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Harry Turtledove is one of the most well-known authors in the genre of alternate history - the past as it could have been. Or, at least, how Turtledove thinks it could, anyway. I'll be going through at least a few of his books, looking both at the world of the books and the history that Turtledove is playing with. In 1588, King Philip II of Spain sent the 130 ships of the Invincible Armada to reconquer England from the Protestant Elizabeth II for Spain and the Catholic Church. That fleet, carrying 18000 Spanish soldiers, was supposed to pick up another 16000 men from the Spanish Netherlands, but aggressive action by Sir Francis Drake, Howard of Effingham and Admiral Sir John Hawkins was able to forestall this. In the decisive Battle of Gravelines, English naval forces sank 5 of the Spanish galleons while losing no ships, and the battered Spanish fleet was further wrecked by wind and wave. By the time the Armada limped back to Spain, a third of the fleet and over 20000 men were gone. The entire affair is regarded as one of the legendary disasters of military history. Or, at least our military history. .jpg) It is 1597. 9 years ago, the Spanish descended on England, smashing aside the armies of Elizabeth and conquering England. Isabella, daughter of Philip II, rules in London, and the English Inquisition hunts diligently for adherents to the banned Church of England - and any secret loyalty to Elizabeth I who sits imprisoned in the Tower of London. We will be following the adventures of a poet, actor, and playwright name of William Shakespeare, and those of a Spanish soldier, playwright, and actor by the name of Lope de Vega. As this book has only two POV characters, a relatively self-contained plot, and no sequels, it seemed like the ideal work to start with. Conventions: Excerpts from the book will be presented as quotes: quote:Like this Plain text will be summaries of unquoted text. Italics will be commentary or background information. Each chapter will be broken into sections as the point of view shifts. This will be labeled in this manner: Chapter 42 - Section 10: McCharacter Any discussion of further parts of the book, or discussion of other books as they relate to this one - character and scene reuse is a common criticism of Turtledove - be in spoilers. In the latter case, I'd prefer that the name of the book (or at least series) you're referring to is mentioned outside of the spoiler. There are some useful terms that will probably come up, so a small glossary is in order. This will be expanded as needed. OTL = Original Time Line (actual history) POD = Point Of Divergence (where actual history changed into book history) POV = Point of View - in this context, it means the character whose head we are currently riding in. This book has two, later series have dozens. (Will probably refine this OP as needed - this is new to me).
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Nov 8, 2019 01:30
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1597 Chapter 1 Part 1: Shakespeare quote:Two Spanish soldiers swaggered up Tower Street toward William Shakespeare. Their boots squelched in the mud. One wore a rusty corselet with his high-crowned morion, the other a similar helmet with a jacket of quilted cotton. Rapiers swung at their hips. The fellow with the corselet carried a pike longer than he was tall; the other shouldered an arquebus. Their lean, swarthy faces wore what looked like permanent sneers. Already, we have a lot to unpack here.  The real William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) was one of the most prominent literary minds in the history of the English language. His surviving works include 39 plays and almost 160 major poetic works, most of which have been translated to every language on Earth. Today, more than 4 centuries after his death, his fame is such that he remains a household name. Born to a country gentleman in the small village of Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, Shakespeare left little record of his early life, other than his marriage to Anne Hathaway in 1582, the birth of his elder daughter six months later, and the birth of his son and younger daughter (twins) in 1585. The first recorded performances of works attributed to him occurred in 1592, and he frequently acted upon the stage. The last known acting performances from him date to 1608, shortly before an outbreak of plague forced the theatres of London to close, and his last plays were written in collaboration in 1613. He died suddenly of unknown causes in 1616. Large land purchases suggest that his career made him a wealthy man, and he left the bulk of his estate to his daughter Susanna. Shortly after his death, friends of his compiled his works into the First Folio, asserting that the various other editions of his plays were unauthorized and inaccurate. To this day, there is a conspiracy theory that Shakespeare was a front man for another author, based on the assertion that a country bumpkin like him could never possess the level of genius that was readily apparent in him. We also see mention of the Spanish monarchs currently ruling England – so let’s see what the real ones were like.  Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566 - 1633) was, as suggested in the text, the daughter of Phillip II of Spain and his third wife. Betrothed to her cousin Rudolf Hapsburg (later Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II) at the age of 2, she was ineligible for marriage until Rudolf declared he wasn’t going to marry anybody. Eventually, she married her cousin Albert of Austria in 1599, at which time she was given control over the Spanish Netherlands (this territory being much of modern Belgium and Luxembourg, parts of France, The Netherlands, and Germany, capitaled at Brussels.). Upon the death of Albert in 1621, she joined a religious community (now the Secular Fransican Order) in the spirit of Francis of Assisi. History records their reign as an able one, marked by the virtual elimination of the long-simmering rebellion in the Spanish Netherlands, great patronage of the arts, and significant diplomatic coups. The most prominent diplomatic accomplishments were (ironically) the end of the undeclared war between England and Spain, along with a 12 year truce in the Eighty Years War. Here, the Turtledove timeline and the OTL one doesn’t match up. The Armada sailed in 1588, and this book begins in 1597. As it is stated that Isabella and Albert were crowned immediately on the Spanish conquest, this means that she married Albert a full 11 years early, at a time when she was still solidly betrothed to somebody else. This sort of parallelism is one frequent criticism of Turtledove, and the origin of the thread title. quote:
He is distracted first by the arrival of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Parsons and then by the heavily guarded prisoners. First a dozen sentenced to hang, a large number sentenced to condemnation followed by imprisonment or humiliation, and finally a dozen condemned to be burned. Among these latter are a proud and defiant Puritan by the name of Philip Stubbes, and a counterfeiter and alchemist by the name of Edward Kelley. Stubbes is practically rejoicing in his martyrdom, but Kelley is terrified, and desperately tries to convince him that he is repentant in the hopes of at least gaining an easier death by strangulation. His pleas failing to convince the monks, he spots Shakespeare in the crowd and cries out for aid – much to Shakespeare’s dismay as this brings suspicion on him. quote:As it went past, the pikemen who'd been holding back the crowd shouldered their weapons. Some folk went on about their business. More streamed after the procession to Tower Hill, to watch the burnings that would follow. Shakespeare stepped out into the muddy street. Along with the rest of the somber spectacle, he wanted to see Edward Kelley die. Shakespeare does not applaud Stubbes, although others do, due to his fear of the new suspicion placed upon him. He does, however, wonder if he could get away with so brave a character in a play without the audience dismissing him. Some of the prisoners were repentant enough for some mercy and are strangled, but (despite his best efforts) Edward Kelley is not among them. The Queen gives the command, and the prisoners are burned. The real Philip Stubbs was a well-known pamphleteer, most famous for a tract in which he denounced the theater, gambling, drinking, and contemporary fashion. He found no opportunities for martyrdom, and died in 1610.  Edward Kelley was also a real person, albeit one shrouded in legend. He was a partner of Elizabeth I’s advisor and court astrologer John Dee, who claimed to be able to contact angels. Kelley was an occultist and alchemist, famous for his claim to be able to transmute base metals into gold. He also was allegedly able to interpret the language of the angels Dee contacted. The two were accused of necromancy while traveling the Continent in 1587, and were forced to attend a hearing with the Catholic Nuncio of Prague, during which event Kelley managed to issue significant insults to the Catholic Church. In 1589 or 1590, Rudolf II hired Kelley to make gold for the Holy Roman Empire. In 1591 Kelley was arrested by Rudolf II for killing a nobleman in a duel. In 1595 he was released to make gold, followed by his arrest for failing to make any gold. He either died in captivity in 1597 or poisoned himself in 1598. If there is any record of him meeting the historical Shakespeare, I cannot find it. quote:Better him than me, Shakespeare thought as fire swallowed Edward Kelley. The mixture of shame and relief churning inside him made him want to spew. Oh, dear God, better him than me. He turned away from the stakes, from the reek of charred flesh, and hurried back into the city. This is a good setup section. The auto-de-fe is well done, provides an excellent grounding for the setting, and fingering Shakespeare out is a good setup for later. The first sentence is particularly good. The notion of victorious Spanish soldiers marching through London is a very striking image, particularly with the familiar figure of Shakespeare to give it some grounding. Chapter 1 Part 2: De Vega quote:LOPE FÉLIX DE VEGA Carpio had been in London for more than nine years, and in all that time he didn't think he'd been warm outdoors even once. The English boasted of their springtime. It came two months later here than in Madrid, where it would have been reckoned a mild winter. As for summer . . . He rolled his eyes. As best he could tell, there was no such thing as an English summer. quote:"Thine husband?" Despite his horror, de Vega had the sense to keep his voice to a whisper. "Lying minx, thou saidst thou wert a widow!" Lost in the fogs of London, and well after curfew, he proceeds with drawn rapier. As an officer, he need not fear Spanish patrols, but any English out at this time would be criminals looking for somebody to rob. He does encounter just such a man, but they manage to avoid actually meeting, and De Vega eventually happens on a Spanish patrol. They mock him for being out so late and ignoring the rules, chatter about the deficiencies of England and Englishmen, and provide him with an escort to the barracks near St. Swithin’s church. There he finds his servant Diego asleep, which is how one usually finds Diego. He finds the servant all but useless, but a proper Spanish gentleman is never without a servant, so a terrible servant is better than none.  Lope Félix de Vega y Carpio (1562-1635) was a Spanish soldier, playwright, and novelist. The author of more than 500 plays, 3 novels, 4 novellas, and over 3000 works of poetry, he is almost as prominent a figure in Spanish literature as Shakespeare is in the English variety. He is nearly as famous for his amorous affairs as he is his literary one. The collapse of a love affair led to his exile from Castile, followed by his marriage under pressure in 1588. Shortly after marrying, he began his second tour with the navy of Spain and sailed off with the Armada to England. His ship, the San Juan, was one of the survivors of the doomed expedition, and he was not injured. After his wife died after childbirth in 1594, he moved to Madrid and took on several new lovers - one of which bore him several more children – and a second wife. He joined the priesthood after the death of his favorite son and second wife, although he famously continued to take lovers. He died of scarlet fever in 1595 quote:When he woke, it was still dark outside. He felt rested enough, though. In fall and winter, English nights stretched ungodly long, and the hours of July sunshine never seemed enough to make up for them. Diego didn't seemed to have moved; his snores certainly hadn't changed rhythm. If he ever felt rested enough, he'd given no sign of it. His breakfast of bread, olive oil, and wine (the latter two imports from Spain) is capped off by a visit from his captain’s servant Enrique, summoning him to an immediate meeting with said captain. Enrique is so brilliant and diligent a servant as to inspire envy in De Vega, who is saddled with the useless Diego. This does not prevent him from answering the summons immediately, of course. quote:"Buenos días, your Excellency," Lope said as he walked in. He swept off his hat and bowed. Guzman needles De Vega for his late return the night before, and the subject turns to the failing health of Spain’s dying monarch Philip II, and a mutually insincere hope that Phillip III will match his father’s rule. This turns to De Vega’s plans for the day, which are to attend the theatre. Guzman wonders if this is really in the line of duty, or simply a desire to satisfy the literary interests of Lope De Vega. De Vega counters with the well reasoned argument that he can gauge the mood of the common Englishman while standing incognito in the crowd, and chatting with the actors afterward could bring more insight still. quote:"Some of them indeed have connections with their patrons." Guzmán gave the word an obscene twist. But then he sighed. "Still, I can't say you're wrong. Some of them are spies, and so . . . and so, Lieutenant, I know you are mixing pleasure with your business, but I cannot tell you not to do it. I want a full report, in writing, when you get back." De Vega makes his way to the theater, envying the fact that the English have dedicated theatres at all, as opposed to the Spanish practice of performing in front of a tavern. He pays the cheapest price to stand among the groundlings, reasoning that he’ll hear more there than he would in the more expensive gallery seats. This is rewarded when he hears a conversation praising the now-burned Stubbes that stops just short of criticizing the Spanish. Philip II of Spain died of cancer in September 1598, meaning that concerns of failing health in 1597 are entirely reasonable by comparison to OTL. This, however, is another example of excessive parallelism. Much as with Isabella marrying Albert, there is a strong tendency for him to match things up to actual history even when the conditions changed dramatically. While the cancer that killed Philip in real life may have struck regardless, it is highly unlikely that it would strike in exactly the same way and time that it did historically. Likewise, there is a very real chance that Philip III would have grown up a different man in a Spain that had crushed all enemies. Failing to consider that could justly be considered lazy writing. quote:
quote:But Shakespeare, as de Vega had seen him do in other plays, used English conventions to advantage. Rosalind disguised herself as a boy to escape the court of her wicked uncle: a boy playing a girl playing a boy. And then a minor character playing a feminine role fell for "him": a boy playing a girl in love with a boy playing a girl playing a boy. Lope couldn't help howling laughter. He was tempted to count on his fingers to keep track of who was who, or of who was supposed to be who. After the play, De Vega makes his way backstage to meet with the actors, which is so routine a behavior that the guards know him by name. There is a bit of comedy when he runs into somebody’s wife backstage and responds gracefully, only to have his lecherous reputation mocked by the company clown, Will Kemp. He finds Shakespeare having a chat with Christopher Marlowe, and the three of them start to talk about the theatre. The choice of Lope De Vega to serve as Shakespeare’s foil is a good one. De Vega’s connection to the theatre makes their contacts eminently natural in a way that any other soldier would not have, and his status as a literary giant rivaling Shakespeare makes the image a striking one. Chapter 1, Part 3: Shakespeare. Late that evening, Marlowe rants about De Vega’s long presense, and mocks Shakespeare for calling the Spaniard a harmless theatre nut. Shakespeare responds with a dig at Marlowe’s love life. quote:Shakespeare stood several inches taller. He set a hand on the other playwright's shoulder. "However long he lingered, he's gone now, Kit. He's harmless, or as harmless as a man of his kingdom can be. Mad for the stage, as you heard." Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) was another of the giants of Elizabethan theatre. His works were a great influence on other playwrights of the day, most notably a certain William Shakespeare. Indeed, he is one professed candidate for the “true author” of some of Shakespeare’s plays by theorists who lean in that direction. Concrete information about him is scanty. Speculation that he was an atheist, a Catholic, and a spy can be traced to his own era, and rumors of his love of boys appears shortly after his death, although none have been solidly substantiated. He died of a knife in the head during a fight with a man named Ingram Frizer. After further prompting from the tired tireman, the two carry the argument out into the streets. At this point, Shakespeare prods Marlowe for whatever it is he didn’t want to talk about in front of De Vega. Marlowe wants Shakespeare to meet with a business acquaintance of his, to which Shakespeare agrees. Marlowe, however, seems furious even after said agreement. After some discussion, it turns out that Marlowe is angry because said acquaintance wants to do business with Shakespeare instead of Marlowe. Realizing now that the business must be of a literary nature, and fully recognizing the extent to which Marlowe influenced his own work, Shakespeare offers to refuse the man, stepping aside to give Marlowe the job. Marlowe is surprised, but admits that Shakespeare really is better for the job, needling Shakespeare for being willing to stand aside. They part, with the guarantee that Marlowe will bring his friend to meet Shakespeare the next evening. Assuring his landlady that his late return was merely due to lingering after the play, and further assuring her that he’d have no trouble paying the rent, Shakespeare has a mug of ale before heading to dinner. quote:From the chest by his bed, he took his second-best spoon--pewter--a couple of quills, a knife to trim them, ink, and three sheets of paper. He sometimes wished he followed a less expensive calling; each sheet cost more than a loaf of bread. He locked the chest once more, then hurried off to the ordinary around the corner. He sat down at the table with the biggest, fattest candle on it: he wanted the best light he could find for writing. quote:
Thomas Phelippes (1556–1625) was a linguist and intelligence officer of the English government. He is most famous for playing a key role in unearthing the plot to kill Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary I. If we accept that Marlowe was a spy, it would be extremely likely for him to know Phelippes. This section is more setup, and more interesting as a sort of slice-of-life bit than for plot reasons. The final sentence is a good cliffhanger, leaving us with the mystery of what exactly they want Shakespeare to do, and how a common playwright could play any role in saving England. Gnoman fucked around with this message at 01:52 on Nov 8, 2019 |
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Nov 8, 2019 01:49
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Epicurius posted:It's kind of interesting that Turtledove is making the two viewpoint characters both playwrights...one English and one Spanish. Thank you. I fully intended to cover this, and thought I had. 1597 Chapter II Part I: De Vega We open this chapter with De Vega speaking with Enrique before a meeting with Guzmán in response to his report on the play he attended. Enrique is full of praise both for De Vega’s report and for Shakespeare himself. After chit-chat along these lines, De Vega is brought into Guzmán’s office. quote:"Oh, no doubt, no doubt, but Enrique will make too much of himself." Tapping the report with his forefinger, Guzmán got down to business: "Overall, this is a good piece of work, Lieutenant. Still, I need to remind you again that you visit the Theatre as his Majesty's spy, not as his drama critic." De Vega acknowledges meeting Marlowe, stating that he was merely there as a literary critic. Guzmán counters that Marlowe is a very dangerous man, known to keep company with rogues of all sorts. Knowing too many of the wrong kind of people means that Marlowe probably is the wrong kind of people, and the Inquisition has investigated him repeatedly. This naturally turns to Marlowe’s association with Shakespeare, and inevitably to Shakespeare himself. quote:
Guzmán acknowledges this, but still considers this to be a matter worth investigating. Guzmán tells De Vega to take his report to an Englishman in Westminster who is an important part of the Spanish administration of the country, assuring him that the Englishman speaks perfect Spanish. This gun didn’t take long to fire. We saw last chapter that Shakespeare has been recruited in some plot against the Spanish, and De Vega was a perfectly placed agent to fight against said plot. Spurring the inquisition to suspect guilt-by association and thus giving De Vega a vague suspicion that something is wrong is a textbook way of bringing about the main conflict of the story, and it is hard to fault Turtledove’s use here. I think it is kind of a clumsy execution, however, particularly in timing. quote:A wan English sun, amazingly low in the southern sky, dodged in and out from behind rolling clouds as Lope de Vega rode through London toward Westminster. When he went past St. Paul's cathedral, he scratched his head, wondering as he always did why the otherwise magnificent edifice should be spoiled by the strange, square, flat-topped steeple. Not so much as a cross up there, he thought, and clucked reproachfully at the folly of the English.  The building De Vega is discussing is the predecessor to the current St. Paul’s Cathedral. Old St. Paul’s was famous for having a rather maginificent steeple – until 1561. In that year, the steeple caught on fire (probably due to a lightning strike), causing the entire thing to cave in. The roof was repaired, but no new steeple was erected. Restoration of the grand old building was begun in 1621, but halted by the outbreak of the English Civil War. Eventually, the entire structure was gutted in the Great Fire Of London in 1666. While reconstruction was technically possible, the immense cost led leaders to demolish the structure and build a new cathedral instead. quote:Lope couldn't tell exactly where that ward ended and the suburbs of the city began. He had thought Madrid a grand place, and so it was, but London dwarfed it. He wouldn't have been surprised if the English capital held a quarter of a million people. If that didn't make it the biggest city in the world, it surely came close. Phelippes and De Vega chat amiably about languages and the virtues of Captain Guzmán, although De Vega notices something peculiar about Phelippes as he explains his mission and hands over the report. quote:Phelippes took it. "I thank you. I am acquainted with Captain Guzmán. A good man, sly as a serpent." Lope wouldn't have used that as praise, but the Englishman plainly intended it so. He also spoke of the Spanish nobleman as an equal or an inferior. How important are you? Lope knew he couldn't ask. Phelippes went on, "Is there anything he desires me to look for in especial?" Here is a very interesting passage. Phelippes is not only on the side of whatever conspiracy is recruiting Shakespeare, but also a high figure in the occupation government. The obvious ploy for an author is to make it unclear who Phelippes is really working for – is he a rebel spy in the government, or is he an agent provocateur? Unfortunately, however, he is so blatantly covering for Shakespeare here that there is no mystery – if he was working wholly for the Spanish, or playing both sides for some reason, he’d have been much less blatant about protecting Shakespeare. This isn’t necessarily a fault in the writing – Turtledove might have decided that he didn’t want the readers to doubt, and simply wanted to demonstrate the reach of the conspiracy he hasn’t yet revealed. Chapter 2, Part 2: Shakespeare quote:When rehersals went well, they were a joy. Shakespeare took more pleasure in few things than in watching what had been only pictures and words in his mind take shape on the stage before his eyes. When things went not so well, as they did this morning . . . He clapped a hand to his forehead. " 'Sdeath!" he shouted. "Mechanical salt-butter rogues! Boys, apes, braggarts, Jacks, milksops! You are not worth another word, else I'd call you knaves." Shakespeare acknowledges the hit, but insists that his part is small and that the next performance would be a disaster if things don’t improve. Burbage insists that everything will be better when it comes to the afternoon’s performance, as they always are.  Richard Burbage (1567-1619) was the owner of two theatres in London, and an extremely prominent actor. Most of Shakespeare’s title roles were first played by Burbage, and he was also a talented artist – it is speculated that the most famous painting of Shakespeare was a Burbage work. quote:"Not always," Shakespeare said, remembering calamities he wished he could forget. They return to rehearsal for the afternoon’s production of Romeo and Juliet, particularly the scene where Mercutio is slain by Tybalt. Burbage is still upset about the argument, and a far better swordsman than Shakespeare is – he is stated to have fought against the Spaniards during the invasion, while Shakespeare is a poor swordsman even by stage standards. These two factors almost cause Shakespeare to be injured when it comes time for him to “die”. Shakespeare acknowledges that the scene went better, but that he has something to say about Burbage’s swordsmanship. quote:The other player chose to misunderstand him. Setting a hand on the hilt of his rapier, he said, "I am at your service." The afternoon performance went well, but the stage is pelted by the groundlings throwing stones at gentlemen who paid extra for a space right by the stage – and obscured the stage with thick clouds of tobacco smoke. Shakespeare is cleaning up and trading barbs with Will Kemp when De Vega enters. quote:"Were you I, you'd have a better seeming than you do," Shakespeare retorted. People laughed louder than the joke deserved. The biter bit was always funny; Shakespeare had used the device to good effect in more than one play. Will Kemp bared his teeth in what might have been a smile. He found the joke hard to see. quote:
De Vega accepts this, and wanders off to flirt with one of the nearby women. Noting that one of the hired actors is infuriated by De Vega’s advances, he decides that this is an opportune time to leave. He collects Burbage and heads out of the theatre, stopping to have a passed-out customer removed from the theatre to avoid him getting a free play the next day. Watching a woman slip and fall turns the subject to Will Kemp, and Burbage provides an excellent opportunity for Shakespeare to begin discussing weightier matters. quote:Shakespeare nodded. Kemp in particular had a habit of extemporizing on stage. Sometimes his brand of wit drew more mirth than Shakespeare's. That was galling enough. But whether he got his laughs or not, his stepping away from the written part never failed to pull the play out of shape. Shakespeare said, "Whether he know it or no, he's not the Earth, with other players sun and moon and planets spinning round his weighty self." The subject of the Inquisition allows Shakespeare to discuss the Spanish occupation and then, when Burbage expresses dissatisfaction with the situation, to bluntly ask if Burbage wants Elizabeth back on the throne. After some equivocation, Burbage finally puts it plainly. He’s an Englishman, not a Spaniard, and Shakespeare can go tell De Vega that if he wants to. quote:"You were an idiot to speak your mind to me, did you reckon I'd turn traitor," Shakespeare replied after some small silence of his own. Apart from that, Turtledove does a good job here illustrating the attitude of someone living in an occupied kingdom. Having to decide how far you can bend before you betray your true loyalties is exactly the sort of thing people would have to deal with in such a situation. They split off, Shakespeare going to his boarding house and Burbage to his home. Shakespeare muses that, were he to go home to Stratford as his wife insists upon he would avoid dealing with the Spaniards almost entirely, as they rarely go to the sleepy village. Unfortunately, London holds too much fame and money for him to be willing to do that. quote:When he walked into the house where he lodged, Jane Kendall greeted him with, "A man was asking after you today, Master Will." She remembers that the man gave the name of Nick Skeres, and that she told him to look at the Theatre, which is where Shakespeare is during the day. One of the other boarders, a man named Peter Foster, suggests that the man might be wanting to throw Shakespeare in jail, and that innocence means nothing if the man is paid. He then criticizes Shakespeare’s lack of a sword, as any threat isn’t likely to know Shakespeare has no idea how to use one, but would reckon that a large man like Shakespeare would be extremely dangerous in a fight, if properly armed. He heads off to his customary place for meals, where he dines on stewed eels. After he eats, he tries to do some writing, but has little success. [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Skeres[/url]Nicholas Skeres (1593-1601?) was a con man and government spy in this era. He was almost certainly a player in the plot to kill Elizabeth that Thomas Philippes helped unover, probably as a government agent. He was later dining with Robert Poley (another man involved in uncovering the plot), Ingram Frizer, and Christopher Marlowe when an argument between the latter two lead to Frizer killing Marlowe in alleged self-defense. He was later involved with the rebellion of the Earl of Essex in 1601 and thrown in prison, where he is believed to have died. quote:Tonight, though, his own misgivings were what kept interrupting him. It was not a night when he had to worry about forgetting curfew. That he got anything at all done on Love's Labour's Won struck him as a minor miracle. The play Shakespeare is working on is a bit interesting. There is no extant play known as Love’s Labour’s Won, although there are references to such a play existing in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. While it is possibly a lost work (perhaps as a sequel to Love’s Labor’s Lost), it is also possible that it was an early title of an older play – candidates include The Taming Of The Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, or As You Like It (which, of course, is the play De Vega attended in Chapter I). Chapter 2: Part 3: De Vega quote:The two actors--actually, the two Spanish soldiers--playing Liseo and his servant, Turín, appeared at what was supposed to be an inn in the Spanish town of Illescas, which lay about twenty miles south of Madrid. The one playing Liseo hesitated, bit his lip, and looked blank. Lope de Vega hissed his line at him: "¡Qué lindas posadas!" La Dama Boba (literally “The Silly Lady”, one English title is The Lady-Fool) is a comedy by Lope De Vega. The real de Vega didn’t write this work until 1613, rendering this as a potential anachronism. The different circumstances can excuse this – he simply wrote it earlier in this timeline- but the lack of any “I changed it on purpose” signposting makes me suspect this was an error by the author. The furious de Vega pushes the two soldiers too far when he compares them negatively to the English actors he has been working with. quote:
quote:"Your Excellency, I am always devoted to duty," Lope said. It wasn't strictly true, but it sounded good. He added, "And the powers that be have been kind enough to encourage my plays. They say they keep the men happy by giving them a taste of what they might have at home." Diego is, of course, asleep, and is far from enthusiastic about his new job. De Vega threatens him into the job at swordpoint, neither of them absolutely certain that the threat won’t be carried out. De Vega further informs him that, should Diego refuse to act he will be dismissed from de Vega’s service. Diego thinks this might not be so bad as he could always find another master, but de Vega cuts that thought off. quote:
Another slice-of-life chapter, which seems to exist only as a nod to the real De Vega’s literary status. This isn’t a bad thing, and contributes to building the character, but it could be called padding. De Vega doesn’t come off too good here – aside from his offhand remark about Diego being just a little above a slave, threatening an employee with a sword (and sword-wielding Scotsmen!) because he doesn’t want to do something that is well beyond his usual duties is a bit harsh. Chapter 2: Part 4: Shakespeare Shakespeare is walking out of a poultry shop where he has just bought new feathers to make into pens when a man approaches him and hails him by name. quote:He did get recognized away from the Theatre every so often. Usually, that pleased him. Today . . . Today, he wished he were wearing a rapier as Peter Foster had suggested, even if it were one made for the stage, without proper edge or temper. Instead of nodding, he asked, "Who seeks him?" as if he might be someone else. quote:
.jpg) William Cecil (1520-1598) was by far the most important advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. He was the primary architect of English foreign policy in the era, and was the primary player in establishing the primacy of the Church of England and the persecution of England’s Catholics. He was also a major proponent of building up the Royal Navy as a guardian against Catholic powers. He died in 1598 of a stroke or a heart attack. Given his staunch anti-Catholic policies and his personal prestige, Cecil is an obvious threat to Spain’s control over England. It is thus incredibly unlikely that Philip would have him spared. To use a historical analogy, it would be like having a victorious Hitler leave Churchill alive while executing most other British politicians. Cecil orders Shakespeare and Skeres to sit, and informs them that the health of Philip II is failing, as is his own. Fortunately for England, Cecil’s son Robert is a better man than his father (according to Cecil) while Philip’s son is less able than Philip is. After some praise of Shakespeare’s play, Cecil informs Shakespeare that he is to deal the Spanish a heavy blow when Philip dies. quote:The gesture served well enough. Lord Burghley chuckled again--and then coughed again, and had trouble stopping. When at last he did, he said, "Think you not that, on hearing of Philip the tyrant's passing, our bold Englishmen will recall they are free, and brave? Think you not they will do't, if someone remind them of what they were, and of what they are, and of what they may be?" After this, Cecil switches to Latin, which Shakespeare can understand well enough. He asks Shakespeare if he had ever read the Annals of Tacitus. quote:
Shakespeare sees quite well – the possibilities are so obvious that he practically aches to go start writing. More importantly, he sees what Cecil wants him to write. The Annals Of Tacitus is a historical account of the Roman Empire from the years AD 14 through AD 89, not all of which survives today. [url= http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Annals/14B*.html] Book 14, Chapter 29-37[/url] describes an Briton uprising under Queen Boudicca that inflicted a heavy defeat on the IX African Legion and seized London, killing thousands of Romans before a larger and more prepared force returned the defeat, prompting Boudicca’s suicide. Quite obviously, Cecil wants the audience to make a connection with the Romans invading Britannia with the Spaniards that invaded England. Shakespeare is confident, but sees difficulties. Cecil’s promises of everlasting fame and an immortal place in history move him, but he persists in his explanations quote:
Cecil accepts this as a serious risk, but Shakespeare isn’t finished yet. Not only is it necessary to trust the entire company with the secret, but there must be many secret rehearsals, not to mention costumes. Cecil’s suggestion of skipping some of it is met with approval by Shakespeare, as long as Cecil wants a botched play that everybody laughs at. quote:A wordless rumble came from deep within Lord Burghley's chest. "You show me a sea of troubles, Master Shakespeare. How arm we against them? Here you must be my guide: you, not I, are the votary of this mystery." More quotes from Hamlet in this exchange. Shakespeare’s doubts are killed abruptly by a simple question from Cecil - “Would you see England free again?”. Faced with it directly, Shakespeare agrees. Still, he can’t get started immediately as Cecil wants him to. quote:Shakespeare didn't scream, but he came close. "My lord," he said carefully, "I am now engaged upon preparing a new play for the company, and--" So, now we know the plot. The idea of using a play to spark a rebellion is inspired (according to the afterword) by the 1601 Essex's Rebellion against Elizabeth I, which was intended to put the court in the control of the disgraced Robert Devereux, earl of Essex. The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (Shakespeare’s company!) was paid an impressive sum to perform Richard II in an apparent bid to gain support. The rebellion was broken up quite handily, and the company was not held in suspicion as part of it. It is interesting to note that Turtledove did apply the butterfly effect in the name of Shakespeare’s theatre company. The historical company was Lord Chamberlain’s men under the patronage of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon. Carey was not only a loyal servant of Elizabeth I, his position of the Captain of the Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners made him her personal bodyguard at the time of the Armada. While it isn’t mentioned in the book as far as I can find, it is pretty obvious that Carey would have been killed during the invasion and thus in no position to sponsor a troupe of actors. Instead, Shakespeare’s company is Lord Westmorland's Men. This means their patron would be Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland. Neville was a devout Catholic who was a participant in the Rising of the North of 1569, which aimed to unseat Elizabeth, rescue Mary I, and put her on the throne. Fleeing to exile in Scotland, and later Flanders, Neville led a force of expatriate Englishmen as part of the forces intended to reinforce the Spanish Armada. In a world where the Armada succeeded, Philip II would have rewarded him greatly. Shakespeare is paid 50 pounds for his part, which is a lot of money. Based on the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, this would translate to £11,477.76 today – which probably underestimates things. Being paid that much for a single play would indeed be a good payday. Going back to my earlier statement about pacing, the first De Vega portion of this chapter would have worked better here – knowing exactly what Shakespeare is doing makes it much more interesting to see de Vega being sent after him. However, the nature of the plot means that using the Inquisition as a pointer was probably unnecessary. Sniffing out treason in the theatre is literally De Vega’s job, and having his suspicions raised by more organic means would have flowed better.
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Nov 12, 2019 04:40
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Chapter 3, Part 1: De Vegaquote:LOPE DE VEGA waved to a tall, scrawny Englishman in ragged clothes who stood, as hopefully as he could, by a rowboat. "You there, sirrah!" he said sharply. "How much to row us across to Southwark?" He pointed to the far bank of the Thames. Bear baiting was a popular blood sport in Elizabethan times, and continued in England until 1835. Today, there are a few regions where the "sport" is still practiced illegally, although the cost and difficulty of obtaining bears for the purpose limits it compared to other animal-fight practices. As practiced in England, it involved chaining a bear to a post and setting packs of hungry dogs on it. De Vega and his mistress watch a bear being tortured and killed by dogs for entertainment. After it dies, another bear is brought out to kill more dogs. quote:Lope and Nell had just left the bear-baiting garden when someone called his name from behind. It was a woman's voice. As if in the grip of nightmare, Lope slowly turned. Out of the arena came his other mistress, Martha Brock, walking with a man who looked enough like her to be her brother, and probably was. This is the only worthwhile part of this chapter. De Vega is publicly humiliated in a way that is certain to get back to his superiors and also many potential conquests. The bear-baiting is actually told fairly well, but it is still about torturing animals for entertainment. I suppose it is a worthwhile grounding in the setting, but it is pretty much irrelevant to the plot and really quite uncomfortable. Chapter 3, Part 2:Shakespeare quote:WILL KEMP LEERED at Shakespeare. The clown's features were soft as clay, and could twist into any shape. What lay behind his mugging? Shakespeare couldn't tell. "The first thing we do," Kemp exclaimed, "let's kill all the Spaniards!"  Will Kemp was a real person, and a fairly prominent actor in his era. Much less is known about him than Shakespeare or Burbage, but in 1600 he did, in fact, morris-dance from London to Norwich in 9 days (spread over the course of weeks). After some wordplay with Kemp, Shakespeare tries to sound out the loyalties of Jack Hungerford, the company's tireman (the contemporary term for the man in charge of wardrobe). As he will be essential to the presention of the new play, ensuring that he doesn't prefer the Spanish is essential. Unfortunately, Hungerford deflects the inquiry with ease. After a small part in the afternoon's performance of Marlowe's El Cid, Shakespeare leaves early to visit a bookseller. quote:Booksellers hawked their wares in the shadow of St. Paul's. Most of them sold pamphlets denouncing Protestantism and hair-raising accounts of witches out in the countryside. Some others offered the texts of plays--as often as not pirated editions, printed up from actors' memories of their lines. The volumes usually proved actors' memories less than they might have been. Apart from that, the problem of pirated plays was a very real one in this era, and it is the reason why most of the plays we have today are almost certainly corrupted to one degree or another. The bookseller does have a copy of Tacitus in stock, and tries to get Shakespeare to pay extra for a fine binding. Shakespeare, being of a thrifty inclination, preferrs to buy the book unbound. Even unbound, the bookseller is asking six shillings, After some haggling, they agree on 5 shillings sixpence, cutting 6 pennies from the price. At 20 shillings to the pound, this works out to almost £70 (~$90) in today's money. Comparing this to other prices, he could buy two threepenny meals at his normal eatery, or attend the theater (or a bear-baiting) six times. quote:
After everyone else has left, Kate trades some wordplay with Shakespeare, in which we learn that the two have been carrying on an affair. Mercifully, Turtledove spares us a sex scene here, jumping from a kiss to Shakespeare hurrying home afterward. Settling down to try some more writing, he is interrupted by Pete Foster, who turns out to be quite adept with lockpicks and let himself out of jail. The man is confident enough to sleep in his own bed before heading off to disappear, much to Shakespeare's alarm. Foster proves correct, as he is gone by morning with nobody coming to look for him. Chapter 3, Part 3: De Vega quote:"BUENOS DÍAS, YOUR EXCELLENCY," Lope de Vega said, sweeping off his hat and bowing to Captain Baltasar Guzmán. "How may I serve you this morning?" After fleeying his superior's office, he is briefly waylaid by Enrique, who is full of praise for La Dama Boba. De Vega warms to the praise, but he has to rush to the Archbishop. quote:"Thank you, your Eminence," Lope replied in the same language. He switched to English: "I speak your tongue, sir, an you have no Spanish." Welp. The Spanish have figured the whole thing out. Bold storytelling choice there! Naturally, the plot isn't going to unravel on page 99 of a 560-page book. Parson's suspicion of Shakespeare is based on the latter having been seen visiting a home of one of his betters (a mere playwright and actor has no business visiting the townhouse of a nobleman) and also in being seen with Skeres (who is the sort of ruffian no honest man would associate with. De Vega waves it off as Shakespeare being a friend of Marlow, and thus meeting many of the people Marlow meets - and Marlowe is not an honest man. The Archbishop is not convinced, and insists that De Vega investigate further. quote:Captain Guzmán had dark suspicions about Shakespeare, too. Lope had dismissed those: who ever thinks his immediate superior knows anything? But if Robert Parsons and Guzmán had the same idea, perhaps there was something to it. "I shall do everything I can to aid the cause of Spain, your Eminence," de Vega said. The book probably should have ended here, by internal logic. Shakespeare was already under suspicion from Kelley, and while De Vega's explanation covers Skeres, it does not explain why Shakespeare was visiting a house he had no business going near that happens to belong to a relative of a foe of Spain that was inexplicably left alive. Given that De Vega already has ample reason to be associating with Shakespeare (and thus serving as a threat to The Plot), this feels like an unnecessary narrative complication. Chapter 3, Part 4: Shakespeare quote:SHAKESPEARE KNELT IN the confessional. "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned," he said. The priest in the other side of the booth murmured a question he hardly heard. He confessed his adultery with the serving woman at the ordinary, his rage at Will Kemp (though not all his reasons for it), his jealousy over Christopher Marlowe's latest tragedy, and such other sins as came to mind . . . and as could safely be told to a Catholic priest. After going throuh his penance, he runs into Kate the serving woman leaving the confessional. After some slightly awkward (because he knows she probably confessed their affair just as he had) conversation, he heads to the boarding house, hoping to get some work done. As he does so, multiple people start noticing him. quote:He hadn't gone far before an apprentice--easy enough to recognize by his clothes, for he wore a plain, flat cap and only a small ruff at his throat--pointed to him and said, "There goes Master Shakespeare." He goes to dinner, and by some miracle he is able to write with great ease. He writes well enought that a disappointed Kate has to warn him in time to get home before curfew. The next morning, a large man greets him as soon as he leaves his lodgings. quote:"You are to come with me to Westminster," the man replied. "Forthwith." quote:"Bide here a moment," the Englishman with the deep voice said, and ducked into an office. He soon came back to the doorway and beckoned. "Come you in." Turning to the man behind the large, ornate desk, he spoke in Spanish: "Don Diego, I present to you Señor Shakespeare, the poet." Shakespeare had little Spanish, but followed him well enough to make sense of that. The Englishman gave his attention back to Shakespeare and returned to his native tongue: "Master Shakespeare, here is Don Diego Flores de Valdés." Flores wants Shakespeare to craft a memorial for Philip II. What sort of memorial? quote:The Spanish grandee snorted. One unruly eyebrow rose for a moment. He forced it down, but still looked exasperated; plainly, Shakespeare struck him as something of a dullard. That suited Shakespeare well enough; he wished he struck Flores as a mumbling, drooling simpleton. The officer gathered himself. "May the memorial, the monument, you make prove immortal as cut stone. I would have from you, señor, a drama on the subject of his Most Catholic Majesty's magnificence, to be presented by your company of actors when word of the King's mortality comes to this northern land: a show of his greatness for to awe the English people, to make known to them they were conquered by the greatest and most Christian prince who ever drew breath, and to awe them thereby. Can you do this thing? I promise you, you shall be furnished with a great plenty of histories and chronicles wherefrom to draw your scenes and characters. What say you?" Flores does not give Shakespeare the opportunity to refuse, and simply hands over a few of a hundred pounds. Combined with what he recieved from Cecil, this adds up to a rather tidy sum - but now he has to write a play for Spain and one for England. As he leaves, he spots Phillpes in a side room, and suspects that Phelippes is playing some sort of game. So the Spanish, who suspect Shakespeare of plotting against them, decide to derail any plot by simply giving him a comission to keep him busy? As a literary device, this could lead to a pretty clever plot, but it doesn't work so well in terms of real world logic. Gnoman fucked around with this message at 04:54 on Dec 23, 2019 |
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Nov 23, 2019 04:38
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CHAPTER IV, PART 1: De Vegaquote:"Shakespeare will write a play on the life of his most Catholic Majesty?" Lope de Vega dug a finger in his ear, as if to make sure he'd heard correctly. "Shakespeare?" De Vega returns to his rooms, where his servant Diegao is, of course, fast asleep. Kicking him awake, De Vega informs Dieago of his new duties, with a very stern warning that he will not tolerate Diego using this distraction to spend more time asleep. Well, at least the oddity of the situation is called out and somewhat justified. This is a very good way to ensure that De Vega is pitted against Shakespeare, as he's being assigned as Shakespeare's personal watchdog. quote:"Life is hard for a servant with a cruel master." Diego sighed. "Life is hard for any servant, but especially for one so unlucky." Lope De Vega is not only an rear end in a top hat here, he's a stupid rear end in a top hat. In two out of three chapters, he's fallen into mockery and embarassmant because he can't stop chasing women. This is a pattern. Chapter IV, Part 3 : Shakespeare. quote:RICHARD BURBAGE STARED at Shakespeare. "Tell it me again," the big, burly player said. "The dons are fain to have you make a play on the life of Philip?" Burbage reassures Shakespeare that the company knows that Shakespeare is too honest a man for such a ploy. Shakespeare objects that he'd die almost immediately if he were that honest, with Burbage insisting that Shakespeare is wrong. If Shakespeare were honest to all, he'd die very, very slowly. The conversation moves on to the play, with Burbage being rather fatalistic about the whole thing. It is Gods will which play the company will perform, and that's that. Shakespeare is disappointed and somewhat alarmed to realize that Burbage genuinley does not care which play goes on. The company will make money either way, which is what is important. Shakespeare considers this to be something of a security risk. Burbage's interpretation of events makes far more sense than what is really going on in the plot. This is a weakness - having multiple characters call out just how absurd a plot point is does not make the plot any less absurd, so it has to stand by itself still. I'm not entirely sure that this one does. Will Kemp, like Burbage, is concerned with King Philip only so far as making sure his own role is correct. quote:Will Kemp sidled up to him, still carrying the skull he'd use while playing the gravedigger come the afternoon performance. "You'll give me some words wherewith to make 'em laugh, is't not so?" he said, working the jawbone wired to the skull so that it seemed to do the talking. This really piths Kemp off, and the clown stalks off. Kemp's self-centered attitude does not reassure Shakespeare, and he becomes more and more convinced that the whole enterprise is doomed - the only mystery is who exactly will sell him out. This, inevitably, leads him to contemplate what will happen when his treason against Spain is discovered. quote:He wouldn't be burned alive, not for treason, or most of him wouldn't. They would haul him to Tower Hill on a hurdle, and hang him till he was almost dead. Then they'd cut him down and draw him as if he were a sheep in a shambles. They'd throw his guts into the fire while he watched, if he was unlucky enough to keep life in him yet. That done, they would quarter him and display his head and severed limbs on London Bridge and elsewhere around the city to dissuade others from such thoughts and deeds. This is an accurate description of hanging, drawing, and quartering, which was the maximum sentence for men (women were burned until 1790, when the sentence was reduced to hanging) accused of treason against the Crown in England from 1352 until 1814. After 1814, the sentence was reduced to hanging until dead and posthumous drawing and quartering, and in 1870 the penalty was reduced to simple hanging. The sentence was further reduced to life imprisonment with the final abolition of the death penalty in 1996. Shakespeare is shaken out of his dark reverie by Jack Hungerford, who is there to get him dressed to act as the ghost in quote:He did make a point of remembering the candle. Hungerford would never have let him live it down had he forgotten after their skirmish. He also made a point of carrying it carefully, so he didn't have to come back and start it burning again. Not out, brief candle, he thought. Light this fool the way through dusty gloom. More proof that this is Hamlet, of course. I do like the way he worked the reference to Macbeth into Shakespeare's internal monologue. Also, I like Lucy here. Shakespeare has a few appearances with no lines, with an assistant bringing him a fresh bowl of paper after each. Even here his bad mood persists. quote:He had no lines here, or in his next couple of appearances. He had but to stand, looking ominous and menacing, till his cue to stalk off, and then go below once more. One of the tireman's helpers crawled out to bring him another bowl full of bits of paper and a fresh candle. "You nigh gasted them out of their hose, Master Shakespeare," he whispered. The play continues until Shakespeare's role is done, at which point he flees from the smoke-filled area under the stage and aggressively begins to clean himself off. Burbage takes advantage of a scene he's not in to zip back and praise Shakespeare for his portrayal. quote:He washed again, then dried himself once more. "Better," Burbage said. "And the specter was as fine as you've ever given him." He imitated the gesture he'd urged Shakespeare to use. "Saw you how the audience clung to your every word thereafter, you having drawn them into the action thus?" Well, looks like he's still unhappy with Kemp. Marlow visits, and is immediately told to stop smoking his pipe. quote:"I will not, by God," Marlowe said, and took another puff. His eye swung to the beardless youth who'd played Ophelia, and who was now getting back into the clothes proper to his sex. "All they who love not tobacco and boys are fools. Why, holy communion would have been much better being administered in a tobacco pipe." Marlowe's line about tobacco and boys here is one that was attributed to him by the informer Richard Baines, who also accused Marlowe of evangelical athiesm, Catholicism, and blasphemy. Most scholars now consider this denunciation to be slander, and place little stock in it. This is the main source for the modern notion that Marlowe was homosexual himself, although there are some themes in his plays to support the notion. "Yseult and Tristan", more commonly rendered "Tristan and Iseult" or "Tristan and Isolde" is a legendary tragedy of the doomed romance between Tristan Prince of Cornwall and the Irish princess Isolde who is married to Tristan's uncle Mark, King of Cornwall. The legend is known to date back to the 11th century, although there is some evidence to suggest that the tale is even older. It has been cited as the inspiration for the tale of Lancelot and Guenivere in various versions of the Arthurian mythos, and the entire thing was inserted directly into the court of King Arthur by Malory. Probably the most famous adaptation today is the 1865 opera by Richard Wagner. It is an entirely plausible source for an Elizabethan play, but the notion of a Marlowe play derived from it appears to be an invention of Turtledove. Marlowe naturally knows about King Philip, and seems to be testing Shakespeare's loyalty to the plot. Shakespeare is spared from answering by the arrival of De Vega, in whose presence the plot must not be mentioned. Marlowe, as is typical of his behavior in this book, is acting like a boy playing spy games. He greets De Vega enthusiastically, praising the reception of La Dama Boba and regretting that he doesn't know enough Spanish to follow it himself. De Vega is delighted with the praise, but that won't stop him from interrogating Shakespeare. quote:The Spaniard turned to him. "You will tell me at once, Master Shakespeare: is the Prince of Denmark mad, or doth he but feign his affliction?" This bit of play concluded, De Vega gets down to business. He brings up King Philip and offers every assistance in the endeavour. Shakespeare tries to deflect, but Lope insists on playing a key part. Shakespeare is on the verge of erupting before Marlowe of all people quitely urges caution. quote:Shakespeare wanted to shriek. He couldn't tell de Vega everything he wanted to, or even a fraction of it. But . . . "Tacite, Will," Marlowe said quickly. This, of course, brings Burbage into the discussion, who demands to be informed what Marlowe was saying about him in Latin. The assurance that it was merely an admonition that the title role in King Philip belongs to Burbage and Burbage alone mollifies him, and he turns the whole thing into a dirty joke. Shakespeare ends the scene wondering how exactly he's going to plot treason against Spain with a Spanish officer stuck to him like glue. Chapter IV, Part 3: De Vega quote:LOPE DE VEGA couldn't have screamed louder or more painfully as a betrayed lover. He knew that for a fact; he'd screamed such screams before. This, however . . . "But, sir, you promised me!" he cried. "He is called John . . . Walsh." Captain Guzmán made heavy going of the English surname. "He dwells in"--the officer checked his notes--"in the ward called Billingsgate, in Pudding Lane. He is by trade a butcher of hogs, but he is to be found more often in a tavern than anywhere else." "May I find him in a tavern!" Lope exclaimed. "I know Pudding Lane too well, and know its stinks. They make so much offal there, it goes in dung boats down to the Thames." "Wherever you find him, seize him and clap him in gaol. We'll try him and put him to death and be rid of him once for all," Guzmán said. As de Vega turned to go, his superior held up a hand. "Wait. Don't hunt this, ah, Walsh yourself. Take a squad of soldiers. Better, take two. When you catch him, the Englishmen he has fooled are liable to try a rescue. You will want swords and pikes and guns at your back." [/quote] De Vega finds this advice dubious - alone he might be able to simply snatch the soothsayer and run. He follows orders nonetheless, and rounds up a squad of soldiers eager to stamp out a source of discontent. The sight of a squad of soldiers moving together draws jeers and a band of ruffians that attempt to hold them up. Before a fight can start, however, the mob decides that taking on armed and armored Spaniards while wielding clubs and wearing ordinary clothes is not a wise idea, and scatter. After getting lost, then getting lost again from bad directions, they find a Catholic who gives them good directions. quote:So did Lope. "We may find this Walsh and something to drink together," he said, "for I hear he prophesies in taverns." Lope heads into the tavern and orders ale, which he can say without a betraying accent. Sure enough, the butcher begins a long sermon on the evils of Spain, drawing heavily on the book of Matthew. quote:
Presented unedited because it is the first major action scene in the books. Turtledove does this, at least, fairly well - I could see this scene being played out in a movie quite easily, and he doesn't get bogged down in minute details. He does, however, underestimate the humble arquebus here. Any matchlock smoothbore is fairly inaccurate by the standards of a later age, but this mostly shows at battle ranges. At stone-throwing range, any soldier who's actually trying could probably hit a man. De Vega delivers his prisoner, and is granted permission to return to his primary duty at the theatre. Chapter IV, Part 4: Shakespeare Shakespeare's boarding house has a new lodger to replace the one who fled - an extremely poor and clumsy man named Sam King who keeps stepping on Shakespeare. Buoyed by good income from the theatre, which has been doing very well with Christmas approaching, he decides to give King enough money for a threepenny supper. We also hear of a second new lodger, a woman named Cicely Sellis who has hired an entire room from the stingy landlady, at what must be a fairly exorbiant cost. Shakespeare heads off to his own dining establishment with his manuscript and pen. quote:Shakespeare got out his writing tools and took them to the ordinary he favored. He was relieved not to find his fellow lodger there; King would have insisted on chattering at him when he wanted to work. Love's Labour's Won was almost done. He needed to finish it as fast as he could, too. For one thing, the company's patience was wearing thin. For another, he didn't know how long he had till Philip of Spain died. He would need to have both his special commissions ready by then, whichever one actually saw the light of day. Arriving back home long after curfew, he builds up the fire -much to the irritation of his stingy landlady- and continues to write at the same feverish pace. Gradually, however, he realizes that he is not alone. The new lodger, Cicely Sellis, has been watching him. As far as I can tell, "lambswool" is a term derived from a corruption of the Celtic phrase La mas ubal ("Day of the Apple Fruit"), and is a drink made by pouring hot ale (or cider) over pulped apples and spices - sugar, nutmeg and ginger. quote:"Give you good den," she said when he looked up. "I misliked troubling you, your pen scratching along so fast." She expresses desire to see the play when it is finished if she can get free from her business. On inquiring, he learns that she works for herself, and he would be wise to come to her if he wanted questions answered. quote:"Ah." He'd wondered what she did. No wonder she'd wanted a room all to herself. "You are a cunning woman, then?" He wouldn't say witch, even if they amounted to the same thing. quote:Mommet suddenly stopped purring. His fur puffed out till he looked twice his proper size. He hissed like a snake. A freezing draught blew under the door, making the hair on Shakespeare's arms prickle up, too, and sending a swarm of bright sparks up the chimney as the flames flared. She is confused, and professes to know nothing of what she just said, even after he repeats the words back. She uses this opportunity to retire to her rooms, cat following behind her. Shakespeare spends some more time trying to write, deeply disturbed. With little further progress, he heads to bed, confident that he will finish the play very soon. Turtledove notes in the afterword that there was a real woman named Cicely Sellis that was accused of witchcraft around this time, but that she is not the character in the novel. Turtledove's Sellis is a wholly fictional character. quote:His bedroom was dark when he went in. Jack Street's snores made the chamber hideous. Shakespeare knew he himself would have no trouble sleeping despite the racket; he'd had time to get used to it. How--indeed, whether--Sam King could manage was a different question. He finds sleep elusive, and lies awake for some time pondering what exactly Robert Cecil is planning and how likely it is to work; how he is to recruit the company to the plot without exposing it should a player balk; exactly what was going on with Sellis and where her strange warning came - from her, from God, or from Satan. Eventually, he sleeps. He wakes in the dark - the sun rises late and sets early in England near the winter solstice - and eats a bland breakfast. Of the lodgers, only Sellis remains. The landlady is beaming, and Shakespeare fears that this is a bad sign. Sellis must be paying a lot of money for that room, and he fears that this will lead to an increase in his own rent. quote:When he went out into the street, he found he would have no accurate notion of when the sun came up, anyhow. Cold, clammy fog clung everywhere. It likely wouldn't lift till noon, if then. Shakespeare sucked in a long, damp breath. When he exhaled, he added fog of his own to that which had drifted up to Bishopsgate from the Thames. As for the chapter as a whole, it is mostly a slice-of-life affair where relatively little happens. It isn't bad slice-of-life, but it doesn't advance the plot much.
