story.
Verdict
Red Inferno: 1945 is a mediocre book that brings forth a great idea but waters it down by misplacing its narrative focus on characters with little impact on the overall plot. A stronger focus on a grander scale of events, as well as adding another fifty pages to the book that rounded the perspective by adding a stronger German focus, would have made for a far superior book in my opinion. Nonetheless, it still is an entertaining read, and even if you won't pick it up a second time after reading through it, you certainly should give it a try if you like alternate history novels.
General Review
Conroy's POD is believable enough. President Truman, still new to the office, and General Marshall are concerned over Stalin`s apparent lack of concern for honoring the Yalta Agreements. To teach the Russians a lesson, they order Eisenhower to move a small, mobile force of two divisions to Potsdam, in the outskirts of Berlin (yes, I know it's technically a separate city). Publically, the move is sold as a way to support the Russian advance against Berlin. The true motivation, however, is to send a signal to Joseph Stalin and the Soviet leadership: we are watching you, so behave. Of course, Stalin - being in possession of Eastern Europe and a massive armed force that has honed its skills against the bulk of the German Wehrmacht - isn`t going to put up with the plans of the Western Powers. He orders Zhukov to teach the Americans a lesson and trap their units heading for Potsdam, to be then used as political hostages.
A Red Army officer in the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C. betrays the plan to the United States in an effort to stop the columns heading towards Berlin. However, lead by a gung-ho commander, the lead unit does not stop immediately when ordered to and instead advances further, mistakenly engaging Russian T-34s for German Panther tanks. They exchange fire and get trounced by the Russian guard formation they are facing. Quite some space of the following pages is filled with contemplations about 'Who shot first?', a question that becomes redundant once Russian POWs are interrogated. Still, the following Red Army offensive knocks all the Allied forces back across the Elbe River, and eventually the U.S. forces in Potsdam are trapped behind enemy lines. They will remain so for the rest of the story. Stalin's masterplan seems to be a repeat of the Battle of the Bulge: His plan calls for an advance on Antwerp which will split the Allied forces, annihilate their main resupply port and ultimately force their surrender.
Eisenhower falls back and uses his air superiority to bleed the Soviets, while the Allies hit with small attacks and falls back to the Weser River. Meanhwile, Field Marshal Montgomery suffers a nervous breakdown after the Russians manage a break through his forces' lines. A separate peace with the rump of Germany is concluded between Truman and a German government lead by Albert Speer and Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz, leading to the western Allied forces using an increasing number of Germans as well as their equipment (though most of that is, at best, noted in subordinate clauses). They however refuse to use SS and other war criminals. In the United Kingdom, violent anti-war riots break out. There is a brief attempt by the Soviets to institute a communist uprising in France, and the Soviet ambassador insults De Gaulle who agrees to help the Allies - but keeps his troops inside France, making the Communist revolution a stillborn concept. The most helpful events for the Allies are first a massive air raid against the Soviet oil fields in the Caucuses and then Romanian oil fields. This cripples the Russian gas production and puts strains on their already over taxed supply system. Another clever strategy by Eisenhower and the Allied commanders is the creation of a fake supply depot in the Ruhr area to lure the Red Army into a trap. Zhukov, desperate for fuel, falls for the trick and sends his Armies to the empty depot after they have crossed the Weser River. The Soviets stop out of gas.
This is when the Allied secret weapons are used. Unbeknownst to even the British, Truman had the three existing nuclear warheads (three, since the test at Los Alamos never happened in this timeline) transported to the European theatre. Two of them are used, one against Zhukov's concentrated forces, the second one against Koniev's. The attack cripples the Soviet offensive capability and leads to a total collapse, and the book jumps a year ahead, very briefly recounting what has happened, including a coup and the assassination of Stalin through Beria, civil wars in Eastern Europe against the Soviets and, among other things, that Japan is contemplating to surrender after Hiroshima has been nuked - in 1946.
The Problems
And believe me, this novel has some. That begins with some stupid editing mistakes (and I hope they are editing mistakes, not problems with Conroy's actual historical knowledge), like the claim in the introduction that Nazi Germany invaded Russia in 1940. Last time I checked, Barbarossa started in 1941. Either way, it's not a good start for a novel to get such fundamental facts wrong. Secondly, the German side is badly underutilized. At the start of the book, there are still several million men of the Wehrmacht under arms, and yet they hardly make an appearance - in a book playing smack in the middle of their country. The German units trapped in Potsdam with the American force are all fictitious. Seriously? We get tertiary characters on the U.S. side that are historical personalities (Paul Tibbets gets a horribly underused POV), but we cannot get one actual historical German unit. Are you kidding me? Conroy couldn`t spend an hour looking at one of the probably thousands of books that cover the fall of Nazi Germany? Would it have been that hard for Conroy to find a real unit that was on the Elbe in April 1945? Ande he somwhow could not come up with units that would have fit the Potsdam Pocket and fill them with a mix of fictional and historical characters? Please. I understand that the novel is mainly there to tell an American story, but it does so in Germany, surrounded by Germans. Not using them is not just sloppy, it's lazy.
Secondly, if you expect there to be truly breathtaking battle scenes between the Red Army and the Western Allied Armies in this novel you will be disappointed. Those battle scenes that were featured lacked any good description. That, and there really aren't that many of them in the first place. The characters are what I'd call solid cardboard cut-outs. They are no great works of fiction, but they serve their purposes, and they are ultimately likeable enough. Still, don't expect any of them to become part of your standard repertoire of characters you use as a reference when talking about fictional protagonists. There are, among others, a Lt. Colonel working for Intel who makes a critical decision, Harry S. Truman, Omar Bradley, Patton, a German ex-officer, a German girl and her eventual American lover, a U.S. sergeant later made lieutenant. Some rather unremarkable Russians round out the cast. Paul Tibbets of the historical Enola Gay also is featured, but strangely enough not in the chapter when the bombs are dropped. That is a massive wasted opportunity at some good characterization there. In general, I'd say that Conroy wastes too much time on characters who in the end have no impact on the greater flow of events.
