A buddy of mine at work let me borrow a couple of them, and despite the oddness and "grain of salt" factor, I have to admit that I'm hooked on them, to the extent that I just bought the next two of the "Great War" series to finish it up and the first book of the "American Empire" series to keep it going.
For the vast majority unfamiliar with them (as I was until the first one showed up on top of my locker a few weeks ago), he's written a long and intricate series based on the "what if?" premise of the South having won the Civil War and the Confederacy surviving into the 20th Century. The series starts with the famous Special Order 191 that was found by the Union before Lee's first Invasion of Maryland not having been lost- as a result, the Confederates invasion is successful and they deal the Union a crushing defeat at a Pennsylvania battle referred to simply as "Camp Hill" (aside from a few snippets, you never get a real detailed look at what happened). This victory prevents Lincoln from ever issuing his "Emancipation Proclomation" (which he felt confident enough to release after the Union victory at Antietam IRL) and causes the British and French to extend recognition to the Confederate States of America in 1862. The story then jumps ahead to 1881 (the CSA still has slavery, James Longstreet is President and Stonewall Jackson, who never had the chance to die at Chancellorsville, is the Commanding General of the CS Army; and Lincoln is still alive and a social pariah for having gotten the US into a losing war. And That Damn Fool Custer is still alive) and what is later referred to as the "Second Mexican War", when the CSA annexes two provinces from Mexico to allow them access to the Pacific (making them a continent-spanning nation like the USA) and causing the USA and CSA to go to war again. Britian and France come to their allies aid (invading Montana from Canada, shelling and closing the Great Lakes ports, and blockading the Atlantic and Pacific coasts) and hands the USA their second crushing defeat in a generation. Afterwards, they formalise an alliance with the only European power that has been anything close to friendly with them- Imperial Germany.
The story then jumps ahead to 1914, when the US (which is formally part of the Central Powers and very closely allied with Germany after 30+ years of cooperation) and the Confederacy (part of the Quadruple-entante with France, Britain and Russia) get involved right off the bat. The confederates expect another quick and easy victory like the last two, but much has changed in the US- the US Army is now structured on the Imperial German model (2-year conscripted service for all men over 18, a professional General Staff, etc.) and they have a serious chip on their shoulder about crushing the Confederacy (who they still deride as "Rebs") and teaching the meddling French and British a lesson. Within the first year they have taken much of Canada (driven all the way to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and have linked up their forces from the Niagara Peninsula to Detroit, and driven deep into Alberta and Manitoba) and made deep penetrations into the Confederacy (Kentucky, Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma (which is now called Sequoya) and into their Mexican provinces of Chihuahua and Sonora). The Confederate offensives into Pennsylvania, Delaware and Martyland have been ground to a halt and driven back almost to their starting points- only the area around washington DC and the Potomac are firmly in their control. The US sneak-attacks the Sandwich Islands at Pearl Harbor and conquer them from the British, and get into a see-saw campaign with the British and Japanese Navies sortieing out of the Phillipines (no Spanish-American War, so no US presence in the Pacific beyond the West Coast before the war starts). Aside from the obvious changes, much of the combat is familiar and accurate to the period- the evolution of air-power on all sides, the new threat of submarines and commerce raiding, and eventually the horrors of trench warfare and the first uses of Chlorine Gas in Virginia.
The first book of the "Great War" trilogy also includes much with he civilians, including women moving into the factories to take the place of the men at the front and what its like for the families at home and in the conquered territories, and the growing Socialist/Communist movements. One of the biggest changes is that the Negro poulation of the South, while not officially slaves anymore, are really no better off than they've ever been- the US is a foreign country and doeasn't want them running across the border, and the Confederacy officially classifies them as a labor-class, much like the Russian Peasants. They are oppressed, abused, hated, and many of them are secretly working toward a Communist Revolution. As the first book ends in mid-1915, it appears that the Red Revolt is underway in the CSA and not far off in the US.
I know it sounds bizarre and hard to follow, but the more I think about it and get into it, the more I like it and find it "believable". I really enjoy them, and it makes you think about how much can change based on one little difference. So much of history hinges on seemingly inoccuous events, that a simple lost order not having been lost at all has completely changed the world.