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Feb 9, 2020 05:24
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Epicurius posted:Just as a note, the only actual Rennaisance story of Tristan I could find was one from Belarus. For whatever reason, for about 300 years, with the exception of a few pieces of work like The Fairie Queen, people mostly stopped referring to Arthurian legends, and it wasn't until the 19th century that they became popular again. This makes it a good choice for a non-historical work. There's no real author to snub, and it is entirely reasonable for there to have been a play on that subject. Chapter V, Part 1: De Vega quote:AFTER CHRISTMAS MASS, Lope de Vega and Baltasar Guzmán happened to come out of the church of St. Swithin together. Lope bowed to his superior. "Feliz Navidad, your Excellency," he said. Turteldove's completely wrong here - The Christmas season was a major holiday during the reign of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, filled with feasting, gift-giving, and parties. Shakespeare's own play Twelfth Night (1602) revolves around (and written as an entertainment for) the biggest and most popular festival day, Twelfth Night. The Anglican church continued to foster Christmas celebrations, with Charles I ordering noblemen to their estates in order to participate in the traditional role-reversal merrymaking. It was not until Charles I was defeated and executed by Cromwell's Parlementarians in 1647 that the Puritans took control of the country and banned Christmas until the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660. After the ban was lifted, Calvinism continued to condemn the holiday, and the heavily Calvinist-influenced Presbytarians of Scotland were so adamant against it that it did not become an official public holiday in Scotland again until 1958. Turtledove seems to have conflated Puritiansim and Calvinism in specific with Protestantism in general. Also wrong: the name of the church. St Ethelburga-the-Virgin within Bishopsgate is one of the relatively rare structures from Shakespeare's time that was not destroyed in the Great Fire of London - the structure that was concencrated in 1250 stood until 1993, when it was among the structures that were effectively destroyed by a 1 ton bomb consisting of a mixture of ammonium nitrate and diesel fuel set by the Irish Republican Army. Half of the structure remained standing, and the exterior was rebuilt to the original plan, alhtough with a completely different interior. 1.jpg) He finds no difficulty getting directions to the church, and saves a great deal of effort by managing to get there just as Shakespere is leaving Mass. He hides, because the only possible purpose for being here would be the actual one - to spy on Shakespeare. He heads back to barracks to report, only to find Guzman already gone to a feast. He reports to Enrique instead. After Enrique recieves the report, De Vega heads to his room to write. To his astonishment, Diego is not sleeping - indeed, not even present. Chapter V, Part 2: Shakespeare quote:A RAGGED MAN on a street corner thrust a bowl of spiced wine at a pretty woman walking by. "Wassail!" he called. I am unable to find any exact match to this particular custom. Wassail (derived from Wæs þu hæl, or "be thou hale") was a traditional Christmas toast, with Drinkhail (Drinc hæl, "Drink And Be Healthy") as the response, but the closest contxt I can find is Twelfth Night wassailing - going door to door singing and presenting the wassail bowl for gifts in a predecessor to modern caroling. The drink here is also wrong for the period. In Shakespeare's day, the wassail bowl would have been filled with the same lambswool beverage seen earlier. A simpler mulled cider became common in later days, but the use of wine is primarily a part of modern revivals. In this case, it is possible that the use of spiced wine is a deliberate change that is supposed to reflect Spanish influence. He continues down the street, paying another wassailer for a different song. He pauses to buy his landlady a present - a new carving knife to replace one she had recently broken the handle on. quote:He strode past a cutler's shop, then stopped, turned, and went back. The Widow Kendall had broken the wooden handle on her best carving knife not so long before, and had complained about it ever since. She kept talking about taking the knife to a tinker for a new handle, but she hadn't done it. Like as not, she never would get around to doing it, but would grumble about what a fine knife it had been for the rest of her days. A replacement, now, a replacement would make her a fine New Year's present. quote:Showing Marlowe he'd drawn blood only encouraged him to try to draw more. With a smile, Shakespeare answered, "I'm sure I shall. The treason trials under Tiberius, perchance?" Ever so slightly, he stressed the word treason. Hammet Shakespeare, the only son of William Shakespeare and twin brother to his daughter Judith, died at the age of 11 in 1596. The cause is uncertain, although there were known incidences of bubonic plague in the area around that time. This part I quite like - it humanizes Shakespeare quite a bit - in this passage, he's not a legendary playwright or a conspirator, he's a grieving father. Quite wisely, Shakespeare braves heavy snows that Sunday to make it to Mass - it is January 4 by the Spanish calendar, but December 25 by the English one. By going out of his way to attend Mass that day, he makes absolutely sure that there is no way anyone can claim that he was celebrating Christmas by the illegal calendar. On the twelfth day of Christmas two days later, he again visits the church and witnesses a play about the Christ child. quote:Shakespeare found the performances frightful and the dialogue worse, but the audience here wasn't inclined to be critical. In the Theatre, the groundlings would have mewed and hissed such players off the stage, and pelted them with fruit or worse till they fled. After the holidays, he heads back to the theater with his completed-at-last manuscript. Burbage refuses to even look at it until it had been proofread, cleaned up, and -most importantly- copied into legible handwriting by Geoffrey Martin, the company's prompter and playbook keeper. Martin is also working directly for the goverment censor, Sir Edmund Tilney, meaning that his cooperation is essential for the plot to go forward. Sir Edmund Tilney was, in fact, the Master of Revels and in charge of censoring stage plays - for Elizabeth I of England. I find it unlikely that the Spaniards would have left one of Elizabeth's courtiers in so vital a position quote:The prompter was about forty. He'd probably been handsome once, but nasty scars from a fire stretched across his forehead, one cheek, and the back of his left hand. The work he had--precise, important, but out of the public's eye--suited him well. quote:"Your pardon, Master Martin," Shakespeare said. "I do essay precision, but--" Martin comments on the character of Adriano di Armatio -a Venetian braggart- commending Shakespeare for not making him a Spaniard, which the Master of Revels would never tolerate. A bit of a historical joke here - in the actual play the character is Don Adriano de Armado, a Spanish braggart. Shakespeare pounces on this opportunity to sound Martin out, and asks how much he likes tiptoing around Spanish sensibilites. He does not get the answer he wants. quote:"Working with the Master would be simpler without such worries, no doubt of't," the prompter replied. "But you'll not deny, I trust, that heresy's strong grip'd yet constrain us had they not come hither. I have now the hope of heaven. Things being different, hellfire'd surely hold me after I cast my mortal slough." Shakespeare returns to the rest of the company in deep despair, to the point that Burbage notices immediatly and assumes that there is something wrong with the just-delivered play. Shakespeare clarifies for him, evoking a bit of "fun" from Will Kemp. quote:Someone clapped him on the shoulder. He jumped; he hadn't heard anybody come up behind him. Will Kemp's elastic features leered at him. Cackling with mad glee, the clown said, "What better time than the new year for a drawing and quartering? Or would you liefer rout out winter's chill with a burning? I'll stake you would." Burbage is quite concerned with the newly discovered security hole, at which Kemp mocks them both for not knowing that Martin was a devout Catholic. Kemp brushes off concerns that he might be speaking too freely too close to Martin with the assumption that the new play would occupy his entire attention. quote:"O ye of little faith!" Kemp jeered. "Dear Geoff's prompter and book-keeper. He hath before him a new play--so new, belike the ink's still damp. What'll he do? Plunge his beak into its liver, like the vulture with Prometheus. A cannon could sound beside him without his hearing't." Burbage and Shakespeare fume about Kemp, and discuss what to do about Martin. Clearly, the plot cannot go on with him present, but they can't simply fire him - he's too good at his job for that not to be suspicious. They decide to just have Shakespeare continue writing the play, and hope for aid. quote:A couple of evenings later, as the poet was making his way down Shoreditch High Street towards Bishopsgate after a performance, a man stepped out of the evening shadows and said, "You're Master Shakespeare, are you not?" The last name is not given yet, but this is Ingram Frizer. Fizer (15??-1627) was a companion to Christopher Marlow and Nicholas Skeres, and was not simply present the night Marlowe was killed. According to official sources, Marlowe's death was caused by Frizer stabbing him above the right eye with a dagger. Chapter V, Part 3: De Vega quote:"Surely, Señor Shakespeare, you know that his holiness Pope Sixtus promised King Philip a million ducats when the first Spanish soldier set foot on English soil, and that he very handsomely paid all he had promised," Lope de Vega said. "A million gold ducats, mind you." quote:Lope sprang from his stool and bowed low, sweeping off his hat so that the plume brushed the floor. "Say no more, sir. Your fellow poets and players would think less of you, did you write below your best. This I understand to the bottom of my soul, and I, in my turn, honor you for it. I am your servant. Command me." This would undoubtably be a formidible obstacle to dramatizing a man's life. This likely contributes to there being very few plays about Philip II - all excerpts from "King Philip" in this book are actually modified excerpts from Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus - a play that would already have been written by this time. This work is eventually interrupted by Martin, who caught a major plot hole in Love's Labours Won. This is enough to cause Shakespeare to dismiss De Vega for now, with plans to get back to it two days later. Unusually, he came on -and leaves on- a horse. quote:Riding through the tenements that huddled outside the city wall, Lope felt something of a conquering caballero. He'd seldom had that feeling afoot. Now, though, he looked down on the English. From literally looking down on them, I do so metaphorically as well, he thought. A man's mind is a strange thing. quote:"If there were an earthquake, it would swallow you as the whale swallowed Jonah, and you wouldn't even know it!" Lope bellowed. "Scotland--" Lope De Vega: Still an rear end in a top hat. Diego insists that everyone's saying the same thing about Guzman. De Vega is doubtful, but cheers up a bit when he realizes that Guzman would be disgraced and removed from his post if he really does prefer the company of men, which would be a benefit to De Vega. Still, he knows full well that Guzman had a mistress until recently, which he throws in Diego's face. After Diego insists that Guzman preferring Enrique would quite obviously cause the loss of a mistress, De Vega loses his temper and orders Diego to get to work, starting by cleaning De Vega's dung-covered clothing. He heads off to report to Guzman, only to be waylaid by Enrique, who wants to know what working with Shakespeare is like. quote:
Lope asks to see Guzman, and is told that he's probably in - he was with a mistress the night before, but promised to be in on time. quote:So much indeed for what everybody says, de Vega thought. When he walked into Baltasar Guzmán's office, the young captain looked like a cat that had just fallen into a bowl of cream. And when Guzmán asked, "What's the latest, Senior Lieutenant?" he didn't sound as if he'd bite Lope's head off if he didn't like the answer. He must have had a night to remember. Chapter V, Part 4: Shakespeare quote:"WHERE'S MASTER MARTIN?" Shakespeare asked in the tiring room at the Theatre. "He was to have the different several parts from Love's Labour's Won ready to go to the scribes, that they might make for the players fair copies." There's much discussion of where Martin is, leading to a joking suggestion from Kemp that he'd run off to sell the new play. Shakespeare doesn't find this amusing, and insults escalate to a brawl. quote:Shakespeare sprang for him. They each landed a couple of punches before the others of the company pulled them apart. Smarting from a blow on the cheek, Shakespeare snarled, "A dog thou art, and for the sake of bitchery." He didn't know that Kemp sought whores more than any other man, but flung the insult anyhow, too furious to care about truth. After being assured that the fight is both benign and completed, Strawberry gets down to the business at hand. quote:"Why come I here?" the constable echoed, as if he himself might have forgotten. He coughed portentously, then went on, "Know you a certain wight named Geoffrey Martin?" Martin was found dead near an eating place, stabbed above his right eye. Note that Martin was killed in the exact same manner that Marlowe was historically killed quote:"Master Burbage, sir, I know that not. This while, I know that not," the constable said gravely. "I put it to you--ay, to all of ye--what manner of enemies had he, of foes, of rivals, of opposants, and other suchlike folk who wished him not well? Never set I mine eyne upon the man till overlooking his dead corpse, so haply you will have known him better than I." Google translate suggests that this phrase means something along the lines of "really read, the law is an rear end". I suspect that this isn't quite right Strawberry demands to know if anybody has any information, to which nobody replies. Shakespeare, though silent, is wracked with guilt for what has been done to preserve his plot. quote:Shakespeare felt Richard Burbage's eye on him. Misery roweled him. I meant it not to come to this, tolled in his mind again and again, like a great iron bell. Before God, I meant it not. But come to this it had, whether he'd meant it or not. He couldn't even be surprised. Had he not embarked on treason, or what Isabella and Albert and their Spanish props would reckon treason, no one would have slain poor Geoff Martin. And treason and murther ever keep together, as two yoke-devils sworn to either's purpose. Getting no response, Strawberry leaves disappointed. Much gossip about the deed commences as soon as he's gone. After the brawl between Shakespeare and Kemp nearly brews up again, Burbage asks if anybody knows an appropriate replacement for Martin, and starts taking measures to ensure that they can go on working without one for a while. After the play, Burbage walks home with Shakespeare. quote:Burbage matched him stride for stride. After a while, he said, "Will . . ." Shakespeare replies that he's only one small sail on a great ship, and the crew of that ship will replace any small sail that shows the strain. Burbage finds this convincing, and decides to -carefully- try to avoid hiring any Catholics as Martin's replacement. quote:"We're not on the boards now, Will." Awful late in the game to figure out that rebellions mean bloodshed. Chapter V, Part 5: De Vega quote:Captain Baltazar Guzmán held up a sheet of paper to Lope de Vega. "We are ordered to take special notice, Senior Lieutenant, of any who profane Lent this year by eating of foods forbidden these forty days." This is, as far as I can tell, accurate - by the Gregorian calendar, Easter was on March 22, 1598. The book suggests that having seperate Easters is rare, but as far as I can tell it is the norm - they're not usually quite so far apart, though. quote:"One thing is certain, though," Captain Guzmán said. "As long as there are still Protestants in England, we'll have no peace. This kingdom has to follow the holy Catholic faith. All the world, one day, will follow the holy Catholic faith. Then, truly, peace will come." He crossed himself. His eyes glowed with a Crusader's vision. There is another matter - the murder of Geoffrey Martin. He was a good Catholic, and his death shines new suspicion on Shakespeare. Guzman knows of nobody working with Martin as an informant, but the Inquisition might have - they don't talk to anyone outside the Inquisition much. De Vega is instructed to pay close attention to Martin's replacement. After leaving the office, De Vega meets a woman. quote:He knew nothing but thanks at escaping the barracks--thanks and cold, for snowflakes fluttered on the northwesterly breeze. It's January. It could be snowing in Madrid, too, he told himself. It was true. He knew it was true. It didn't help. When he thought of Madrid, he thought of a place where the vine and the olive flourished. He tried to imagine grapes and olives growing in London, and laughed at himself. Not even a poet's imagination stretched so far.
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Feb 20, 2020 03:19
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Chapter VI, Part 1: Shakespearequote:SMOKE FROM THE fireplace, smoke from the flames under a roasting capon, and smoke from half a dozen pipes of tobacco filled the Boar's Head in East Cheap. Shakespeare's eyes stung and watered. "What's the utility of tobacco?" he asked the player beside him, who'd been drinking sack with singleminded dedication for some little while now. "What pleasure takes one from the smoking of it, besides the pleasure of setting fire to one's purse?" The stuff was, among other things, devilishly expensive. William Shakespeare is one of the only Turtledove protagonists that hates tobacco. Typically, much time is spent comparing the quality of different brands, and complaining about not being able to get enough. So far as I can tell, the opinion of the real Shakespeare on the matter is unknown. Christopher Marlowe, on the other hand, is reputed to be fond of the stuff - besides the dubiously attributed commentary on tobacco and boys in the last chapter, he was accused of claiming that Communion would be better if it were delivered in a tobacco pipe. While these are probably slanders, they do suggest a reputation. The Boar's Head was a real tavern in Shakespeare's day, and featured in some of his plays - particularly Henry IV, Part 1. The building was destroyed in the Great Fire Of London in 1666. Marlowe calls Shakespeare a fool, and insinuates that Shakespeare's hanging would be little loss - and could come soon. Naturally, Shakespeare is furious that Marlowe simply will not stop hinting and insinuating at the plot. The argument gets quite heated, with support for Shakespeare from a bystander who misses the byplay. quote:"Well shot, Will," Thomas Dekker called. The young poet whooped and clapped his hands. Lord Westmorland's Men had put on his first play only a few weeks before. He lifted up his mug of wine in salute. "Reload and give him another barrel!" He drained the mug and slammed it down. Thomas Dekker (died 1632) was a playwright and pamphleteer in this era, who is known to have written at least 20 plays. The first play that is convincingly attributed to him was performed in 1599, was imprisoned for debt twice, and played a major part in the War of The Theaters satire battle between 1599-1602. How much of a connection he historically had with Shakespeare is unknown (and disputed), but it is not unreasonable for them to be associating here quote:As Shakespeare had with Dekker, so Marlowe also had a partisan: a boy actor of about fourteen, as pretty as one of the girls he played. He laughed and banged his fist down on the tabletop. Marlowe bought him more of whatever he was drinking--beer, Shakespeare saw when the serving woman poured his mug full again. He'd already had quite a lot; hectic color glowed on his cheeks, as if he were coming down with a fever. Anthony Bacon (1558–1601) was the much less famous older brother of Sir Francis Bacon, mostly known today (to what little extent he is known) for his career as a spy in France between 1580 and 1594. He was arrested for sodomy in 1586 due to sleeping with his male page, who had been sleeping with several other male servants. Bacon was spared the official punishment of burning at the stake by the intervention of Henry III of Navarre, who would become Henry IV of France in 1593. Meanwhile, Will Kemp is taunting a minor actor to the point of violence, although other actors in the Boar's Head manage to restrain them, which inspires a quip from Shakespeare and a animated discussion on wordplay. Eventually, the boy actor gets annoyed at being ignored, leading Marlowe to leave with him, arm-in-arm. Shakespeare is appalled at Marlowe's lack of discretion. quote:Maybe the talk with Marlowe was what he needed to get his wits going, though. That night, at the ordinary, he began work on the play Lord Burghley had asked of him. He wished he were as wealthy as one of the Bacons, or as Burghley himself. Committing treason was bad enough. Committing it in public . . . A leaf of paper is one large sheet folded in half, producing four pages. According to the Internet Shakespeare Library, paper sizes in this era ranged from the Imperial (29"x20") to the Foolscap (17.5"x12.5"). This means that the individual pages would be somewhere between 8"x12.5" to 14"x20. In either case, filling 4 pages in an evening is impressive. Shakespeare is astounded by this literary feat. Having returned to the present, he decides that he's written enough for the moment - Turtledove again spares us a sex scene here. In Kate's bed, they discuss their future - or, rather, the fact that Shakespeare's marriage means they have no real future. ---------------------------------------- Chapter VI, Part 2: De Vega This chapter starts out with De Vega recieving ashes on Ash Wendsday, which, by the Gregorian Calendar was February 4 in 1598. Returning to the office, we learn that acting companies have been permitted to perform during Lent, because stopping business for 40 days would ruin most of them. Before heading off to the theatre, he does have some questions. quote:"Yes, sir," Lope said. "Sir, is there any further word of his Most Catholic Majesty? Shakespeare has asked after him. Not unreasonably, he wants some notion of how much time he has to compose the drama Don Diego Flores de Valdés set him." Guzman changes the subject to De Vega's current lady friend, and jabs him for his inconstancy. De Vega flees to the theatre, observing a tavern keeper being accosted by a constable for serving meat during Lent. quote:By now, the men who took money at the Theatre recognized Lope and waved him through as if he were one of the sharers among Lord Westmorland's Men. He wished he were. The life of a Spanish lieutenant was as nothing next to that which Burbage or Shakespeare or Will Kemp lived. De Vega was sure of it. The lines here are, as suggested, from Act 5 of Macbeth, another play that shouldn't exist yet as it was first performed in 1606. In this case, there is even less reason for it to have been written, as there is a good possibility that it was inspired in part by the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. With Hamlet, I expressed doubt that the Spaniards would allow a play about rebelling against an usurper to be performed, because it would so easily be seen as an attempt to sow discord against them. Macbeth, however, has a justification - the historical play shows the character of Banquo, who is connected to the rebels againt Macbeth, as being an ancestor of James Stuart, who was King James I of England and King James IV of Scotland at the time. In 1598 England, however, the most prominent member of the House of Stuart would have been Mary I, the Catholic Queen of England who was deposed and later executed by Elizabeth Tudor. Thus it would be quite easy to argue that the play is supposed to represent Elizabeth as the usurper, and the Spanish as the forces restoring the legitimate rule. EDIT: As Safety Biscuts pointed out, I've somewhat conflated Mary Tudor (Mary I of England) and Mary Stuart (Mary I of Scotland) here. Mary I of England was married to Philip II of Spain, and died of natural causes, allowing her sister Elizabeth to take the throne. Mary Stuart was imprisoned and later executed by Elizabeth because people were plotting to put her on the throne. It would still be possible to explain the Scottish play being allowed by casting Mary Stuart as the "rightful" queen, but not as easily as I thought. Seeing the new prompter causes De Vega to recall the fate of the former prompter, Geoffery Marten. Realizing that the prompter would be in an ideal position to discover any treason in the theatre, and that this makes Marten's death extremely suspicious, De Vega makes some excuses and runs off to investigate. Chapter VI, Part 3: Shakespeare quote:"HAVE YOU A moment, Master Hungerford?" Shakespeare hated asking the question, and the ones that would follow. He hated it even more than he had when he'd spoken with Geoffrey Martin. When Martin gave the wrong answers, the inconvenient answers, Shakespeare hadn't known what would happen next. Now he did. If blood flowed, it would drip from his hands. Shakespeare describes Boudicca to Hungerford, who, horrified, grasps the implications immediately. After being assured that Shakespeare is absolutely serious about this endeavour, Hungerford signs on. quote:"I wonder," Hungerford murmured. "Tell me, an you will: did you discover yourself to Geoff Martin?" Shakespeare said not a word. He hoped his face gave no answer, either. Hungerford grunted softly. "If I say