Third, he seems to be hell-bent on using real historic dates (and vessels) for whatever reason. For example, the nuclear attack against the Soviet spearheads is on August 6, 1945. Yes, when IRL Hiroshima was bombed. And which ship transports the bombs? The USS Indianapolis, of course. Only that she was engaged in the Pacific theatre and sending her all around the world makes no sense at all. We also get little input on how the war in the Pacific is progressing, despite the fact that the first chapters of Red Inferno deal with a situation in Europe where peace is within arms reach.
In the end, one gets the impression that it would have been more interesting to read about what has happened between 1945 and 1946 rather than linger on the conflict that he did describe in unfortunately badly placed focus. The turmoil created by the US-USSR War and the completely changed political and military landscape in Europe most certainly would have interested me personally more than the vantage point from a few widely dispersed characters who had little impact on the conclusion of the story.
Verdict
Red Inferno: 1945 is a mediocre book that brings forth a great idea but waters it down by misplacing its narrative focus on characters with little impact on the overall plot. A stronger focus on a grander scale of events, as well as adding another fifty pages to the book that rounded the perspective by adding a stronger German focus, would have made for a far superior book in my opinion. Nonetheless, it still is an entertaining read, and even if you won't pick it up a second time after reading through it, you certainly should give it a try if you like alternate history novels.
October 9, 2017
I enjoyed this from a historical and ploitical viewpoint. Robert Conroy did a good job of selecting a historical point to diverge from and tell his story. This reminded me of another favorite, Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising.
February 11, 2025
The worst thing about WW2 is that it inspired this book
March 28, 2018
This book is Conroy’s fifth alternate history novel, yet in many respects it reads like his third one, 1945, given how much he borrows from it. Though the setting is different – with the premise being a clash between Soviet and American forces in Germany at the end of the Second World War in Europe – the elements are all too familiar to anyone who has read Conroy’s earlier work. As in the earlier novel, they will encounter green lieutenants, beleaguered but determined generals, men trapped behind the lines cooperating with OSS agents, a duplicitous Soviet Union, and a plucky man from Missouri attempting to address it all. Even the ending is essentially the same, though this is less of a surprise as all of Conroy’s novels seem to conclude with an “in-the-end-the-world-was-left-a-better-place” sort of wrapping up.
This is not to say that this is not an enjoyable book, as fans of Conroy’s alternate novels will find the author firing on every cylinder that he has within these pages. But it seems that with the fifth novel (and his third consecutive one set in the Second World War) Conroy’s creative well is running dry and he is beginning to recycle earlier ideas in a slightly refreshed setting. In his “Acknowledgments” section at the end of the book he expresses his hope that this will not be the last alternate history novel he writes; while I'm sure it wasn't, I hope that he put more time into giving readers something new and different, rather than just warming over his earlier work.
This is not to say that this is not an enjoyable book, as fans of Conroy’s alternate novels will find the author firing on every cylinder that he has within these pages. But it seems that with the fifth novel (and his third consecutive one set in the Second World War) Conroy’s creative well is running dry and he is beginning to recycle earlier ideas in a slightly refreshed setting. In his “Acknowledgments” section at the end of the book he expresses his hope that this will not be the last alternate history novel he writes; while I'm sure it wasn't, I hope that he put more time into giving readers something new and different, rather than just warming over his earlier work.
October 27, 2010
This was my second Conroy alternative history book and the pattern is already forming.
The hero always finds a girl in the middle of a warzone.
The good guys win but it's "close".
Some secondary characters die.
There is so much more that could be done with the material that the end results are dissapointing.
The hero always finds a girl in the middle of a warzone.
The good guys win but it's "close".
Some secondary characters die.
There is so much more that could be done with the material that the end results are dissapointing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 16, 2021
This is a decent book for the premise and the characters. However , it’s not a Red Storm Rising or Red Metal circa 1945. It lacks accurate depictions of what the equipment probably would have been in 1945. The author refers constantly to the T-34 being a far better tank than the Sherman. The author fails to acknowledge the Sherman M4A3 76mm or the M-26 Pershing at all and hardly mentions the T-34/85. Which is a shame as one only has to refer to the Korean War engagements to get accurate source material.
The story itself is B material . It was interesting and had a few good twists .
The story itself is B material . It was interesting and had a few good twists .
May 31, 2025
Easily my favorite alternate history I've read thus far. Inventive, imaginative, and grounded. The story wasn't lacking like a lot of alt histories can be, and the characters actually had depth and felt good to read about, which is also lacking across many many books in the genre
October 22, 2017
I had never read anything by Robert Conroy before, and I was pleasantly surprised. The alternative military history was very believable, but I wasn't expecting his characterizations to be so well done. He created people I cared about.
August 30, 2012
One of the major “what ifs” novel by Robert Conroy.
In April 1945, advance elements of the U.S. Army reached the Elbe River, a mere sixty miles from Berlin, and some units actually crossed it. As far as they could tell, there was nothing of substance between them and the capital of the Third Reich. The Germans had largely pulled back and were concentrating on defending Berlin from the Russians, who were massing on the Oder River to the city’s east.
Eisenhower did not give Simpson permission to move toward Potsdam. But what if the American armies actually had attempted to enter Berlin? Instead of the fretful peace that presaged the Cold War, there is the strong probability that Stalin would have unleashed something like an “Operation Red Inferno” against the Allies in the spring of 1945.
This book is based on that scenario.
The book starts when the Nazis are defeated and of course Hitler soon commits suicide. That much remains unchanged. But as Stalin decides to take over all of Europe right away (you can guess the reason for his haste, if you think hard), the tables are turned. Amusingly, Germans become new Allies and somehow they are tolerated in the Allied Army and Air Force. Of course, SS are not amongst them.
One of the major strategic drawbacks in Hitler’s assault of USSR was that he couldn’t destroy or capture Baku oilfields of Russia. Conroy has not forgotten them here.
