1945 (novel)

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**Title** **1945**
Author	Newt Gingrich William R. Forstchen
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Alternate history
Publisher	Baen Books
Released	August 1, 1995
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages	400
ISBN	978-0671877392

1945 is an alternate history co-authored by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen in 1995, describing the period immediately after a World War II wherein the United States had fought only against Japan, allowing Nazi Germany to defeat the Soviet Union, after which the two victors confront each other in a cold war which swiftly turns hot.

The book is unique in having been written by a well-known politician and published when the author was at the peak of a quite controversial career, with criticism of the book for its merits (or lack thereof) and criticism of the author for his political stance being almost inextricably mixed. Almost invariably, reviews mentioned the "pouting sex kitten" (a character which only appeared in the prologue).

Originally, the authors and Jim Baen, the head of Baen Books, had intended that 1945 would be the first of a trilogy. The success of the Republican Party in the 1994 elections made Gingrich the most prominent member of the U.S. Congress. Anticipating a greatly-increased demand for the book, Baen switched from paperback to hardcover, and increased the print run to meet the much-larger advance orders from booksellers. Their expectations proved unwarranted. Sales were respectable for a hardcover science-fiction novel, but nothing like the expected best-seller. Over 80% of the copies printed were remaindered, killing paperback sales as well. [1] [2]

1 Plot
2 Critical response
3 Reference
4 See also
5 External link

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The book details the planned invasion of the United States to stop the atomic bomb programs in Oak Ridge and Los Alamos, along with the invasion of England.

It ends with a cliffhanger — Rommel invading Scotland, the British facing a desperate fight, and Churchill imploring the Americans "come quickly, this is much worse than 1940" — but a promised sequel, provisionally called "Fortress Europa", has yet to be written, though many years have passed and the writers had meanwhile completed a different alterante history trilogy (American Civil War).

In our history, "Fortress Europe" was the Nazi concept of making German-occupied Europe impreganable to the invasion which was clearly coming since the US started massing its forces in Britain in 1943. In D-Day this "fortress" was decisively breached. The projected book's name seems to suggest that the same would happen in this history, some years behind schedule (and without a Soviet army simulatenously coming in from the east).

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Critical response

The book drew many negative reviews which Gingrich supporters claimed were biased and politically-motivated (see [3]).

It has been described as being "a disguised tract against gun control"^[1] as a key scene depicts an armed Tennessee civilian militia, led by Alvin York, defeating Otto Skorzeny's commandos who raid Oak Ridge.