At 07:55 PM 8/25/98 -0500, David Lerman wrote:

At 03:53 PM 8/25/98 PDT, The Critic wrote:

An interesting premise couched in okay prose. The fic isn't laden with 
too much filler, and remains focused and interesting from beginning to 
end.

The idea that the Axis won a world-wide victory is ridiculous beyond 
words, but the alternate world is interesting. It needs to be fleshed 
out more, but mind you don't get distracted.

 It is not an 'Axis triumphant' world.  This alternate timeline diverged
much earlierk than WW2.  In this timeline, the US never existed. 

             dml

	As David points out, that's the important bit here. And I was also
somewhat unclear in my earlier letter. Allow me to clarify..

	Ahem. What I was *referring* to earlier in pointing out the divergence
having occured in the 1600's was the possibilities that the ONLY colonies
the British might have had would have been a SMALL piece of what's
currently the easternmost Atlantic coast of Canada. If the struggle between
Spain and Britain had gone even slightly differently, most of what's now
the USA would be split between Czarist Russia (Alaska, Western Canada,
upper US Pacific coast), Imperial Spain (lower US Pacific coast <ie,
California>, Southwestern US, Florida and most of the Carribian along with
South America) and the Kingdom of France (the area around the Missisippi,
the Great Lakes, and most of what was French Quebec.). Britain's colonies
were pretty puny and useless until AFTER Queen Elizabeth's forces defeated
the Spanish Armada, and British funded 'privateers' (read out and out
pirates) proceeded to bleed Spain's commerce to death by raiding their
shipping.

	The fact that North America ended up conposed of two large nations (USA
and Canada) and one meduim to large sized nation (Mexico) was mostly luck.
It COULD have ended up a crazy patchwork quilt of nations like Europe itself.

	Remember, the place known as 'Six Flags over Texas' isn't merely a
marketing gimmick. Six different flags of varying nations have flown over
that spot.

	It doesn't take much to divert history. It just required picking the
proper spot. Don't believe that? Here's a real life example..

	Most Americans have heard, at one time or another, of the great markswoman
and trickshooter Annie Oakley. What few know of is the fact that she had a
chance to completely _prevent_ WW I.

	During one of her tours in Europe with the Wild West show, she had been
drinking quite heavily the night before, and was quite hung over. During
the following show, a man emerged from the audience and dared her to shoot
a cigar from his mouth.

	As things went, Annie mustered her courage, and did her best. She
successfully shot the cigar from the gentleman's mouth without injuring him.

	How, you ask, could this have prevented the first World War? The gentleman
in question was Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany. Annie's first shot at the cigar
in his mouth missed killing him by one inch. A slight twich of her wrist,
and Wilhelm would have been dead. And it's generally agreed by experts MUCH
more qualified than I am tht Wilhelm brought Germany in on the side that he
did primarilly out of feelings of physical inadequacy due to his withered
arm. Feeling inferior, he entered the war to prove his manliness to his
relations in the other royal families at the time. (Russia, Britain, Spain,
et cetera).

	A single shot, Kaiser Wilhelm would have been dead, Annie Oakley would
have been tried for murder, and a saner man might have ended up on the
Imperial German throne.

	Such turning points are of what history is often built.

	It can be frightening, when you contemplate it.

	Ed Becerra


	"Dreamers may die, but the Dream is eternal.."