Swiss give up their neutrality in order to prevent from being overrun by the Reds. Japan is almost a footnote here and is inconsequential.
I don’t want to reveal much of the plot and ruin the book for anyone, so I would conclude my review by saying that this book would not disappoint fans of alternate history.
3.5 stars.
In April 1945, advance elements of the U.S. Army reached the Elbe River, a mere sixty miles from Berlin, and some units actually crossed it. As far as they could tell, there was nothing of substance between them and the capital of the Third Reich. The Germans had largely pulled back and were concentrating on defending Berlin from the Russians, who were massing on the Oder River to the city’s east.
Eisenhower did not give Simpson permission to move toward Potsdam. But what if the American armies actually had attempted to enter Berlin? Instead of the fretful peace that presaged the Cold War, there is the strong probability that Stalin would have unleashed something like an “Operation Red Inferno” against the Allies in the spring of 1945.
This book is based on that scenario.
The book starts when the Nazis are defeated and of course Hitler soon commits suicide. That much remains unchanged. But as Stalin decides to take over all of Europe right away (you can guess the reason for his haste, if you think hard), the tables are turned. Amusingly, Germans become new Allies and somehow they are tolerated in the Allied Army and Air Force. Of course, SS are not amongst them.
One of the major strategic drawbacks in Hitler’s assault of USSR was that he couldn’t destroy or capture Baku oilfields of Russia. Conroy has not forgotten them here.
Swiss give up their neutrality in order to prevent from being overrun by the Reds. Japan is almost a footnote here and is inconsequential.
I don’t want to reveal much of the plot and ruin the book for anyone, so I would conclude my review by saying that this book would not disappoint fans of alternate history.
3.5 stars.
July 13, 2020
Historians are reluctant to ask what if questions, but science fiction writers have no such qualms. In looking backward, a stalwart few authors indulge their curiosity (and ours) in what has come to be called alternate history. And one of the more successful of their number is Robert Conroy (1938-2014) who wrote seven alternate histories of World War II as well as several others. In Red Inferno: 1945, he explores what might have happened if Stalin had turned against his Allies in the closing months of the war. Instead of the Cold War we know so well from history, the West faced a hot war just as the development of the atomic bomb was nearing completion at Los Alamos. Conroy’s depiction of the consequences is deeply disturbing because it is so plausible.
In this alternate history of World War II, Truman advances on Berlin
The action kicks off in April 1945. Eisenhower’s legions are steadily pushing their way eastward against collapsing Nazi resistance, while in the east Stalin’s armies are encircling Berlin and bombing it into rubble. Allied generals are pressuring Eisenhower to authorize a move to capture Berlin from the west instead. Although their commander demurs, mindful of the agreements at Yalta, the new American President, Harry Truman, impulsively decides otherwise. Acting against advice to the contrary, he asks Ike to send a token force of two divisions (about 30,000 men) to Berlin’s western reaches to “help” the Soviet forces, which are meeting stiff opposition from Nazis defending their capital city.
Truman reasons that by putting an American stake in the ground in Berlin he’ll make it less likely that Stalin will close the Allies entirely out of the German capital. After all, Stalin is violating the other principal terms of the Yalta Agreement. But the President’s decision is ill-considered. Stalin regards it as an opportunity to extend his borders even further into the west. For him, attacking that two-division force is to be the opening salvo into a massive push against the Allied armies to the west, thus engulfing all of Germany in the Soviet sphere of influence.
A large cast of historical characters
Conroy tells this tale through the eyes of a large cast of characters. Among them are historical figures including President Truman himself, Dwight Eisenhower, George Marshall, and other American generals and senior officials as well as Josef Stalin, Marshall Georgy Zhukov, Lavrentiy Beria, Vyacheslav Molotov, and others in the Soviet hierarchy. But much of the narrative power of the story is carried by the entirely fictional characters—the privates and sergeants and lieutenants and colonels on both sides as well as the fictional major general who leads that two-division force toward Berlin. Although this alternate history of World War II illuminates the Big Picture that prevailed in April 1945, it does so by revealing the humanity of those who experienced it on the ground.
In this alternate history of World War II, Truman advances on Berlin
The action kicks off in April 1945. Eisenhower’s legions are steadily pushing their way eastward against collapsing Nazi resistance, while in the east Stalin’s armies are encircling Berlin and bombing it into rubble. Allied generals are pressuring Eisenhower to authorize a move to capture Berlin from the west instead. Although their commander demurs, mindful of the agreements at Yalta, the new American President, Harry Truman, impulsively decides otherwise. Acting against advice to the contrary, he asks Ike to send a token force of two divisions (about 30,000 men) to Berlin’s western reaches to “help” the Soviet forces, which are meeting stiff opposition from Nazis defending their capital city.
Truman reasons that by putting an American stake in the ground in Berlin he’ll make it less likely that Stalin will close the Allies entirely out of the German capital. After all, Stalin is violating the other principal terms of the Yalta Agreement. But the President’s decision is ill-considered. Stalin regards it as an opportunity to extend his borders even further into the west. For him, attacking that two-division force is to be the opening salvo into a massive push against the Allied armies to the west, thus engulfing all of Germany in the Soviet sphere of influence.
A large cast of historical characters
Conroy tells this tale through the eyes of a large cast of characters. Among them are historical figures including President Truman himself, Dwight Eisenhower, George Marshall, and other American generals and senior officials as well as Josef Stalin, Marshall Georgy Zhukov, Lavrentiy Beria, Vyacheslav Molotov, and others in the Soviet hierarchy. But much of the narrative power of the story is carried by the entirely fictional characters—the privates and sergeants and lieutenants and colonels on both sides as well as the fictional major general who leads that two-division force toward Berlin. Although this alternate history of World War II illuminates the Big Picture that prevailed in April 1945, it does so by revealing the humanity of those who experienced it on the ground.