you nay, will Constable Strawberry, that good and honest man, sniff after my slayer like a dog too old to take a scent after a bone that never was there?" Hungerford, however spots a problem immediately - the title character will, as is the practice in Elizabethan theater, be played by a boy under the age of puberty. The company has a superb boy actor for the purpose by the name of Tom, but there's a little problem with that: quote:"Item: his elder brother is a priest. Item: his uncle is a sergeant amongst Queen Isabella's guards." Jack Hungerford ticked off points on his fingers as he made them. "Item: his father gave the rood screen at their parish church, such adornments having been ordained once more on our being returned to Romish ways. Item: the lad himself more than once in my hearing hath said he's fain on becoming a man to follow his brother into the priesthood." He glanced over at Shakespeare. "Shall I go on?" Shakespeare is appalled both by the risk and the fact that he was completely unaware of this. Hungerford explains the latter as Shakespeare not really giving a drat about most of the actors as long as they remember their lines. Shakespeare has other concerns. quote:"Haply his voice will break, or his beard sprout. He's rising fifteen," Hungerford said. "Some troubles themselves resolve." quote:Burbage listened with more patience than Shakespeare would have expected--with more patience, in fact, than the poet thought he could have mustered himself. At last, he let out a long sigh. "What of the company will be left once you have your way with it?" he asked somberly. Burbage is not happy, and warns Shakespeare about how thin the ice is. quote:"The which brings me back to what I'd tell you. Mark my words, now; mark 'em well. The purpose you undertake is dangerous, the friends you have uncertain, the time itself unsorted, and your whole plot too light, for the counterpoise of so great an opposition." Burbage is completely right here. This plot is paper-thin in places, and involves a lot of very nasty people. This is a dangerous position to be in. Chapter VI, Part 4: De Vega quote:"NOW HERE IS an interesting bit of business." Captain Baltasar Guzmán held up a sheet of paper. Anthony Bacon is an important man indeed, and De Vega questions the accusation carefully. quote:"Madre de Dios, I should hope so!" Lope exclaimed. "The older brother of Francis, the nephew of Lord Burghley . . . How did you learn that such a man favored this dreadful vice?" How is it that you can think of arresting such an important man, with such prominent connections, for sodomy? was what he really meant. The rich and the powerful often got away with what would ruin someone ordinary. But not here? Referencing the 1586 incident is a nice touch. De Vega's mind is running wild at this, mostly ruminating about the accusations Diego made about Guzman himself. He also has more practical questions - sodomy is a violation of the laws of the Church, and thus should be handled by the Inquisition rather than the soldiers who are normally more worried about treason. quote:"As it happens, Don Diego Flores de Valdés referred the matter to us," Guzmán replied. "It may yet come down to treason. Remember--not so long ago, your precious Shakespeare visited the house Anthony and Francis Bacon share. Why? We still don't know. We have no idea. But if we take Bacon and squeeze him till--" They charge out at the head of a cavalry unit through Westminster. De Vega spots somebody that he thinks is Shakespeare running for cover, but Guzman vetos a diversion to investigate - even if it was Shakespeare, he has too many legitimate reasons to be in this part of town, and too many good reasons to want to stay far away from a group of charging horsemen for it to be anything more than a waste of precious time. quote:The troop of horsemen pounded up Drury Lane. Westminster seemed to Lope a different world from London: less crowded, with far bigger, far grander homes, homes that would have done credit to a Spanish nobleman. Only the abominable weather reminded him in which kingdom he dwelt. A servant adswers the door, and Guzman demands that Anthony Bacon be produced at once. The cavalrymen surround the house to prevent escape, and the servant leaves to fetch somebody that can give answers. quote:The servant was as good as his word, coming back almost at once. Behind him strode a man made several inches taller by a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat. The newcomer's enormous, fancy ruff and velvet doublet proclaimed him a person of consequence. So did his manner; though no bigger than Lope (apart from that hat), he contrived to look down his nose at him. When he spoke, it was in elegant Latin: "What do you desire?" Francis insists that his brother is not at home, and he does not know where Anthony is - he left the house two days ago without a word. De Vega thinks that this is proof Bacon was tipped off, possibly by a Spaniard who secretly shared his "sin". Guzman acknowledges the possibility, but also insists that they need to search the house to be sure. The cavalrymen are delighted at the opportunity to ransack the place. quote:The Spaniards went through the Bacons' home with a methodical ferocity that said they would have done well as robbers--and that might have said some of them had more than a little practice at the trade. They examined every space that might possibly have held a man, from the cellars to the kitchens to the attic. They knocked holes in several walls: some Protestants' houses had "preacher holes" concealed with marvelous cunning. A couple of troopers went out onto the roof; Lope listened to their boots clumping above his head. Francis Bacon (1561-1626) sits high among the ranks of most important scientists in history. He's credited with inventing the scientific method, pioneered the idea of forming scientific conclusions only by emperical data based on observation, and established a stark division between the fields of science (which can be studied) and the nature of God (which he held could only be learned by special revelation from God himself). He was also a political figure of considerable weight, servign as attorney general and Lord Chancellor to King James I. In 1621 accusations of corruption resulted in a few days imprisonment and a total bar from public office, and devoted his remaining years to his scientific works. There is much debate over his sexuality. His failed courtship of a woman by the name of Elizabeth Hatton remained a sore point for his entire life, while his later marriage at the age of 45 to the 15 year old daughter of a wealthy member of Parliament was famously considered to be a strong love story, although it soured in a dispute over money. Despite this, accusations of homosexuality persist, and there are contemporary sources to support the notion. Perhaps the strongest such accusation is the claim that he was having an affair with his "effeminate" manservant, and that this was the real reason he lost his political office. Nothing is found, and they head back to the barracks empty handed - except for the loot they'd plundered. De Vega muses that nobody would dare repeat the rumors about Guzman now, then realizes that that does not mean the rumors are not true. Chapter VI, Part 5: Shakespeare quote:THE EXPRESSION WILL KEMP aimed at Shakespeare lay halfway between a leer and a glower. "Well, Master Poet, what have you done with Tom?" Shakespeare is alarmed, as any suspicion at all could prove fatal for someone in his position. Kemp is cut short by Jack Hungerford, who cuts him off sharply. quote:But from the tiring room came a sharp command: "Go to, Kemp! Give over." A most convienent resolution to the problem. This would normally be a bit too convienent, but for one small factor. Bacon has fled, off to the Continent, with Tom in tow. quote:Shakespeare groaned. Hungerford looked pained. Kemp preened. Shakespeare asked, "Tom was Bacon's ingle, then? I own I have seen Bacon here, though never to my certain knowledge overtopping the bounds of decency." quote:Then, suddenly, Shakespeare raised a hand to his mouth to smother a laugh. What did Paul say in his epistle to the Romans? All things work together for good to them that love God, that was the verse. Now he couldn't have to worry about either asking Catholic Tom to play Boudicca or finding some good reason for not asking him. He hadn't just found a good reason--the Spaniards themselves had handed him one. This is what brings the situation into the realm of plausibility. Tom was a major threat to the plans of powerful men, and said powerful men just happen to have a double agent entrenched in the Spanish occupation government. It would be trivial for Phelippes to cast the necessary aspersions toward Bacon, and this would explain both why so prominent a figure found himself suddenly bereft of protection and how Bacon was tipped off that the Spanish were coming for him. There are more rude jokes from Kemp, and the day's play is something of a disaster. Without Tom, they have to put another boy -by the name of Caleb- in Juliet's role, and he is not anything close to as able as Tom was. quote:Richard Burbage was not pleased. He bearded Shakespeare in the tiring room after the performance. "I am told this was the Spaniards' doing," he said heavily. Burbage reminds him of their recent conversation, and also brings up his own fears. quote:He might as well have kept silent. Burbage went on as if he had, repeating, "I lead this company. The land we stand on, the house we play in--we Burbages lease the one and own the other. D'you deny that?" Burbage reluctantly admits the point, and Shakespeare heads home to work. quote:"Yes." Shakespeare let it go at that. He set his hat on his head. Having his own share of a player's vanity, he tugged it down low on his forehead to hide his receding hairline. He'd squandered a few shillings on nostrums and elixirs purported to make hair grow back. One smelled like tar, another like roses, yet another like cat piss. None did any good; over the past year or so, he'd stopped wasting his money. For safety, he works on King Philip in public. The other play grows more dangerous the more of it is written. Back at the boarding house, he builds up the fire -much to the annoyance of his landlady- and attempts to start working on Boudicca. He is interrupted by Sellis's cat, Mommet. Shortly after, Sellis herself comes out looking for the cat. quote:She snapped her fingers and cooed. Mommet kept ignoring her. With a small, rueful shrug, she smiled at Shakespeare. "He does as he would, not as I would." They share a few moments of banter, and Sellis begins to leave. Shakespeare stops her, seeking to know who is talking about him. He claims vanity, with some honesty, but is more concerned with the dangers of the plot he is involved in. Sensible. Both Shakespeare and De Vega are proving to be quite able protagonists here, whatever one might say about their superiors. quote:"From whose lips?" Cicely Sellis pursed her own before answering, "I'll not tell you that, not straight out. Many who come to me would liefer not be known to resort to a cunning woman. There are those who'd call me witch." As with King Philip, Turtledove is wise enough not to attempt writing original blank verse of his own. He cites John Fletcher's Bonduca as the primary source of the lines attributed here to Shakespeare, sitched together out of context and with a few edits. Sellis mistaking Marlowe's work for Shakespeare's is a lovely touch. Sellis continues, mentioning De Vega, then asking if she should attempt to question her Spanish customers about what they think of Shakespeare. quote:"The dons . . . come to see you, Mistress Sellis?" Shakespeare said slowly. This is a nice end to the chapter. The Sellis character is an interesting one, and I like how Turtledove gives her just enough strangeness to seem like she might actually be a witch - most authors would have gone hard on the mundane explanation. Gnoman fucked around with this message at 03:41 on Mar 27, 2020 |
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Mar 26, 2020 09:33
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Safety Biscuits posted:Quick point of information here - you've confused two Queen Marys. Mary I, Queen of England, was a Catholic, but not a Stuart; she was Henry VIII's daughter by Catherine of Aragon, and therefore Elizabeth I's half-sister. She reigned from 1552-57, and was married to Philip II of Spain - the guy who organised the Spanish Armada. Elizabeth succeeded her after her death. Thanks. I thought Mary Stuart actually held the position of Queen of England for a brief time, but that seems to be a mistake. That does weaken the justification for Macbeth being allowed that I came up with (This was not a Turtledove thing, this was a "I am trying to make this aspect make sense in the context of the story" type of thing, if that wasn't clear, so that's entirely my error), and I'll make an appropriate edit.
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Mar 27, 2020 03:37
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Chapter Seven, Part I: De Vegaquote:LOPE DE VEGA looked up from the paper. "I pray you, forgive me, Master Shakespeare," he said, "but your character is not easy for one unaccustomed to it." I am unable to determine exactly which passages that Turtledove appropriated for these lines, but they hold together well enough that it isn't obvious that this is a repurposing. Kemp comes in, demanding a role. De Vega is aghast, but Shakespeare backs Kemp. quote:To his surprise, Shakespeare stirred beside him. "No, Lieutenant, haply not," he said, and Lope felt betrayed. Shakespeare went on, "Sweeten the posset with some honey, and down it goes, and sinks deep. Without the same . . ." He shook his head. "Kemp insults somebody and almost starts a brawl" scenes are a dime-a-dozen in this book, but this is the first time that somebody nearly kills him twice in a brief encounter for his behavior. A nice insight into De Vega here as a character here. Shakespeare assures De Vega that Kemp will be perfectly respectable on the stage when King Phillip is performed. De Vega insists that Kemp belongs in an asylum. De Vega heads back to report, gives a enthusiastic summary of the developing play to a delighted Enrique, and then makes his report to Guzman. quote:Baltasar Guzmán listened attentively to Lope. When de Vega started to quote the English, though, his superior held up a hand. "Spare me that. I don't know enough of the language to follow. Give me the gist, en español." Here, Turtledove actually justifies the way the Spanish are treating Shakespeare. The "one more whore" attitude requires a ton of arrogance, but it is a kind of arrogance that has proved very common with rulers. Chapter Seven, Part II: Shakespeare quote:SHAKESPEARE WAS TIRED of cheese and stockfish and even of fresh fish. What he wanted was a beefsteak, hot and sizzling and full of juice. When he grumbled to Kate in the ordinary, she leaned toward him and spoke in a low voice. "You can have what you crave, though not for the threepence of a common supper." There is a room upstairs where he can get such a thing for a shilling - 12 pence, or four times what it would ordinarily cost. He declines this extravagance, both for the cost and out of concern for the reisk of betraying himself in the smallest of ways. Unfortunately, he recieves an unwelcome visitor. quote:He'd almost finished his unsatisfying Lenten supper when someone who was not a regular strode into the ordinary and looked around. Shakespeare needed a moment to realize that, though he hadn't seen the fellow here before, he knew him even so. The newcomer recognized him at the same moment, and walked over towards his table. "Master Shakespeare, an I mistake not," he said. Strawberry has discovered that Shakespeare quarreled with Martin not long before the murder. Shakespeare explains quite seinsibly -and with a false layer of annoyance covering his fear- that this was a routine argument - Martin wanted to change the new play, and Shakespeare didn't want it changed. Strawberry acknowledges the point. quote:"Then why"--Shakespeare almost said whyfore himself--"come you here?" Constable Strawberry, quite frankly, is an idiot. Barely able to speak his own language, sarcasm and wit are completely beyond him. Yet he not only has figured out who killed Martin, he's traced the line further to Skeres. Or, in other words, he has all the pieces of the puzzle in his hands in a matter of weeks - Martin was killed shortly before the 40 day Lenten fast was begun, and it is still Lent now. This makes the Spaniards not noticing it far harder to buy. Shakespeare passes it off - he admits to having met Skeres, but insists that these are chance meetings and he doesn't know Skeres well enough to aid in the investigation. Stawberry ponders this for a time, until his slow brain finally decides he's going to make no progress here and leaves. Kate, of course is furious, and threatens to leave Shakespeare over Strawberry's behavior. She is appeased by Shakespeare's assurances that Strawberry is just a cop, no friend of his, and you can't expect better behavior from one such as him. She admits this, and resolves to bathe at the first opportunity to wash away his touch. quote:He had intended going back to his lodging and working on Boudicca there. He'd just sat down in front of the fire, though, when Cicely Sellis came out of her room with a swarthy fellow who lifted his hat to her, said, "Muchas gracias," and then vanished into the night. Shakespeare asks for her remedy - out of pure curiosty, of course, and she admits that her remedy is that men believe her. quote:"How not? How could it be otherwise?" He builds up a fire, and begins writing the Roman reaction to the Iceni rebellion. quote:"And you," Shakespeare answered, though he wasn't sure she heard. He perched on the stool in front of the table, then nervously got up and put more wood on the fire. The Widow Kendall would complain in the morning when she found it gone, but she wasn't here now, and Shakespeare needed the light. He also needed to take a deep breath and calm himself before setting pen to paper on Boudicca. First Constable Strawberry, then that whoreson Spaniard . . . 'Swounds, an I die not of an apoplexy, 'twill be the hand of God on my shoulder, holding me safe from harm. There's one thing I really like about this section - Shakespeare's pen running out of ink and needing to be dipped. This would have been a routine annoyance and interruption for most until the middle of the 20th century when disposable ballpoints became ubiquiotus, but is practically a foreign concept today. Of equal interest is Shakespeare cheerfully using a doubtful rumor for his own purposes. He doesn't know if Elizabeth really was violated, and doesn't particularly care - it suits his purposes, and he's using it. Chapter VII, Part 3: De Vega De Vega enters his quarters, expecting to have to wake up Diego. He is shocked to find Deigo awake, and horrified to find him eating roast beef. He tears into Diego, threatining to give him to the Inquisition. quote:Diego shot him a resentful stare. "What are you doing here, anyway? When you didn't come back and you didn't come back, I thought you were off screwing your new Englishwoman. If you hadn't walked in when you weren't supposed to, you never would have seen me." Diego is not happy with the situation, which alarms De Vega. He has a solution to this - he writes out a sealed letter detailing the event, and informs Diego that that letter will be given to somebody who will open it if anything unfortunate should happen. quote:Out beyond the barred door, Diego cursed quietly. His blasphemies were music to Lope's ears. Then Diego picked up the boots; their heels thumped together. Lope hugged himself with glee as he got into bed. Not even the threat of the Scottish border had turned Diego into a tolerable servant. The threat of the Inquisition, though, seemed to have turned the trick. After exchanging pleasantries with Enrique, he heads in to see Guzman. Before anything else, he gives Guzman the "To Be Opened In The Event Of" letter he prepared. Guzman naturally accepts it. He then heads off to the theatre, where Burbage informs him that Shakespeare has failed to turn up on time. Turtledove loves the Dead Man Writing trope he employs here. I can think of at least two more works where such letters are written, maybe three. This is understandable - it is a classic because it works. Also, great use of the chapter break and POV format - show that he's missing before you show why he's missing. Chapter VII, Part 4: Shakespeare quote:"KEEP DRY, NOW," the Widow Kendall called out as William Shakespeare left her house to go to the Theatre. With rain drumming down, the advice struck him as useless, but was no doubt kindly meant. He nodded and hurried away. And here we see Shakespeare disappearing. There wasn't much mystery as to who took him - De Vega would have known if the Spanish troops or the Inquisition had grabbed him - but we still don't know why. Skeres leads Shakespeare off, to a house not far from the Spanish barracks. They do not enter the house, but head into a garden behind it. quote:"Why, the men who're fain to see you. Who else?" Nick Skeres replied. Shakespeare glared. The other man looked back, unperturbed and resolutely close-mouthed. He took Shakespeare towards a rose arbor that no doubt perfumed the air and gave welcome shade when the sun shone high and hot, but that seemed as badly out of season as the rest of the garden now. As Shakespeare drew closer to it, he saw through the rain that two men sat in that poor shelter--waiting for him? They ask about the status of the play. Shakespeare's answer of "the end of spring" as a due date satisfies them, and a mention of King Philip prompts Cecil to give him an extra 50 pounds. "Certes, Father." Robert Cecil reached under his cloak. His hands were long and thin and pale, too--hands a musician might have wished he had. He gave Shakespeare a small but nicely heavy leather sack. "We cannot let ourselves be outbid." "By God, sir--" Shakespeare began, alarmed back into English. The younger Cecil waved him to silence. "Did we fear betrayal from you, we'd work with another. This is for our pride's sake, not suffering our foes to outdo us." quote:No matter what they say, this is clearly a case of making sure that Shakespeare is an honest man - the kind that stays bought. They send Skeres away, and Cecil demands recitations from the play, since he won't live to see it finished. After the first passage, he stops for their reaction. quote:He waited. The two Cecils looked at each other. Slowly, magisterially, Lord Burghley nodded. So did his son, who despite his briskness deferred to the old man's opinion. Shakespeare felt as if he'd just received the accolade. Robert Cecil said, " 'Twill serve. Beyond doubt, 'twill serve. Have you more?" This is interesting mostly because these are very much relevant to the author. Not just somebody like Shakespeare, dramatizing history for a play, but for Turtledove himself. Setting a scene so that you don't have to have studied the era to follow it, and creating characters to fill in the gaps is an essential part of his own work. After more recitation, they summon Skeres to take Shakspeare away. quote:
He takes his leave, and heads off toward the theatre when Skeres allows him to separate. quote:When Shakespeare got to the Theatre, one of Jack Hungerford's helpers pointed to him and let out a delighted whoop: "God be praised, he's here!" Kemp takes his clowning too far with Burbage, and nearly gets beaten for it. After putting Kemp into place, Burbage asks if the work is satisifying the client. quote:Before he and Shakespeare could start another round of insults, Richard Burbage asked the poet, "Doth the work thus far done suit the principal?" After ignoring this point for most of the book, it seems strange to point out at this point that many of Shakespeare's plays WOULD in fact have been reckoned treasonous by an occupying power. More importantly, the specific example given is dubious. Shakespeare's Richard III paints Richard Plantagenet as an usurper and kinslayer who's eventual ruin is portrayed as simple justice for his sins. Portraying him as a black villain seems reasonable, but the "rightful" king who suceeded him took the name Henry VII. Henry VII of England was the first monarch from the House of Tudor, father to Henry VIII and grandfather to Elizabeth I. The play thus strengthens the legitimacy of Elizabeth's rule, which is not something the Spanish would be likely to allow even though there were other heirs who's legitimacy helped them. The Elizabeth connection would simply be too strong. Chapter VII, Part 5: De Vega quote:Lope De Vega and Lucy Watkins stood among the other groundlings at the Theatre. The boy playing Mistress Page said, As the play ends, Lope offers to introduce Watkins to the actors. She is delighted by the prospect, and he leads her toward the backstage. quote:Some small part of him knew that one day before too long he would spy another face, another form, that pleased him as much as Lucy's, or more. He would fall in love with the woman who had them, too. Maybe he would lose his love for the whelk-seller, maybe he wouldn't. He had no trouble staying in love with two or three women at once--till they found out about it. Then he had trouble. He tried to forget what had happened after the bear-baiting in Southwark. Kemp is smoking a pipe, which he shares with Lope and Lucy. She hates it, which amuses both Kemp and De Vega, who briefly bond over their shared fondness for tobacco. quote:Before that agreement could shatter, as it was likely to do, de Vega led Lucy away from the clown and over to Shakespeare. She curtsied to the English poet. He bowed over her hand, saying, "I am pleased to make your acquaintance, my lady." Shakespeare takes the opportunity to recite some of the latest lines from King Philip to De Vega. quote:Lope tasted the lines, then slowly nodded. "An honor to play so great a man. An honor to have such splendid words to say." Shakespeare nodded thanks for the compliment. I'm surprised that De Vega isn't insulted by this. He's trading on reflected glory here.