May 8, 2018
First and foremost, this is one of the best books that I've ever read plot-wise and if it wasn't, it would have gotten a 3 star rating. I realize that this book is about an alternate timeline/history, but it really seems to ignore other ongoing facts in its so called war between the US and the USSR. Don't get me wrong, I really love the books Robert Conroy releases, but there are a few glaring errors in the story that really got on my nerves while reading it. For one, he completely ignored the presence of the Japanese and the ongoing Pacific war against them. In this alternate reality, Truman pointed his shiny new nukes at the USSR instead of Japan which kind of baffles me because throughout the course of the story, Japan has so many opportunities to attack America on Russia's behalf, but they don't which is by far the biggest point that Robert Conroy missed. But, lets be fair, lets say Japan doesn't want to risk losing the war, or they don't trust the USSR. However, Robert Conroy never truly showed the devastating power that nukes can have on both soldiers and a country. He also made it seem as though Stalin was an absolute madman that was completely ignorant. I could be wrong, but Conroy described Stalin as though he didn't care about the atomic bombs and would do anything he could to defeat anyone that got in his way. This is partly true, but Conroy emphasizes this point a lot. Now, with all that aside, I need to get to the good part of this book, the plot. The plot and story point of this book is absolutely captivating and really brings the reader in which really makes up for the historical errors in my opinion. The story is told in many different perspectives from the protagonist, antagonist, and bystander points of views where you can really see how ordinary people would react compared to high-ranking officials. The multiple points of views also really fit in for February as it is both black history month and Valentines day. The points of views of ordinary soldiers show really realistically how soldiers with families at home would feel being away from loved ones for so long. Along with that some of the protagonists even find love in the heat of battle, which is interesting to say the least. Also, even though the influence of African Americans in the book was not great, they definitely played a huge role in WW2 with whole highly decorated squadrons, such as Tuskegee airmen, dedicated to African Americans. Now, would I recommend this book to everyone? Yes, why not? It's too good of a book not to read even if you're not a WW2 fan, in my opinion. However, I will have to say that this book should be for an older audience as there were a few gruesome scenes, but it's absolutely suitable for people 6th grade and up. So, go read the book, it's a good book from a good author despite some errors.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 1, 2020
The premise of this novel is one that has long fascinated me- the concept of a hypothetical USSR vs. Western Allies conflict at the end of World War II. I had known about the existence of this novel for quite a while but never got a chance to delve into it until now. I wish I could say it was 100% worth the wait.
I think that for the most part, the basic alternate history scenarios presented here are plausible. USSR attacks, Allies are overwhelmed and forced to retreat constantly in the face of sheer numbers, Potsdam is besieged by the Red Army, the Red Army is slowed significantly by fuel and materiel shortages due in large part to the cutoff of Lend-Lease, allowing the Americans valuable time to regroup and form a plan of action. So all told, the outline seems good.
But purely as a novel, this could be literally any Dollar General book-rack paperback. The characters are wooden, deliver wooden dialogue, and are generally uninspiring. There are a couple of dull and uninteresting romances, even with a little sex thrown in, which add nothing to the story. Even the characterizations of real life people are bland and, frankly, unfair. Truman is a grump, Eisenhower is also a grump, Montgomery is a crybaby, Patton is a child. Please tell me the real-life versions of these people were not so one-dimensional. Heck, even Stalin is nothing but a delusional lunatic. I'm not saying he wasn't, but really, the real guy had to be more of a complex person than he appears in this book. Finally, the Russian characters are invariably written as inhuman, sadistic brutes who murder and rape civilians without remorse, while the Americans are the unquestioned good guys. I get it, the Red Army was notorious for atrocities against German civilians, but in this book, I didn't find a single Soviet soldier who was anything resembling a good person.
At the end of the day, it's worth reading simply for its intriguing premise, but don't expect to be rivited by its human drama. Since this is my first Conroy novel I won't pass judgment on his entire oeuvre just yet.
I think that for the most part, the basic alternate history scenarios presented here are plausible. USSR attacks, Allies are overwhelmed and forced to retreat constantly in the face of sheer numbers, Potsdam is besieged by the Red Army, the Red Army is slowed significantly by fuel and materiel shortages due in large part to the cutoff of Lend-Lease, allowing the Americans valuable time to regroup and form a plan of action. So all told, the outline seems good.
But purely as a novel, this could be literally any Dollar General book-rack paperback. The characters are wooden, deliver wooden dialogue, and are generally uninspiring. There are a couple of dull and uninteresting romances, even with a little sex thrown in, which add nothing to the story. Even the characterizations of real life people are bland and, frankly, unfair. Truman is a grump, Eisenhower is also a grump, Montgomery is a crybaby, Patton is a child. Please tell me the real-life versions of these people were not so one-dimensional. Heck, even Stalin is nothing but a delusional lunatic. I'm not saying he wasn't, but really, the real guy had to be more of a complex person than he appears in this book. Finally, the Russian characters are invariably written as inhuman, sadistic brutes who murder and rape civilians without remorse, while the Americans are the unquestioned good guys. I get it, the Red Army was notorious for atrocities against German civilians, but in this book, I didn't find a single Soviet soldier who was anything resembling a good person.
At the end of the day, it's worth reading simply for its intriguing premise, but don't expect to be rivited by its human drama. Since this is my first Conroy novel I won't pass judgment on his entire oeuvre just yet.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 1, 2023
All Robert Conroy books follow the same formula. Some event occurs that changes American history, America starts by losing only to slowly turn things around and win at the end in a single blow. Older couple falls in love, young couple falls in love, and someone always gets raped. That last one is a very strange aspect of the Conroy formula that is sometimes shoehorned in for no apparent reason, but fortunately that's not really the case in this particular book.
The difference between a good Conroy book and a bad one isn't the quality of writing, plot, or characters, because they're all essentially the same. No, the difference is entirely on the plausibility, uniqueness, and impact of the scenario. Conroy has some pretty zany alternate history scenarios, and though this one isn't all that crazy, it is one of the better ones.
In the waning days of the 3rd Reich, Harry Truman sends a column racing for Berlin to beat the Soviets there. Stalin gets angry and attacks the western forces, thus starting a new war between the USA/British and USSR.
The scenario is a good one. What if the USA and USSR fought one another before finishing off the Germans and shortly before the nukes were ready? Unlike some of his other works, the scenario plays out in a logical fashion and builds towards a satisfying ending. It doesn't rely on silly contrivances to work, the romance is actually decent ,and importantly NO MAIN CHARACTERS ARE RAPED. Unfortunately Conroy did feel the need to make up for that fact by raping every other woman in Germany but whatever.
I don't expect masterpieces from these books. The dialog is as cringe worthy as ever, but the scenario is fun and written well enough to entertain. This is easily one of Conroys better books.
The difference between a good Conroy book and a bad one isn't the quality of writing, plot, or characters, because they're all essentially the same. No, the difference is entirely on the plausibility, uniqueness, and impact of the scenario. Conroy has some pretty zany alternate history scenarios, and though this one isn't all that crazy, it is one of the better ones.
In the waning days of the 3rd Reich, Harry Truman sends a column racing for Berlin to beat the Soviets there. Stalin gets angry and attacks the western forces, thus starting a new war between the USA/British and USSR.
The scenario is a good one. What if the USA and USSR fought one another before finishing off the Germans and shortly before the nukes were ready? Unlike some of his other works, the scenario plays out in a logical fashion and builds towards a satisfying ending. It doesn't rely on silly contrivances to work, the romance is actually decent ,and importantly NO MAIN CHARACTERS ARE RAPED. Unfortunately Conroy did feel the need to make up for that fact by raping every other woman in Germany but whatever.
I don't expect masterpieces from these books. The dialog is as cringe worthy as ever, but the scenario is fun and written well enough to entertain. This is easily one of Conroys better books.
March 20, 2019
I've been meaning to read this book for a while, so, since I was going on vacation, I decided to hunt it up in my library e-book app. Conroy's book was a fun read, even if the scenario doesn't make a lot of sense politically.
The premise is that, in the dying days of the Second World War in Europe, while the Russians were fighting their way to Berlin, the Americans decide to cross the Elbe and strike quickly towards Berlin. The reason for this move is that the new American president, Trueman, distrusted the Russians and wanted an American prescence in Berlin to ensure that the agreements between the Russians and the Western Allies were respected. Stalin takes umbrage to the American move and quickly cuts the American force off in Potsdam. And full war begins, after Hitler is dead, but before the Germans can quite surrender. The result is, well, a bloody mess as yesterday's allies becomes today's enemy. The ending is rather predictable, given a certain technology already developed by the Americans.
Conroy's writing is easy to read (although he sometimes messes up his dates) and he does have a Turtledove-esque feel, especially with his multi character narrative. He is engaging and includes the requisite love interest as well as compelling characterizations of historical and everyday characters. Well worth reading, if you don't mind the improbability of the premise.
The premise is that, in the dying days of the Second World War in Europe, while the Russians were fighting their way to Berlin, the Americans decide to cross the Elbe and strike quickly towards Berlin. The reason for this move is that the new American president, Trueman, distrusted the Russians and wanted an American prescence in Berlin to ensure that the agreements between the Russians and the Western Allies were respected. Stalin takes umbrage to the American move and quickly cuts the American force off in Potsdam. And full war begins, after Hitler is dead, but before the Germans can quite surrender. The result is, well, a bloody mess as yesterday's allies becomes today's enemy. The ending is rather predictable, given a certain technology already developed by the Americans.
Conroy's writing is easy to read (although he sometimes messes up his dates) and he does have a Turtledove-esque feel, especially with his multi character narrative. He is engaging and includes the requisite love interest as well as compelling characterizations of historical and everyday characters. Well worth reading, if you don't mind the improbability of the premise.
December 31, 2021
I've always liked 'what if?' books. One that has stuck with me down the years is "The Guns of the South" by Harry Turtledove.
"Red Inferno" sees the Americans depart from history by advancing on Berlin in the dying days of WWII. The only problem is that, while new American President Harry H. Truman, intends it to demonstrate to Stalin that America will not stand still while Russia takes over the newly conquered countries, Stalin sees it as a direct attack.
Unfortunately, the initial American force is both cut off and overwhelmingly outnumbered.
With Germany defeated, and the war in the Pacific continuing, there is little public support for a war against Russia.
It becomes a mix of high-level negotiations and decisions, on the ground action, and individual interaction.
It's not often I complain that a book is too short but that definitely the case here. Huge military operations take a page or two, critical events occur in the blink of an eye, and even the budding romance between Lis and Jack is only briefly described.
I enjoyed it a lot but felt it would have been better if it were half as long again.
3 Stars.
"Red Inferno" sees the Americans depart from history by advancing on Berlin in the dying days of WWII. The only problem is that, while new American President Harry H. Truman, intends it to demonstrate to Stalin that America will not stand still while Russia takes over the newly conquered countries, Stalin sees it as a direct attack.
Unfortunately, the initial American force is both cut off and overwhelmingly outnumbered.
With Germany defeated, and the war in the Pacific continuing, there is little public support for a war against Russia.
It becomes a mix of high-level negotiations and decisions, on the ground action, and individual interaction.
It's not often I complain that a book is too short but that definitely the case here. Huge military operations take a page or two, critical events occur in the blink of an eye, and even the budding romance between Lis and Jack is only briefly described.
I enjoyed it a lot but felt it would have been better if it were half as long again.