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Apr 11, 2020 05:22
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Epicurius posted:"Stay, Spanish brethren..." is from Titus Andronicus: A belated thanks for tracking down the exact passages. The "gender question" would make for an interesting bit of research, but this is not the place. Chapter 8, Part I: Shakespeare quote:ALONG WITH THE rest of the parishioners, Shakespeare came to the church of St. Ethelberge early on Easter morning, before the bells rang out that would have summoned them to Mass. As he walked into the church, deacons went up and down the aisles lighting candles and torches till the building blazed with light. It is an Easter morning service. quote:Then, solemnly, yet another priest raised the crucifix from the sepulcher and carried it in triumph all around the church. The bells in the steeple clamored out joy. The choir sang Christus Resurgens: "Christ, rising again from the dead, dieth no more. Death shall have no more dominion over Him. For in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Now let the Jews declare how the soldiers who guarded the sepulcher lost the King when the stone was placed, wherefore they kept not the rock of righteousness. Let them either produce Him buried, or adore Him rising, saying with us, Alleluia, Alleluia." As mentioned repeatedly, the services of the Church of England were not the drab thing that Turtledove imagines them to be. If you forgive that error, however, this becomes an excellent little internal conflict for Shakespeare. quote:Often, when he left the church after Easter Mass, the green of new spring growth offered its own symbolic resurrection. Not this year. With Easter so early--only a day after the equinox--winter's grip still held the land. Trees and bushes remained bare-branched; the muddy ground was brown, with only the sickly yellow-gray of last year's dead grass showing here and there. A nice turn of phrase here. quote:However much the thought pleased him, it did nothing for the fellow behind him, who bumped into him when he unexpectedly halted. "Here, pick up your feet, you breathing stone," the man grumbled. Back at his boarding house, the landlady has prepared a large leg of pork to celebrate the day. quote:Widow Kendall nodded. "Yes, it could be. But now Lent too is passed away. Will you do me the honor of carving the leg of pork I took just now from the fire?" This seems to be a reference to the notion that meat in those days was often served slightly rotten because of the lack of refrigeration. This is a pretty discredited idea - pretty much all meat not eaten right after butchery was salted and smoked for preservation, keeping rot at bay. In the medieval era, pigs would have been slaughtered in December because they lose too much weight in the winter, and their fat was a vital addition to the diet. No source I can find describes the practice in this era. quote:Everyone ate pork and bread and boiled parsnips smothered in melted cheese and drank the Widow Kendall's fresh-brewed ale. Shakespeare wondered if he were the only one not only eating meat but making a point of eating it where others could see. Nobody, now, could claim he was continuing the Lenten fast and waiting for what the old calendar reckoned to be Easter. A good notion, this. Really sells the notion of a conquered nation when even something as simple as a meal is a potential loyalty test quote:Jack Street patted his belly. "Oh, that's monstrous fine," the glazier said. "Would I were so full every day." This results in an argument, with Street refusing to believe that he snores, and everyone else trying to convince him of the truth. Street gets very angry. quote:Shakespeare began to wish Sam King had kept his mouth shut. The silence that hovered round the feasters was distinctly uncomfortable. If Street didn't want to believe he snored, how could the rest of them persuade him? They couldn't, but they knew the truth too well to be content with his denials, no matter how vigorous. This quarrel was liable to fester and burst out again weeks from now. This is obviously hypnosis, of an extremely effective sort. It makes perfect sense that this would be mistaken for witchcraft, and it was extremely foolish of Sellis to pull such a stunt. Chapter 8, Part II: De Vega quote:CAPTAIN BALTASAR GUZMÁN looked disgusted. "I have just learned Anthony Bacon has taken refuge at the court of King Christian IV," he said. There is not enough evidence against Francis Bacon to justify angering his powerful family, which Guzman regrets. He cheers himself by imagining that Spain will be able to send Armadas against the Dutch and the Swedes once England is quieted in a generation or two, and then on to crush the Orthodox nation of Russia. I would pay good money to see this campaign. An invasion of Sweden a generation or so from this book would put the Spanish up against Gustav II Adolf, renowned as one of the great captains of history, in his prime. quote:"Before I came to England, I'm not sure I'd ever even heard of Russia," Lope said. "Now I've talked to a few men who've been there. They say the weather in Russia is as much worse than it is here as the weather here is worse than Spain's. If that's so, God has already punished the Russians for their heresy." This wraps up the Tom portion of the storyline, and confirms that he fled with Bacon. quote:"Shakespeare continues to make good progress on King Philip," de Vega answered. "I wish your English were more fluent, sir. I'd quote you line after line that will live forever. The man is good. He is so very good, I find him intimidating when I sit down to write, even though he works in a different language." Guzman finds this suspicious, as Diego's laziness is well known. De Vega refuses to admit to his blackmail, and offers a few lazy explanations that Guzman sees through, but declines to pursue. quote:"It could be. The only way he was likely to see such a thing, though, it seems to me, was up the barrel of a pistol," Guzmán said. Lope didn't answer. His superior shrugged. "All right, if you want to keep a secret, you may keep a secret, I suppose. But do tell me, since you are writing, what are you writing about?" In actual history, Lope De Vega did not write El mejor mozo de España until the 1610s, but this is a reasonable departure. Over three centuries later, El mejor mozo de España was the title of a play by Alfonso Paso about the life of one Lope De Vega. Google Translate renders "El mejor mozo de España" as "the best waiter in Spain", the same thing Guzman renders it as, so there's a translation joke in here that I'm not getting. quote:"If this next one is as good, it should have a bigger audience than Spanish soldiers stranded in England," his superior said. "Write another good play, Senior Lieutenant, and I will do what I can to get both of them published in Spain." De Vega, like Shakespeare, spent a great deal of time fighting pirated copies of his plays. This is something different - an official, authorized copy straight from the author's words was something few playwrights achieved in this era . As it happens, the historical De Vega was one of them, with most of his works being published in his own lifetime (according to Spanish Wikipedia, which is more extensive than the English version on this subject, but machine translated. Chapter 8, part III: Shakespeare quote:SHAKESPEARE LOOKED AT what he'd written. Slowly, he nodded. The ordinary was quiet. He had the place almost to himself, for most of the folk who'd eaten supper there had long since left for home. He had the ordinary so much to himself, in fact, that he'd dared work on Boudicca here, which he seldom did. Play's finished, so they can put it on tomorrow and be done with the plot! What do you mean that only half the work is done, and it gets even more dangerous now? After explaining to Kate what he is talking about, and dodging her questions, he heads into the dark and foggy London night, expecting to get home purely by memory and smell. quote:His intention collapsed about a dozen paces outside the ordinary. Somebody came hurrying up from the direction of his lodging house. The fog muffled sound, too, so Shakespeare heard only the last few footfalls before the fellow bumped into him. "Oof!" he said, and then, "Have a care, an't please you!" The Spanish hunt for what they call "sodomites" may have begun with Anthony Bacon, but has not stopped there. Marlowe's flamboyance has made his preferences well known - and he's the next target. quote:Even on the brink of dreadful death, he struggled to justify himself. That constance left Shakespeare half saddened, half amused--and altogether frightened. "What would you of me?" he asked. Marlowe continues to try to justifying himself, quoting his own Dido Queen Of Carthage. Shakespeare mocks him by quoting the same play. quote:Marlowe hissed like a man trying to bear a wound bravely. "And here, Will, I thought you never paid my verses proper heed. Would I had been wrong." This settles Marlowe down enough to accept that this is his wisest course, however much he might hate it. He leaves, and Shakespeare heads to his bording house. After arguing with his landlady about firewood, he goes to bed. quote:When he woke the next morning, Jack Street's bed was empty. Sam King was dressing for another day of pounding London's unforgiving streets looking for work. "God give you good morrow, Master Will," he said as Shakespeare sat up and rubbed his eyes. When he reaches the theatre, Burbage is dashing around the stage to get in character as Alexander The Great. The day's play is one of Marlowe's works, giving Shakespeare an oddly convenient opening. The text specifically mentions Alexander pursuing Darius, suggesting a play set in the great conquerer's lifetime. So far as I can tell, there is no known Marlowe work in such a setting, but it would be a reasonable subject for him to have used. quote:Shakespeare nodded. "Beyond doubt, you speak sooth. But come you down." He gestured. "I'd have a word with you." Fitting of Burbage to think of the Theatre first, and how sore a loss the second-greatest playwright in England would be. Shakespeare tells Burbage that he sent Marlowe to the river, at which point Burbage seems to see another danger. quote:"Boatmen there aplenty, regardless of the hour." Richard Burbage seemed to be trying to convince himself as much as Shakespeare. After a moment, he added, "What knows Kit of . . . your enterprise now in train?" Chapter 8, Part IV: De Vega De Vega is hunting Marlowe with a squad of soldiers, primarily by interrogating boatmen on the Thames. After one such cons him out of a coin, the squad begins to get annoyed. quote:A couple of Lope's troopers knew some English. One of them said, "We ought to give that bastard a set of lumps for playing games with us." De Vega feels the thrill of the hunt, despite his dislike of hunting Marlowe in the first place. After encouraging George with yet another sixpence, George gets on with a long explanation. quote:"Why, then, sir, I bethought myself, should I hie me home, for that it was a foggy night and for that curfew would come anon, or should I stay yet a while to see what chance might give? Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered, they say. And my boat--the wight whereof I speak, you understand--" De Vega writes out the statement, and has the illiterate George make a mark. George is a bit wary of why Marlowe is being hunted, but loses all misgivings when informed that he is being hunted for sodomy. quote:"Oh." Whatever regrets the Englishman might have had disappeared. "God grant you catch him, then. A filthy business, buggery." The Spanish troops get a lot of looks in Deptford - as it was no longer an important naval yard, the Spanish have mostly ignored it during the occupation. quote:Lope hadn't been asking questions along the wharfs for very long before a sheriff came up to question him. The fellow wore a leather tunic over his doublet to keep it clean, a black felt hat with a twisted hatband, slops, hose dyed dark blue with woad, and sturdy shoes. The staff of office he carried could double as a formidable club. He introduced himself as Peter Norris. quote:"Certes. I'll send 'em in a letter," Peter Norris said. Lope nodded. Maybe the sheriff would, maybe he wouldn't. Either way, de Vega had enough for a report that would satisfy his own superiors. Norris hesitated, then asked, "This Marlowe . . . Seek you the poet of that name?" This is De Vega being industrious? Chapter 8, Part V: Shakespeare quote:SHAKESPEARE HAD NEVER imagined that one day he might actually want to find Nicholas Skeres, but he did. Skeres had a way of appearing out of thin air, most often when he was least welcome, and throwing Shakespeare's days, if not his life, into confusion. Now Shakespeare found himself looking for the smooth-talking go-between whenever he went outside, looking for him and not seeing him. After discussing Cecil's approaching death, the get down to business. Shakespeare informs Skeres that the play is finished. quote:Nicholas Skeres nodded. "Yes. They know. 'Twas on that account they sent me to you. I ask again: what need you of them, or of me?" Come on, Will! Just because somebody's constantly sneaking around and popping up out of the shadows, and people tend to die or have their lives ruined when he hears you complain about them is no reason to think they are not trustworthy! quote:At the Theatre that day, Lord Westmorland's Men offered The Cobbler's Holiday, a comedy by Thomas Dekker. It was a pleasant enough piece of work, even if the plot showed a few holes. Most of the time, Shakespeare--a good cobbler of dramas himself--would have patched those holes, or found ways for Dekker to do it himself, before the play reached the stage. He hadn't had the chance here, not when he was busy with two of his own. Burbage, the consumate actor, has a thick enough skin to ignore them. Will Kemp, however, is driven into a fury. quote:"Tomorrow they'll be gone," Shakespeare said. "Never do they linger." Definately an authorial fantasy, if a harmless one. The hecklers routed, Kemp returns to the play effortlessly. For once, Kemp is the company darling instead of the source of discord. Shakespeare finds this little improvement. quote:The noise made Shakespeare's head ache. He soaped his face and splashed water on it from a basin. The sooner he could leave the Theatre today, the happier he would be. He wanted to work on King Philip. The sooner that piece was done, the sooner he could start thinking of his own ideas once more. They might bring less lucre than those proposed by English noble or Spanish don, but they were his. The new tireman and prompter seeks his attention while this is going on, wishing to discuss the latest play. quote:"A scribe shall make your foul papers into parts the players shall use to learn their lines," the prompter said. Obviously, these are the "certain men" he asked Skeres to seek. Finishing the play is no resolution, only a step toward greater danger. The plot thickens.
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May 7, 2020 23:50
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Chapter IX, Part 1: De Vegaquote:It was the middle of a fine, bright morning. When Lope de Vega walked into his rooms in the Spanish barracks, he found his servant curled into a ball under the covers, fast asleep. De Vega sighed. Diego had been almost unnaturally good and obedient these past few weeks. More surprising than his backsliding was how long it had taken. De Vega wants Diego to be awake and acting. Diego wants to be asleep and not acting. De Vega gets what he wants, after some arguing and more insinuations about Lope's boss. quote:That sat none too well with Diego. Lope could see as much. But the servant put on a pair of shoes and accompanied him to the courtyard where his makeshift company was rehearsing El mejor mozo de España. Even in Spain, it would have made a spartan rehearsal ground. Here in England, where de Vega could compare it to the luxury of the Theatre and the other halls where plays were presented, it seemed more austere yet. I think we all know where this is going by now. Putting De Vega near a woman never ends well. At least he knows it is a bad idea for once, not that that's going to matter. Fantasies and flattery of Catalina distract him a great deal, but the play trumps even a woman. quote:Later. Not yet. El mejor mozo de España came first. Even set beside his love affairs, the words, the rhymes, the verses in his head counted for more. What had Shakespeare said in Prince of Denmark? The play's the thing--that was the line. "Take your places, then, ladies and gentlemen," Lope said. "First act, first scene. We'll start from where Rodrigo the page enters with his guitar and speaks to Isabella." I'm not sure if De Vega's critique of Joaquin is cribbed from somewhere, or is Turtledove's own work. Whichever it is, it approaches brilliance. More on subject, I like how the English and Spanish theatre's being contrasted here, and I think everything is historically correct here. Female parts were played by women in Spanish plays, where England used boys. This is a culture clash that would almost certainly happen if Spain had taken England, and it is good to have it visited. I only wish we saw more of an English point of view, so that the other side could make claims. It would probably have been difficult to come up with any, though. quote:"All right," Lope said. "Let's go on." He might have been speaking to the assembled players. People shifted, getting ready for the next scene. Turtledove's version of Lope De Vega is an absolute IDIOT. Chapter IX, Part 2: Shakespeare quote:KATE POURED BEER into Shakespeare's mug. "I thank you," he said absently. He'd eaten more than half of his kidney pie before noticing how good it was--or, indeed, paying much attention to what it was. Most of him focused on King Philip. He'd stormed ahead the night before, and he couldn't wait to get to work tonight. The candle at his table was tall and thick and bright. It would surely burn till curfew, or maybe even a little longer. Phillppes is here because he knows that Shakespeare is seeking a scribe. After some banter, he explains that he is qualified for the job. Shakespeare is wary, and also concerned that he might not be capable of the job. quote:He would never be a hero on the battlefield, nor, Shakespeare judged, with the ladies, and so had to make do with what he knew. Twitting him about it would only make an enemy. "Ken you a scribe, then?" Shakespeare asked. "A scribe who can read what's set before him, write out a fair copy, and speak never a word of't thereafter?" This text is drawn from The Misfortunes Of Arthur by Sir Thomas Hughes, and is several lines picked out of context. The only direct changes here are substituting "England" where the original has "Mordred" and "Spainiards" where the original says "Britain". quote:He'd copied out the bit of King Philip's speech he'd read before. Shakespeare stared. He himself used the native English hand he'd learned in school back in Stratford; his writing had grown more fluid over the years because he did so much of it, but had never changed its essential nature. Phelippes' studied Italian script, by contrast, was so very perfect, an automaton might have turned it out. And he'd written in haste here, not at leisure. English and Itialian script were different things in this era, but deriving meaning from them is a matter for an expert. For the purpose of the story, it suffices that Phelippes has excellent handwriting Phelippes departs, stating that he will make himself known to Thomas Vincent. quote:When he went to the Theatre the next day, he told Thomas Vincent of Phelippes. The prompter nodded, but asked, "Hath he the required discretion?" Note that Turtledove seems to rank waterboarding with thumbscrews and foot roasting. After some discussion of the possiblility of betrayal, Vincent leaves Shakespeare alone. quote:He wished the same would have been true of the players. He'd had to sound them out, one by one, knowing a wrong word in the wrong ear would bring catastrophe down upon them all. He felt as if he were defusing the Hellburner of Antwerp each time he spoke to one of them. At his nod, Richard Burbage had eased a couple of devout Papists from the company--both of them hired men, fortunately, and not sharers whom the other sharers would have had to buy out. Some of those who remained, and who knew what was toward, seemed to think it certain no one not of their persuasion was left in the Theatre. They were careless enough with what they said to make Shakespeare flinch several times a day--or, when things were bad, several times an hour. This is not the way to keep a plot secret. Loose lips sink ships! Chapter IX, Part 3: De Vega quote:
De Vega, you are an unmitigated rear end in a top hat He heads off to his rehearsal, where Catalina is waiting. Also waiting is her patron, Don Alejandro de Recalde, so De Vega's plans of seduction have to be put on hold. quote:If the nobleman knew what was in de Vega's mind, he gave no sign of it. With another friendly nod, he said, "I've been listening to Catalina practicing her lines these past few days, and I have to tell you I'm impressed. I heard a good many dreary comedies in Madrid that couldn't come close to what you're doing here in this godforsaken wilderness." Correction: De Vega, you are a very slightly mitigated rear end in a top hat After a little more chatter, Don Alejandro asks to see a rehearsal performance, which De Vega cannot deny. He has Diego kicked awake, and proceeeds. quote:"Places! Places!" Lope shouted, submerging would-be lover so playwright and director could come forth. Being all those people at once, he sometimes felt very crowded inside. Were other people also so complex? When he thought of Diego, he had his doubts. When he thought of Christopher Marlowe . . . I won't think of Marlowe, he told himself. He's gone, and I don't have to worry about seizing him any more. But oh, by God, how I'll miss his poetry. This is an interesting reflection, and I like the way De Vega strains under mixed admiration and loathing for Marlowe quote:When the play ended, Catalina Ibañez curtsied to him. Then, deliberately, as if she really were Queen Isabella, she curtsied to Lope, too. He bowed in return, also as if she were the Queen. Don Alejandro de Recalde laughed and cheered for them both. Catalina's eyes lit up. She smiled out at the nobleman--but somehow managed to include Lope in that smile, too. This will be trouble. De Vega knows it will be trouble. He's going to do it anyway. Chapter IX, Part 4: Shakespeare quote:Thomas Vincent held sheets of paper under Shakespeare's nose. " 'Steeth, Master Vincent, mind what you do," Shakespeare said. "None should look on those who hath not strongest need." This last line is from Act 2 of Henry IV: Part 1 They are interrupted by a bawdy song being whistled from the roof of the theatre - a warning sign. The dangerous sheets are hidden as Lope De Vega approaches. They discuss King Phillip and King Phillip. quote:"How fares King Philip?" Lope asked. Interesting thoughts here. Shakespeare's desire for the safety of his Spanish commission is understandable compared to the danger of his English one, but foolish. The plot is clearly long advanced, and too many know he is involved. His only road to safety is in success. Note also his genuine empathy for the plight of his enemy Phillip. De Vega bids Shakespeare to finish the play, and notes the need for scribes. Also noting that Shakespeare's prompter is new due to Marten's death, he decides to be helpful. quote:But, for now, Lope de Vega's attention focused on King Philip and the problems involved in producing it. "An he have trouble finding scribes fit for the matter, I ken a man who'd suit it." This would be a magnificent source of tension, had Turtledove not already shown Phillipes deflecting suspicion from the plot and hinted that he was discreetly removing obstacles. There's no real tension because we know which side Phellippes is on. Shakespeare deflects the inquiry by stating that it was a matter to be taken up with the tireman, and proceeds to the day's play. quote:Shakespeare had only a small part in the day's production, Marlowe's Caligula. The poet was fled, but his plays lived on. Shakespeare would have been glad with more to do; he might have worried less. As things were, he'd never been so glad to escape the Theatre once the show was done. I can find no Marlow play concerning Caligula, and it would be a very odd choice for the Spanish to allow - this entire book is about using Evil Romans to stand in for the occupying Spanish! The line attributed to Burbage here appears to actually be a quote from Blaise Pascal about religious belief, penned sometime in the middle of the next century. It is an interesting turn of character for Burbage here - earlier he was pretty blatantly unconcerned about which play got performed - his company makes money either way. Now he prays for the dangerous one, the treasonous one, the one that can set his homeland free. They continue, Shakespeare deeming the line fit for inclusion in some light romance and lamenting that he cannot work on any such piece. After some discussion, Burbage decides to lighten the mood. quote:Burbage might have sensed as much. Instead of going on with the argument, he pointed ahead. "Bishopsgate draws nigh. Spring at last being arrived, it likes me having daylight left once we've strutted and fretted our two hours upon the stage." How very appropriate for an author to completely lose track of the calendar while writing. Of greater interest is the bit with the Irish - Shakespeare is going back and forth from reluctant tool to active and eager collaborator, seeing a flaw in the plot and resolving to correct it. Chapter 9, Part V: De Vega quote:"COME ON, DIEGO," Lope de Vega said impatiently from horseback. "You have only a donkey to mount. The two of you must be close cousins." De Vega's being abusive to his servant again... but this time it is kind of funny. They walk through the city of Westminster, noticing that they are passing Drury Lane, where so many troublesome but problematic Englishmen live. Diego suggests setting it on fire, to De Vega's amusement. quote:The Thames bent towards the south. The road followed it. De Vega and Diego rode past a tilt-yard and several new tenements before coming to a large area on their left enclosed by a brick wall. Over the top of the wall loomed the upper stories of some impressive buildings. "What's that?" Diego asked, pointing to the enclosure. The Scotland Yard joke is way too perfect. The Palace of Whitehall was the royal residence from 1530 (when the previous royal residence (the Palace Of Westminster) burned down) to 1698 (when the Palace of Whitehall burned down and the royal residence was moved to Kensignton Palace). Only the central hall of the building survives today. De Vega takes the opportinuty to encourage Catalina with a casual kiss before the performance, which goes quite well. quote:From the tiring room, Lope heard Catalina Ibañez call, "And here is the man who gave us these golden words to say: Senior Lieutenant Lope Félix de Vega Carpio!" Turtledove likes to do this "only later did he..." bit. Often, as now, it is fairly annoying because it takes the character out of the moment. Chapter 9, Part VI: De Vega quote:SAM KING CAME up to Shakespeare in the parlor of the lodgings they shared. A little shyly, he said, "I have somewhat for you, Master Will." He held out his hand and gave Shakespeare three pennies--two stamped with the visages of Isabella and Albert, the third an older coin of Elizabeth's. King continues to explain the new craft, which he proudly proclaims brings in five shillings a week. There are 12 pence to a shilling, and 20 shillings to the pound. This makes King's five shillings equal to sixty pence. By the prices Turtledove gives, this is a tolerable living - a threepenny supper such as Shakespeare habitually takes each day would consume only a third of it, allowing for some other food and his rent. This does, however, put into some proportion how much Shakespeare is actually getting payed for his two plays. Between the English and the Spanish, he is being paid two hundred pounds - at twenty shillings to the pound this makes 4000 shillings. King's lessons attract the landlady, who is eager to hound him away until she realizes he is one of her tenants instead of some random beggar. quote:"We'll say no more about it, then." The Widow Kendall heaved a sigh. "This place is not what it was--by my halidom, it is not. That I should have lodging here, all at the same time, a beggar and a witch and a poet . . ." She shook her head. It is somewhat amusing that she considers the author and poet (by far the most respectable of the three professions, by modern standards) to be the most likely to run out of cash. Not an inappropriate concept for the era, though. Sellis's cat enters and begins to rub on Shakespeare. King decides to play with the cat -he gets a mug of ale, and pours some on the ground to try getting the cat drunk. The landlady is furious at the waste of her ale - and Sellis is furious at the treatment of her cat. quote:
Sellis is correct to be outraged. Due to low body mass, even a tiny amount of alcohol is extremely dangerous to cats.