3 Stars.
March 3, 2021
A plausible story since the relationship between the Western allies Britain, France and the US was on some shaky ground with "Uncle Joe", leader of the Soviet Union. I do enjoy alternate history novels and this one is a good read. A case where "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" applies. Well he stays your friend for as long as he gets what he wants! It is not a mystery that the alliance between capitalists and communists was held together by meager threads. Perhaps FDR was too trusting of Uncle Joe Stalin and that is the plot behind Red Inferno with Harry Truman the successor left holding the bag with another war in Europe when it was so close to the end! I will not get into any possible spoilers for those that may have not read the book. So if you desire get the book, curl up in a comfortable place and start reading. I guarantee you won't be able to put it down. I read the book in two nights! Mr. Conroy does a great job in taking you back in his time machine and laying out "what if" scenarios beginning in April 1945!
November 5, 2013
Red Inferno 1945
By Robert Conroy
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published In: New York City, NY, USA
Date: 2010
Pgs: 353
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
1945. The collapse of Nazi Germany. What if Stalin had chosen to take what he wanted rather than stop where he and his allies had agreed? Americans and Europeans caught in the crucible, enemies becoming allies as a new conqueror roars across the battle scarred landscape of Western Europe. Behind the scenes in Moscow and Washington. Politics in wartime. Death on the battlefield. Arms, armor, and the actions of spies and partisans.
Genre:
fiction, alternate history, world war 2
Why this book:
I love alternate history books.
This Story is About:
courage, duty, politics, the alternate pathways of history, cruelty, war
Favorite Character:
Colonel Burke, an academic forced into a position where his knowledge leads to a horrible, necessary occurrence.
Least Favorite Character:
The Russian elitists who interact with Bazarin and the political officers, in a book where there is a backstory to most of the characters these come across as cardboard villains.
Character I Most Identified With:
Tony the Toad, tank driver, stuck behind enemy lines acting as a subversive, doing what he has to, doing his duty.
The Feel:
Through the early chapters, the story isn’t very immersive. I’m not being transported into the world of the book. War is hell. Sometimes, war stories are hell, even when they are good.
Favorite Scene:
When Tony the Toad is sneaking around after he survives the destruction of his tank brigade on the point of Miller Force and the Russian NKVD officer walks around the corner like he owns the night only to find Tony’s knife blade swinging for this throat a second before he registered that someone else was on the street with him. Tony can’t get back to Allied lines and takes refuge with a slowly growing group of subversive former concentration camp escapees, all trapped behind Russian lines just like he is.
The scene that has Armenian USSR General Bazarin dealing with an unblooded, politically connected Colonel there to checkover his handling of the Potsdam Pocket and the shelling that the Americans there have been raining on passing Russian tank columns that get too close.
The scene where Ike, Patton, and Bradley are discussing the use of German soldiers in limited and unlimited fashion to man certain weapons platforms against the Soviets. And Bradley slipping Ike a note about what Patton is already using those soldiers for. It feels right. It feels in character for the three men. Well done.
Settings:
Washington DC; The River Elbe; Berlin and environs; Potsdam, Germany; Moscow; River Leine; River Wesser; Dortmund, Germany
Pacing:
The early chapters feel choppy. Lot of good info and world building, but it feels far away, not invading my brain like I want a story to. The book doesn’t draw me back to it like I like stories to. For now, I’m still interested in what ultimately happens, but not so interested in the slog of getting there. This may be my fault in that I’ve read a ton of WW2 stories over the years and I judge them rather harshly due to the plethora of other stories in the wide genre. The pacing does pick up later in the book.
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
There’s no damned way that Josef Stalin would have ceded overall military command to Zhukov. Lip service giving him the title without the power, yeah, I could see Stalin doing that. But letting his fingers be withdrawn from the pulse, nope.
I hope this story isn’t about to fall into the modern cliche trap with the story disposition of France possibly suing for a separate peace with the USSR after the US and UK have to make a deal with the surviving devils of Nazi Germany in a marriage of convenience in the face of the massive Russian Army pushing Eisenhower’s armies back across Europe.l. I don’t like the French surrender monkey jokes and perception that has taken a stand in modern parlance.
Last Page Sound:
Sweet ending.
Author Assessment:
I wanted this book to knock my socks off. I’m very interested in the other eras that Mr. Conroy has explored in his books. If this one doesn’t pick up as we go through, I may have to remove the others from my to-read list. I’m still on the fence about this. The other books by Mr. Conroy will have to be on a case-by-case basis.
Editorial Assessment:
There is a tendency to want to tell other stories within the context of the war story. Some of these reach the level of a story in their own right against the backdrop of war while others strain at it and end up as repeated vignettes looking in on the lives of people in wartime.
Did the Book Cover Reflect the Story:
Russian medal on the cover. Would have liked it better with the medal in the background with tanks and soldiers exchanging fire beneath artillery bursts
Song the Story Reminds me of or That Plays in my Head While Reading:
Highwire by The Rolling Stones
Illustrations:
No
Hmm Moments:
I don’t trust Natalie Holt, White Russian expat. Hope she isn’t a spy. But having read a lot of these types of stories, it wouldn’t surprise me if she was. And she has Hoover’s FBI sniffing around her.
Knee Jerk Reaction:
It’s alright
Disposition of Book:
Irving Public Library, Irving, TX
Why isn’t there a screenplay?
There isn’t a big alternate reality/alternate history movie category. I would guess that there is a snowball’s chance in hell that this would ever get made.
Casting call:
Natalie Holt could be Cameron Diaz or Angelina Jolie. They could communicate the smokiness and unattainableness of the character and the hotness that she reveals to Burke.
I would like to see Sam Rockwell as Colonel Burke.
Bruce Willis as General Patton.
George Clooney as General Eisenhower.
John Noble as Field Marshal Alexander.
Would recommend to:
Alternate history buffs
By Robert Conroy
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published In: New York City, NY, USA
Date: 2010
Pgs: 353
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
1945. The collapse of Nazi Germany. What if Stalin had chosen to take what he wanted rather than stop where he and his allies had agreed? Americans and Europeans caught in the crucible, enemies becoming allies as a new conqueror roars across the battle scarred landscape of Western Europe. Behind the scenes in Moscow and Washington. Politics in wartime. Death on the battlefield. Arms, armor, and the actions of spies and partisans.
Genre:
fiction, alternate history, world war 2
Why this book:
I love alternate history books.
This Story is About:
courage, duty, politics, the alternate pathways of history, cruelty, war
Favorite Character:
Colonel Burke, an academic forced into a position where his knowledge leads to a horrible, necessary occurrence.
Least Favorite Character:
The Russian elitists who interact with Bazarin and the political officers, in a book where there is a backstory to most of the characters these come across as cardboard villains.
Character I Most Identified With:
Tony the Toad, tank driver, stuck behind enemy lines acting as a subversive, doing what he has to, doing his duty.
The Feel:
Through the early chapters, the story isn’t very immersive. I’m not being transported into the world of the book. War is hell. Sometimes, war stories are hell, even when they are good.
Favorite Scene:
When Tony the Toad is sneaking around after he survives the destruction of his tank brigade on the point of Miller Force and the Russian NKVD officer walks around the corner like he owns the night only to find Tony’s knife blade swinging for this throat a second before he registered that someone else was on the street with him. Tony can’t get back to Allied lines and takes refuge with a slowly growing group of subversive former concentration camp escapees, all trapped behind Russian lines just like he is.
The scene that has Armenian USSR General Bazarin dealing with an unblooded, politically connected Colonel there to checkover his handling of the Potsdam Pocket and the shelling that the Americans there have been raining on passing Russian tank columns that get too close.
The scene where Ike, Patton, and Bradley are discussing the use of German soldiers in limited and unlimited fashion to man certain weapons platforms against the Soviets. And Bradley slipping Ike a note about what Patton is already using those soldiers for. It feels right. It feels in character for the three men. Well done.
Settings:
Washington DC; The River Elbe; Berlin and environs; Potsdam, Germany; Moscow; River Leine; River Wesser; Dortmund, Germany
Pacing:
The early chapters feel choppy. Lot of good info and world building, but it feels far away, not invading my brain like I want a story to. The book doesn’t draw me back to it like I like stories to. For now, I’m still interested in what ultimately happens, but not so interested in the slog of getting there. This may be my fault in that I’ve read a ton of WW2 stories over the years and I judge them rather harshly due to the plethora of other stories in the wide genre. The pacing does pick up later in the book.
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
There’s no damned way that Josef Stalin would have ceded overall military command to Zhukov. Lip service giving him the title without the power, yeah, I could see Stalin doing that. But letting his fingers be withdrawn from the pulse, nope.
I hope this story isn’t about to fall into the modern cliche trap with the story disposition of France possibly suing for a separate peace with the USSR after the US and UK have to make a deal with the surviving devils of Nazi Germany in a marriage of convenience in the face of the massive Russian Army pushing Eisenhower’s armies back across Europe.l. I don’t like the French surrender monkey jokes and perception that has taken a stand in modern parlance.
Last Page Sound:
Sweet ending.
Author Assessment:
I wanted this book to knock my socks off. I’m very interested in the other eras that Mr. Conroy has explored in his books. If this one doesn’t pick up as we go through, I may have to remove the others from my to-read list. I’m still on the fence about this. The other books by Mr. Conroy will have to be on a case-by-case basis.
Editorial Assessment:
There is a tendency to want to tell other stories within the context of the war story. Some of these reach the level of a story in their own right against the backdrop of war while others strain at it and end up as repeated vignettes looking in on the lives of people in wartime.
Did the Book Cover Reflect the Story:
Russian medal on the cover. Would have liked it better with the medal in the background with tanks and soldiers exchanging fire beneath artillery bursts
Song the Story Reminds me of or That Plays in my Head While Reading:
Highwire by The Rolling Stones
Illustrations:
No
Hmm Moments:
I don’t trust Natalie Holt, White Russian expat. Hope she isn’t a spy. But having read a lot of these types of stories, it wouldn’t surprise me if she was. And she has Hoover’s FBI sniffing around her.
Knee Jerk Reaction:
It’s alright
Disposition of Book:
Irving Public Library, Irving, TX
Why isn’t there a screenplay?
There isn’t a big alternate reality/alternate history movie category. I would guess that there is a snowball’s chance in hell that this would ever get made.
Casting call:
Natalie Holt could be Cameron Diaz or Angelina Jolie. They could communicate the smokiness and unattainableness of the character and the hotness that she reveals to Burke.
I would like to see Sam Rockwell as Colonel Burke.
Bruce Willis as General Patton.
George Clooney as General Eisenhower.
John Noble as Field Marshal Alexander.
Would recommend to:
Alternate history buffs
March 30, 2020
What if Stalin turned on us?
That's the premise Robert Conroy lays out for us in this novel.
I really don't have much to say about this book. This book was enjoyable for me but not enthralling or a must read in my opinion. As many have mentioned in their reviews, there are giant plot holes and choppy transitions throughout the book. In the book, you follow multiple characters and see from their perspective which I really enjoyed even if some characters were irritating. Even so, the majority of characters were lovable and easy to care about though. The love story in this book was charming and I lived for the moments between them, even if they weren't believable at times.
A few dates were wrong and sometimes you had to suspend your disbelief, but that doesn't make it bad. Honestly, as long as you aren't expecting something mind blowing it should be an enjoyable read despite its faults.
That's the premise Robert Conroy lays out for us in this novel.
I really don't have much to say about this book. This book was enjoyable for me but not enthralling or a must read in my opinion. As many have mentioned in their reviews, there are giant plot holes and choppy transitions throughout the book. In the book, you follow multiple characters and see from their perspective which I really enjoyed even if some characters were irritating. Even so, the majority of characters were lovable and easy to care about though. The love story in this book was charming and I lived for the moments between them, even if they weren't believable at times.
A few dates were wrong and sometimes you had to suspend your disbelief, but that doesn't make it bad. Honestly, as long as you aren't expecting something mind blowing it should be an enjoyable read despite its faults.