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Jul 19, 2020 04:06
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Chapter 10, Part I: De Vegaquote:A SHARP COUGH BROUGHT Lope de Vega up short. He looked back towards Shakespeare, who advanced across the stage of the Theatre. "You attend not, Master de Vega," Shakespeare said severely. "That was your cue to say forth your lines, and it passed you by. I had not known you as such an unperfect actor on the stage, who with his fear is put besides his part." Lope's angry because he hasn't yet managed to sleep with the mistress of a superior officer. This can't possibly go wrong. quote:"I understand," Lope said contritely. "You have reason, señor. My private woe should not unsettle this your play." The lines here are taken straight from Act IV, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's Henry VIII without edits, although several lines from the historical play are elided. One thing that Turtledove does well in this book is these little philosophical interludes on the relationship between God and actors/playwrights. In an age where religion holds so much sway, such comparisons are appropriate. I am not enough of an early modern scholar to know of any, but it seems inevitable that such things were. Also note Kemp's joke here. quote:"Let us try again," Shakespeare said. "The more we work afore ourselves alone, the better we shall seem when the Theatre's full." Rehersal begins to go well, and is followed by unusually friendly banter between De Vega and Will Kemp. This culminates in a most interesting exchange. quote:The players laughed. Will Kemp's grin showed uneven teeth. "By my troth, no," he answered. "D'you take me for Kit Marlowe?" More philosophizing. The real Lope De Vega spent his last 21 years as a Catholic priest, so having him ruminate this much on religious matters is fitting. Again, I regret a lack of knowledge here - this feels very much like Turtledove is cribbing from some period source. As De Vega is heading into Bishopsgate after the rehersal, there is a most fateful meeting. quote:Not far inside the gate, he was struck by the spectacle of a handsome woman coming out of an ordinary with a cat perched on her left shoulder as if it were a sailor's bird. He reined in. "Give you good day, my lady," he said, "and why, I pray you, sits the beast there?" Surely we can't have a named female character that De Vega doesn't make a pass at, unless he never meets her. Chapter 10, Part II: Shakespeare quote:Jack Hungerford showed Shakespeare a row of cheap, rusty helmets somewhat brightened by splashes of silver paint. "With feather plumes, Master Will, they serve passing well for Roman casques," the tireman said. "See you how the cheek pieces I've added help give 'em the seeming of antiquity?" Hungerford figures out how to adapt Spanish-style helmets to look Roman, and rig appropriate armor to enhance the effect. One more matter remains. quote:
After impressing the need for silence on Hungerford, Shakespeare ruminates a bit. quote:He still had no guarantee Boudicca would come off well, or that it would do as Sir William Cecil hoped and help rouse England against the Spanish occupiers. He had no guarantee the play would even appear on stage. (That gave rise to a new worry. If Boudicca didn't appear, if King Philip did, how could he reclaim the written parts? Any of those, should a Spaniard see it, would be plenty to get him dragged to Tower Hill, hanged, cut down, drawn, quartered, and burnt. His danger didn't end if Boudicca failed to play. If anything, it got worse.) But if his tragedy of the British Queen did reach the stage, Jack Hungerford would do everything in his power to make it look the way it should. And the tireman took it seriously. He understood the stakes for which they were playing. Rember this passage, because this concern is effectively forgotten. This won't be the last time they consider putting on King Philip instead. After some more conversation, he heads to the stage where rehersal is underway for his treasonous play. quote:He left the tiring room and went out on stage, where rehearsal for Boudicca went on. Burbage, as Boudicca's brother-in-law Caratach, traded barbs with Will Kemp, who played Marcus, a Roman soldier now captured by the Iceni, and with Peter Baker, the boy playing Caratach's nephew, Hengo. These lines are from Act II, Scene 3 of John Fletcher's Bonduca, with only one alteration - Turtledove states in his endnotes that he felt the name "Judas" to be too unsubtle for the very different purpose of the fictional play, and substituted "Marcus" instead. This play was performed by Shakespeare's company in 1613, the same year that Shakespeare himself wrote his last works. John Fletcher served as Shakespeare's successor with the company, and aided the Bard with at least two plays before writing a great many of his own. quote:By the time Lope de Vega walked into the Theatre, what had been a rehearsal for Boudicca had metamorphosed into a rehearsal for King Philip. "Good morrow, gentles," the Spaniard called as he walked towards the stage. He waved to Shakespeare. "Give you good morrow, Master Will. You go on without me, is it not so?" Although most searches for this verse bring up the novel, there are books of folk songs that include it and predate this book. By all appearances, this is a genuine bawdy song from this era. Also note the payoff to Kemp's joke earlier - De Vega not perfectly grasping English idiom is a good touch. De Vega is here with no particular purpose, inciting yet another round of wordplay and argument involving Will Kemp quote:De Vega's gaze went from one of them to the next in turn. "You give a better show now than when the groundlings spend their pennies." And here we have another "De Vega doesn't get the crude joke" instance. This suffers badly for being so close to the resolution of the previous one, but even worse for being called out. Chapter 10, Part III: De Vega quote:"BY THE VIRGIN and all the saints, my dear, I wish you had been there and understood the English," Lope told Catalina Ibañez. "They might have been fighting with rapiers, save only that their words pierced again and again without slaying, however much they might make a man wish he were dead." After some conversation, one of Turtledove's trademark awkward sex scenes ensues. quote:Her mouth twisted in regret when he pulled out of her. But she quickly started putting herself to rights. De Vega got dressed, too. He reached out to pat her bare backside as she pulled up her drawers. "Even more than I imagined," he told her. This scene is oddly placed - this chapter opens with De Vega moping about not getting anywhere with Catalina, only for his very next POV segment landing here. Also, he's barely gotten dressed and he's thinking about adding another conquest. He's a bit of an rear end. On their way out, they are interrupted by the guy Catalina's supposed to be doing this with. quote:"¡Ay, madre de Dios!" Catalina Ibañez yelped. She dropped Lope's hand as if it were on fire. Under her paint, her face went white as milk. "It's Don Alejandro!" Quoted in full because we get so few action scenes in this book. This one's vivid and quite believable - Don Alejandro is a better fighter in pure technique, but De Vega wins with some dirty tricks. quote:He turned to Catalina Ibañez. "Come on," he told her. "We have to let the authorities know what happened here. You are my witness I slew in self-defense." ((Chapter split here for length)) Gnoman fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Sep 3, 2020 |
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Sep 1, 2020 08:33
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If I can ever manage to get past this book (hoping for an update later this week), that's much of the criticism that I'd have for the 191 series. War that came early is actually much less so.
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Jan 4, 2021 21:28
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Epicurius posted:I found The War that Came Early forgettable. I mean, I remember reading it, I just don't remember anything that happened in it except that that one member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade sniped Franco, I think? And there was a Czech with an anti-Tank rifle who joined the French Army, maybe?. It just didn't leave an impression on me. The Czech with an AT rifle is the guy who sniped Franco and Sanjurjo, single-handedly winning the Spanish Civil War
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Jan 4, 2021 22:41
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Epicurius posted:So I think he's the only character I remember. Unless...was there also a Midwestern tourist stuck in Germany and a Soviet pilot? Socialite tourist, and a couple of Soviet pilots.
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Jan 5, 2021 00:00
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I'm thinking about restarting this and skipping to Guns of The South. It turned out that Ruled Britannia is a very boring book to dissect because of the large number of chapters where nothing much happens.
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Sep 8, 2021 03:09
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Lawman 0 posted:Honestly if you were sending out an interstellar expedition, even with FTL or something I would simply bring a factory ship or something to make whatever you needed instead bringing along a bunch of obsolete crap you don't need. They actually so that - the conquest fleet has organic manufacturing capability. They just need way more than any reasonable person would expect when bringing T-72s to fight knights on horseback.
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Sep 10, 2021 14:17
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For anybody wondering how the other book turned out, Shakespeare's play set off a rebellion, they kicked out the Spanish. Shakespeare got knighted, divorced, and lived happily ever after with his barmaid girlfriend. Going to get started on The Guns Of The South this weekend.
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Sep 11, 2021 01:58
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The ending of Timeline 191 where Confederate Hitler gets shot by a black resistance fighter who lost his entire family in the Population Reduction comes off as pretty blatant wish fulfillment.
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Sep 11, 2021 16:38
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 The Guns of The South begins in an Army Of Northern Virginia camp in January of 1864. The previous year, Lee's second invasion of the North met a spectacular end at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and fallen back into Virginia. Attempts to inflict a matching defeat by exploiting General Meade's indifferent pursuit failed, as did Meade's belated attempt to catch and destroy Lee's forces at the Battle of Mine Run, less than a month before the novel begins. Our point of divergence here comes right at the beginning of the novel, while Lee is composing letters. Chapter 1: Robert E. Lee quote:Headquarters Lee here is describing preparations for the attempt to recapture the town of New Bern (no "e") North Carolina. There's one great problem here, on page 1 of the book. The New Bern campaign had nothing to do with Lee. Lee was never the commander of the entire Confederate Army - just the Army of Northern Virginia. The attack on New Berne was led by General George Pickett and supported by General Robert Hoke's 21st North Carolina. Neither Pickett or Hoke were under Lee's command, which does largely shield him from blame for the result. The Battle of New Bern was a Union victory, with little bloodshed. The most significant result came afterward, when Pickett discovered that 22 Union prisoners were born in North Carolina and had them shot as deserters.. Lee continues his letter before being interrupted by gunfire. quote:A gun cracked, quite close to the tent. Soldier’s instinct pulled Lee’s head up. Then he smiled and laughed at himself. One of his staff officers, most likely, shooting at a possum or a squirrel. He hoped the young man scored a hit. There were two famous repeaters used by Union troops during the Civil War, most of which were privately purchased by soldiers or officers. The Henry Repeating Rifle (the design of which would form the basis for the famous Winchester line of leverguns) was a lever action rifle firing the .44 Henry cartrige from a 15-round tubular magazine located under the barrel. The primary weakness of the Henry was that .44 Henry is a relatively low-powered round - far closer to the rounds fired from a Colt 1860 revolver than to those fired by the standard Springfield carbine or rifle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofGnRSE7lpI The other famous repeater of the war was the Spencer. Also a lever design, the Spencer fired .56-56 Spencer cartridges from a 7-round magazine located in the buttstock. Less reliable than the Henry, and with lower magazine capacity, the primary advantage of the Spencer was the cartridge - .56-56 Spencer was on par with the standard muzzleloaders in both bullet weight and muzzle velocity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8eQmTUHzeU As Lee helpfully explains, neither is a thirty-shooter. Lee returns to his letter, only to almost immediately hear another burst of gunfire, this one being a large number in very close succession. Lee hastily begins to exit his tent, running right into an aide bearing a letter. quote:Bureau of Ordnance, Richmond Rhoodie is very polite, well fed, and speaks with an odd accent. After exchanging pleasantries, he gets down to business. quote:
An odd uniform, equipment of extremely high quality, and this marvelous rifle. Where could this guy have come from? Rhoodie pulls sheets of paer from his bag, which prove to be targets bearing a life-size sillohette of a man's torso and head. He requests that these be put up to demonstrate accuracy, out to 4 or 5 hundred yards. quote:When the aides were through, a ragged column of thirty targets straggled southeast toward Orange Court House a couple of miles off. The knot of tents that was Lee’s headquarters lay on a steep hillside, well away from encamped troops or any other human habitations. The young men laughed and joked as they came back to Rhoodie and Lee. “There’s General McClellan!” Charles Marshall said, stabbing a thumb in the direction of the nearest target. “Give him what he deserves!” The answer is unhelpful - Rhoodie just explains that he uses a different powder than normal. The targets are brought in, and 28 out of 30 targets have been struck - impressive by any standard. After reloading, he demonstrates a second feature. quote:“Sorry. The Yankees, I mean. What if the Yankees are too close for aimed fire?” Below the handle was a small metal lever. Rhoodie clicked it down so that, instead of being parallel to the handle’s track, its front end pointed more nearly toward the ground. He turned away from Lee and his staff officers. “This is what.” Rhoodie's rifle, as he helpfully explains, uses the gas from each shot to push the bolt back. Lee is impressed, but fears that this is all pointless - after all, how many of these wonder weapons can he acquire, when the Confederacy is unable to produce even conventional arms in quantity. quote:Rhoodie smiled broadly. “How many would you like?” So this guy not only has wonderous equipment, he knows all kinds of information that he shouldn't. The proposal is to have Holk's trains stop at the town of Rivington, North Carolina on their way back from delivering the troops. There, they can take on the first shipment of 25,000 rifles with a supply of ammunition, and can repeat this until the initial order is filled. 100,000 rifles is more than the Army of Northern Virginia requires, but the Confederacy has other commands. A point which Rhoodie makes clear. quote:“The Confederacy has more armies than yours. Don’t you think General Johnston will be able to use some when General Sherman brings the whole Military Division of the Mississippi down against him come spring?” Lee can find no trap here, and no risk to him. He decides to accept Rhoodie's offer. This leaves only one matter in need of resolution. quote:Walter Taylor asked, “Mr. Rhoodie, what do you call this rifle of yours. Is it a Rhoodie, too? Most inventors name their products for themselves, do they not?” The Автома́т Кала́шникова (Avtomat Kalashnikova, or "Kalishnikov's Automatic Rifle"), more commonly known as the AK or AK-47, is a rifle developed in the Soviet Union immediately after the end of the Second World War. Although the designer took lessons from existing weapons - primarily the American M1 Garand, the German Sturmgewer 44, and the Soviet SKS - the final desing was entirely his own work. Perhaps the most famous firearm on the planet, the AK and derived designs have seen combat service on five continents and played a part in just about every war since Korea. Some estimates suggest that one out of every five firearms worldwide is an AK or derivative. The AK-47 fires the 7.62x39mm cartridge from a thirty-round detachable box magazine, is extremely accurate out to 500 meters, and is extremely robust. Not, perhaps, as robust as the gun's reputation suggests, but robust nontheless. After finishing his letter, Lee heads back outside. Rhoodie is boiling water, and it is growing time for Lee to eat as well. quote:Lee’s servant came up. “Supper be ready soon, Marse Robert.” Note Rhoodie's treatment of Perry here. Among everything else, he compliments Lee on Perry's cooking, not the man himself. Lee's immediately requests that Rhoodie start supplying these magic rations along with the magic rifles. Rhoodie hems and haws, but allows that he might be able to provide some, given time. After eating, he begins to boil more water to Lee's surprise. quote:“I was going to boil water for coffee. Would you like some?” AWB does NOT stand for America Will Break. The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) began as a political party in South Africa devoted to the preservation of apartheid and other white-supremacy laws. Better armed and more vicious than the American Ku Klux Klan, and using a distinctive three-armed swastika as their symbol, they eventually rallied around the cause of seceeding from the South African government on the grounds that it wasn't racist enough, and were the primary opponent of groups such as Nelson Mandela's African National Congress. By the time this book was written in 1992, the AWB was still strong but the writing on the wall was clear. The group fell into a sharp decline after majority rule came to South Africa in 1994, and today they are just another group of bitter and virulent neo-Nazi leftovers. Later that evening, Lee encounters Rhoodie reading the Bible by firelight while making a call of nature, and finds it easy to sleep despite the coffee. This act of devotion gives Lee more reason to trust the man. A few days later, after having to order the army's rations reduced due to supply issues, Lee recieves a telegram from the trains. Many crates were loaded in Rivington, and inspection found them to be filled with rifles and cartridges of unknown design. This does not wholly alleviate Lee's suspicions. quote:“Yes, sir.” Venable hesitated, then went on, “May I ask, sir, what you think of Mr. Rhoodie?” Some time later, Lee meets the train carrying the rifles himself. quote:A plume of woodsmoke announced a train heading up the Orange and Alexandria Railroad to the little town of Orange Court House. Lee pointed to it with the eagerness of a boy who spies his Christmas present being fetched in. “If I have calculated rightly, gentlemen, that will be the train from Rivington. Shall we ride to meet it, and see this first consignment of Mr. Rhoodie’s rifles?” The slaves unloading the train are supervised by Confederate soldiers as well as more men in the strange mottled clothes. All are big men, with the same accent as Rhoodie. Attempts to get information from Rhoodie about this are deflected. quote:Lee dismounted. His aides and Rhoodie followed him to the ground; Venable hitched Traveller to the rail. A soldier with two bars on either side of his collar walked up to them. His face, Lee thought, was too thin for the whiskers he’d chosen, which were like those of the Federal general Burnside. He saluted. “Asbury Finch, sir, 21st Georgia.” Lee considers this a valid concern. He promptly issues orders to have the head of the Bureau of Ordnance to investigate copying the weapon, and to send a rifle (with a supply of cartridges) to the Army's expert on gunpowder. Detailed plans on how to disperse the new arms are made. quote:
Note here how Rhoodie talks to the white Confederates. He isn't nearly as dismissive of them as he was Perry, but he still has an air of arrogance and superiority. Gnoman fucked around with this message at 06:18 on Sep 13, 2021 |
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Sep 13, 2021 06:12
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The letter is historical, but the narration implies that Lee was the guy who came up with the plan of attack, which I don't think is accurate.