November 15, 2017
I have not yet had an opportunity to read very many alt-history novels. Actually, none that I can think of off the top of my head. But if you are a history buff interested in WWII this one is worth reading. Probably one of the better military novels that I've read in the last few years. And what an interesting subject.
What if the Soviets did not stop at Berlin? What if they looked to keep going until they took over the continent of Europe? What would we do?
Lots of fairly plausible story lines and some good characters. Characters that you can actually find yourself caring about. With both warmth and dimension which is nice to see if a war novel.
I can't say when I'll get around to reading another title from Conroy but I would sincerely hope that they are as good as this one. Well earned five stars.
What if the Soviets did not stop at Berlin? What if they looked to keep going until they took over the continent of Europe? What would we do?
Lots of fairly plausible story lines and some good characters. Characters that you can actually find yourself caring about. With both warmth and dimension which is nice to see if a war novel.
I can't say when I'll get around to reading another title from Conroy but I would sincerely hope that they are as good as this one. Well earned five stars.
January 25, 2018
3.5 stars. Picked up on a whim on sale; not disappointed -- a fine way to pass the time while recovering from the flu.
The prose is a bit stiff here and there, and workman-like at all other times, but the characters are surprisingly not wooden. I may have even cared about one or two of them. The imagined scenario was mostly plausible, and the technical details were mostly accurate, insofar as I'm able to judge.
My chief complaint: Conroy's light-handed treatment of the Germans with respect to war crimes seems to be behind the times. Were he still alive, I'd advise him to read any of the great history that's come out in the last 20+ years that demonstrate how widespread knowledge of the plight of the Jews, Gypsies, Russian POWs, etc., was, both at home and at the front.
A page turner in the mold of Turtledove. If you like alternate history, it's a quick and engrossing read.
The prose is a bit stiff here and there, and workman-like at all other times, but the characters are surprisingly not wooden. I may have even cared about one or two of them. The imagined scenario was mostly plausible, and the technical details were mostly accurate, insofar as I'm able to judge.
My chief complaint: Conroy's light-handed treatment of the Germans with respect to war crimes seems to be behind the times. Were he still alive, I'd advise him to read any of the great history that's come out in the last 20+ years that demonstrate how widespread knowledge of the plight of the Jews, Gypsies, Russian POWs, etc., was, both at home and at the front.
A page turner in the mold of Turtledove. If you like alternate history, it's a quick and engrossing read.
January 4, 2018
This is the second of Conroy's alternate history novels I've read, and it was just as enjoyable. Conroy has a knack for making these sorts of stories enjoyable, easy reads. There are at least a dozen different perspectives in this novel spread across the world, with the majority of the story coming from 4 or 5 of those characters' POV's.
In this alt-history, World War II keeps going even after the Nazi defeat, with the tension between the Russians and the Allies resulting in the two sides turning on each other in 1944 and battling across German territory. It's an interesting, apparently plausible narrative and it teases out much of the Cold War hostility that lasted for decades after World War II.
In this alt-history, World War II keeps going even after the Nazi defeat, with the tension between the Russians and the Allies resulting in the two sides turning on each other in 1944 and battling across German territory. It's an interesting, apparently plausible narrative and it teases out much of the Cold War hostility that lasted for decades after World War II.
Read
November 24, 2020Hoĺlywood Version
Great story and realistic. Only problem is the author research is typical of someone who has not dived deep into the facts of what really happened leading up to that point where the alternative history takes over. For example many times the author makes reference to the German invasion of Russia in 1940 ..... it was 1941. Also only one particular small arm of the SS were responsible mainly for the round up of Jews and Communists in occupied Soviet Union, not the Waffen SS. German soldiers and the SS were under very strict rules and rape and theft etc were severely punished and considered dishonorable. To constantly refer to Russian revenge for the rape and pillage of the home land is just not true.
Great story and realistic. Only problem is the author research is typical of someone who has not dived deep into the facts of what really happened leading up to that point where the alternative history takes over. For example many times the author makes reference to the German invasion of Russia in 1940 ..... it was 1941. Also only one particular small arm of the SS were responsible mainly for the round up of Jews and Communists in occupied Soviet Union, not the Waffen SS. German soldiers and the SS were under very strict rules and rape and theft etc were severely punished and considered dishonorable. To constantly refer to Russian revenge for the rape and pillage of the home land is just not true.
August 15, 2024
Robert Conroy has written several alternate history novels, although this is the first of his that I have read. It's a solid effort and sticks pretty closely to the conditions of the relevant forces at the time. If I was to have any major disagreement with his suppositions, it is with the ability of the Soviet Air Force to resist the USAAF and RAF dominating the skies over Eastern Europe to a greater extent than they do in this novel. The Soviet Air Force in 1945 was much improved from 1941, but I don't believe it had the numbers or the quality of aircraft to put up much resistance against the Allies - even given that the bulk of American air power was concentrated in the Pacific Theatre. However, I did enjoy this novel.
January 4, 2020
I finished this book 📚 since I was getting bored with the other one I have been reading recently. It's difficult to get a good alternative history book. Conroy's books are once again partly cheap political historical analysis & cliche American triumph against all odds. His style of writing is ridiculously cliche but his political analysis of German citizens knowledge of the Holocaust is dangerous historical revisionism; he directly claims the average German was not aware of the Death Camps and of the atrocities, & either he is woefully ignorant or blatantly lying. A dissapointing read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2017
A great read. The author blends actual events to an alternate reality, skillfully integrating historical figures with fictional characters.
Conroy follows all side of the conflict, from political leaders, frontline soldiers and civilian standpoints.
At first, the writers style of slipping between scenes without a noticeable break is a bit disconcerting, however, it was not an overall detriment to the story lines.
Conroy follows all side of the conflict, from political leaders, frontline soldiers and civilian standpoints.
At first, the writers style of slipping between scenes without a noticeable break is a bit disconcerting, however, it was not an overall detriment to the story lines.
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