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Sep 13, 2021 20:00
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Chapter 2: Nate Caudellquote:“What else, Alsie?” First Sergeant Nate Caudell asked patiently. quote:Excitement ran through Caudell. The cavalry had got itself new rifles the past couple of weeks. So had Major General Anderson’s infantry division, whose winter quarters were even closer to Orange Court House than those of Henry Heth’s division, of which the 47th North Carolina was a part. If half--if a tithe--of the stories about those rifles were true quote:Lang jumped lightly down from the wagon. He was about five-ten, dark, and on the skinny side. His clothes bore no rank badges of any sort, but he carried himself like a soldier. “I usually get two questions at a time like this,” he said. “The first one is, why don’t you teach everyone yourself? Sorry, but we haven’t the manpower. Immediately, Caudell notices something is wrong - he's from Nash County, North Carolina. This is where the fictional town of Rivington - where the rifles are supposed to be coming from - is located, and the man's accent doesn't match. Lang opens with a demonstration, and asks the best shot with a rifle-musket to give him a baseline. quote:Watching the ordnance sergeant handle his rifle, Nate Caudell thought, was like being back on the target range at Camp Mangum outside of Raleigh, hearing the command, “Load in nine times: load!” Hines did everything perfectly, smoothly, just as the manual said he should. To load, he held the rifle upright between his feet, with the muzzle in his left hand and with his right already going to the cartridge box he wore at his belt. The regulation and expected rate of fire for a Springfield or Enfield rifle musket was three rounds a minute. Two aimed shots in thirty seconds, or four rounds a minute, is a good time. The standard cartridge box held forty rounds - enough for around 13 minutes of fire at the standard rate. This video demonstrates the described procedure, albeit at a sedate pace. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCAYXQ1Z6q4 The men are organized into training groups for the two dozen rifles that Lang brought with him. quote:“Here you go, First Sergeant.” Ben Whitley handed Caudell a repeater. He held it in both hands, marveling at how light it was compared to the Springfield that hung from pegs on the wall back in his cabin. He slung it as Lang had done. It seemed to weigh next to nothing on his shoulder. Toting this kind of rifle, a man might march forever before he got sore. Depending on the exact version, an unloaded AK weighs between 6.5 and 7.7 pounds. The most common variant, the AKM, is also the lightest due to stamped construction. The magazine adds another .7 pounds or so, giving a loaded weight of 7.2 pounds for an AKM. An 1861 Springfield rifle-musket (the weapon Caudell is using as a reference) is 9 pounds, while the 1851 Enfield (common in Confederate forces) tops the scales at a hefty 9.5. 2 pounds may not seem like an enormous amount, but it matters quite a bit. Powell's comment is a bit anachronistic. The 1861 Springfield had simple flip up sights with two "leaves" (both flipped down - 100 yards, flip up one for 300 yards, and the other for 500), the 1851 Enfield had a fairly complicated ladder sight system that was adjustable from 100 yards to 400, with a flip-up option finely adjustble to 900. The AK uses a ladder sight system very similar to that of an Enfield. The sights were not particularly important to Civil War troops - neither side trained their men in proper use of the sights, focusing instead on steady rate of fire. The standard ammunition for a rifle musket was the .58" diameter "Minié ball", a pointed soft lead projectile with an open base. When the gun was fired, the cavity at the rear of the bullet expands to engage the rifling in the barrel, imparting spin and forming a tight gas seal. This revolutionary invention is what made rifled muzzle-loaders practical for military use, because you could now load a rifle as easily and quickly as you can a smoothbore musket. This bullet would be around 500 grains, and was propelled by 60 grains of black powder, giving a velocity in the range of 900-1200 FPS. This works out to around 1300-1400 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. This would be provided in the form of a pre-loaded paper cartridge, and a seperate percussion cap would be added to the lock before firing. The standard bullet fired by an AK is a 7.62mm (.30") jacketed 7.9 gram (123 grains) bullet propelled by 1.6 grams of smokeless powder. This gives a muzzle velocity of around 730 meters/second (2400 feet per second) and a muzzle energy of ~2000 joules (~1500 foot pounds). This is provided in a ready-to-use paper cartridge that contains a primer at the rear. All that is needed to fire is placing it in the gun. In addition to being easier to load, the slimmer bullet loses less energy to air resistance (meaning it retains velocity longer), and the much higher velocity results in far less bullet drop. At any relevant range, the bullet might as well be going straight, while a Minié ball is performing a parabolic arc due to the need to significantly elevate the muzzle. This ammunition does, in fact "beat Minié balls all hollow.” quote:“Does every group have an AK-47 and a banana clip?” Lang asked. He waited to see if anyone would say no. When no one did, he continued: “Turn your weapon upside down. In front of your trigger guard, you’ll see a catch. It holds the clip in place.” He pointed to it on his own carbine. “Everyone finger that catch. Pass your weapon back and forth. Everyone needs to put hands on it, not just watch me.” The last line is a somewhat clever reference - "That damned Yankee rifle that they load on Sunday and shoot all week!" is a complaint about the Henry rifle often attributed to Confederate soldiers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUq2yd1Nc_s After everybody has had three rounds of fire, Lang decides to demonstrate one more thing. quote:Lang kept at it until everyone had had a turn shooting an AK-47. Then he said, “This weapon can do one other thing I haven’t shown you yet. When you move the change lever all the way down instead of to the middle position, this is what happens.” He stuck a fresh clip in the repeater, turned toward the target circle, and blasted away. He went through the whole magazine almost before Caudell could draw in a startled breath. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vh3dsbCRJs&t=224s Lang tells them exactly why – it isn’t accurate, and uses a ton of ammunition quckly. Training proceeds to disassembly and cleaning. The Confederates are not happy with the complexity of the weapon. quote:“Reassembly procedure is the exact reverse of what we’ve just done. The bolt goes on the carrier”--he deftly matched action to words--”and they both go into the receiver. Then the recoil spring and its guide fit in back of the bolt carrier. Push ‘em forward till the rear of the guide clears the back of the receiver, then push down to engage the guide. Then you put the receiver plate in place, push in on the spring guide, and push the plate down to lock it.” He grinned at the North Carolinians. “Now you try it. Don’t bother cleaning your weapon this first time. Just get it apart and back together.” I can't find the relevant tweet, but Turteldove mentioned on his Twitter at some point that he prepared for this by finding a friend who owned an AK and asking to be shown how take it apart and put it back together. Anything he had trouble with, that's where his Confederates were going to have trouble. A sound method. I'm not actually sure what the "trick" is that they need to learn, as none of the AK guides I'm finding emphasize trouble with this step, and I don't own one myself. As training finishes, Lang prepares to end things, asking for questions. quote:“Yeah, I got one,” somebody said immediately. Heads turned toward him as he took a swaggering step out of his group. “You got your fancy-pants rifle there, Mr. Benny Lang, kill anything that twitches twenty miles away; What I want to know is, how good a man are you without it?” He gazed toward Lang with insolent challenge in his eyes. Beddingfield tries more blind attack, is put down just as easily, and savagely beaten while on the ground as well. The Colonel is not upset by this, as Beddingfield just attacked a valuable ally for no reason. quote:The other sergeants from Company D solemnly nodded: Caudell said, “Talk has it, he and his people are from Rivington, right in our home county.” The Confederates are absolutely delighted with the new weapon, with the only drawback being that it isn't great for hand-to-hand. There are concerns about the shipment arriving on time, and of ammunition supply. quote:
Practice continues until and through the evening meal. quote:“What do you have, Edwin?” Dempsey Eure demanded when Powell returned. Caudell’s stomach growled like a starving bear. He’d known some lean times before the war--what man hadn’t, save maybe a planter like Faribault? --but he’d never known what real hunger was till he joined the army. Before widespread canning, it was most common to issue raw ingredients and have food prepared much like this. This often resulted in improvised dishes like this one, which tend to have long-standing cultural associations. The next morning is bright and cold. quote:“Yes, sir.” Caudell took from his pocket a much-folded piece of paper. After so many repetitions, he hardly needed to look at it as he called the men’s names: “Bailey, Ransom...Barnes, Lewis D. W…. Bass, Gideon...” He finished a few minutes later: “Winstead, John A....Winstead, William T.” He turned back to Lewis with a salute.” All present, sir.” In the American Civil War, sickness was a far greater killer than the enemy, no matter which side you happened to be on. Bad food, bad water, and (quite often) excreble camp hygeine invited a host of diseases to come out in force. The grim reality is that five soldiers died of sickness for every three that were shot. This was standard for all wars until relatively recently - the first war where more men died in action than were carried off by sickness was the First World War (1914-1918). Even then, this might not have been the case if the war had continued after the Spanish Flu really got going. quote:“Benny Lang leaped down from his wagon and started shouting like a man possessed: “Come on, get those crates off! This isn’t a bloody picnic, so move it, you lazy k*****s!” The slaves started unloading the wagons at the same steady but leisurely pace they usually used. It was not fast enough to suit Lang. “Move, drat you!” he shouted again. Note that, while the Confederate troops have no problem with this abuse in ethical terms, there's real debate on the practicality. Meanwhile Lang seems to be doing this as much for enjoyment as for getting the work done. quote:
The concept of a safety catch was not unknown during the American Civil War, but were generally uncommon, especially on rifles. This is primarily because weapons were rarely in a state where you would carry them for a long time in a ready to fire state. Manual safeties became much more common with cartridge arms, due to how easy it was to carry those "at the ready". Shots fired on purpose begin to ring out as troops begin live fire practice. Soon, it is the Castallia Invincibles turn. quote:“Enough,” Caudell said. Horseplay was fun, but horseplay between men who carried rifles had to be controlled before it got out of hand. Running out of ammunition with a rifle musket wasn't that hard. There are many accounts of soldiers taking advantage of lulls in the fighting to loot the cartridge boxes of fallen comrades, and there were more serious incidents as well. One of the most famous examples happened in the battle of Antietam, where Burnsides's troops were largely ineffective due to wasting all their ammunition in pointless skirmishing, which greatly aided the Confederate forces. The Invincibles proceed through the same drill as the other units, with the same chant. Cleaining is every bit as popular among the men as it was the officers, and they have the same problems. quote:“More questions?” he said at last. “All right, then--dismissed.” Most of the men drifted away, still talking excitedly about the new repeaters they were carrying. The other groups had already broken up, some a good while before. Caudell cared nothing about that. Thoroughness counted here, and he was used to repeating himself any number of times until students caught on to what he was saying. Melvin Bean did not wander off. The private removed the receiver plate, took out the rifle’s works, tried to put them back together. Caudell watched. They proved balky. Bean swore softly, then said, “I just can’t make the pesky thing fit. Do you want to come back to my hut with me and show me what I’m doin’ wrong?” All of the Castallia Invincibles are, according to Turtledove, historical characters. The names are taken from the muster rolls, characterizations are extrapolated from the available data (Turtledove notes that the real Beddingfield, for example, was constantly being busted in rank and then re-promoted, so was given a pugnacious and combative personality), and there really was a Mollie "Melvin" Bean. The historical Bean was obviously not a resident of of the wholly fictional town of Rivington, and her exact unit was unknown to the author. Melvin Bean is actually a whore (her literal profession) by the name of Mollie. quote:
The most salient information here is that there was no sign of the newcomers in town a year ago. They seem to have appeared out of nowhere. The continued pessimisim about the ammunition supply is also interesting, as not everyone trusts these men to continue their bounty.
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Sep 20, 2021 02:01
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The arc thing is a bit oversimplified - I couldn't find a concise video to explain it, and didn't want to spend a huge number of words. Fundamentally, all black powder guns are lower velocity than their counterparts that use smokeless propellants, and that means that gravity pulls them down more over a given distance. So you have to start compensating for vertical drop a lot earlier, and compensate a lot more. Rounds fired with smokeless powders can (and usually do) go a lot faster, so you don't have to compensate nearly as much. My main focus here was trying to emphasize exactly how far ahead of what they're used to (and thus just how insane the advantage they now have) the AK is.
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Sep 21, 2021 23:12
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Chapter 3: Robert E. Leequote:The locomotive snorted and hissed as it slowed. The shriek of the locked driving wheels against sanded rails reminded General Lee of the cries of wounded horses, the most piteous sound on any battlefield. The train stopped. There was a last jolt as the cars came together with a clanking clatter of link-and-pin couplings. Lee is met by a carriage, and is here to consult with Confederate President Jefferson Davis. quote:The Confederate flag waved bravely over the Capitol, red canton with blue saltire cross and thirteen stars on a white ground. The Stainless Banner would come down soon; sunset was near. It was both like enough to the Stars and Stripes and different enough from it to stir conflicting feelings in Lee. He remembered the day, almost three years gone now, when he had gone into the House of Delegates to take charge of Virginia’s forces. He shook his head. Four days before that, Winfield Scott had offered him command over the armies of the United States, to lead them against their seceded brethren. He still thought he had made the right--for him, the only--choice.  I have no idea what building Turtledove is describing here. The Confederate Capitol in Richmond is still in use today, as the central portion of the Virginia State Capitol (wings were added in 1904 to support the expanding state government). The building is a perfect example of the neo-Classical architecuural tradition, designed by Thomas Jefferson in direct imitation of an ancient Roman building. Note that the actual structure has square-topped windows. EDIT: Mystery solved Epicurius posted:The old Richmond Custom House is right across from the State Capitol, and was, during the Civil War, the home of the offices of the President and the Confederate cabinet. Currently, as the Lewis F. Powell Jr. United States Courthouse, it's where the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals sets. Here's a picture of it from just after the Richmond fire of 1865. Robert E. Lee was, in fact, offered a high command in the Union Army in 1861. The timing here is slightly off - Lee's formal resignation from the United States Army came three days before he accepted command in the newly formed army of Virginia (the Confederate States Army was already authorized, but did not start forming for another 4 days), but the Union offer came nearly a month earlier. Accounts from his eldest daughter hold that he spent much of that time deliberating - it was not the automatic that Turtledove suggests. Lee makes his way to Davis's office. quote:“Well enough, sir,” Lee answered with a shrug. “I left this morning and am here now. If I am a trifle later than the railroad men claimed I would be when I set out, well, what train ever runs dead on time?” As President, Davis faced a problem very similar to the one Lincoln did in Washington. Most of his Cabinet picks were based on political connections (particulary placating the various Confederate States, who all wanted input) more than merit, and there was constant turnover. James Seddon was the fourth Secretary Of War under Davis, replacing George Randolph who replaced Judah Benjamin who replaced LeRoy Walker. Seddon would be the longest-serving of the five Confederate Secretaries of War, serving from late 1862 until early 1865, when he was replaced by John C. Breckenridge. This longevity likely had to do with the fact that Seddon doesn't appear to have done much of anything, freeing Davis to run the war personally. Many of his strategic decisions were poor ones, and his relationship with General Johnston was one of them. The quarrel between Davis and Johnston began quite early, when the latter wrote a letter to Davis out of fury that he was not the most senior Confederate general despite having had higher senority in the Union Army than all the men who outranked him. Johnston was also overly considered cautious, which caused Davis to begin bypassing the general with direct orders to subordinate units. At the time of this novel, the primary point of contention between the two was the loss of Vicksburg in 1863. Johnston advocated withdrawing forces from the city to more defensible positions, while Davis ordered the forces in the city to stand at all costs. This led Davis to see Johnston as a coward afraid to fight, while Johnston saw Davis as a micromanager who threw away battles out of pride and spite. Only Johnston's popularity with the press and Senate prevented him from being fired. Patrick Cleburne did, in fact, advocate freeing and arming slaves in 1864. Turtledove gets it wrong, or else is deliberately changing it, because Cleburne did not advocate freeing "some portion" of the slaves. He advocated "emancipating the whole race upon reasonable terms, and within such reasonable time", along with "wise legislation" to prevent any true equality. The only historical result of the proposal was that Cleburne was blacklisted from any further promotion despite a reputation for great ability, and remained a division commander until he was killed in action at the Battle Of Franklin on November 30. His proposal to keep the blacks "in their place" comes across as very similar to the passbook system introduced after abolition was forced on the CSA in Turtledove's other "South wins the Civil War" series, in which Cleburne survives the war. ninjahedgehog posted:I love how in the beginning Rhoodie expects Lee to be blown away by his MRE but Lee immediately clocks it as just the logical extension of what they already have. This comment is already relevant again. Not so much the logical extension part, but they're immediately clocking all the oddities of the AK. It wouldn't be that difficult to grind off the markings in question and leave the weapons unmarked or remark them with Confederate markinst or the AWB's three-armed swastika. They didn't even bother to launder the guns in this way, which is throwing serious doubts on their cover storie immediately. After deciding to try planting agents in Rivington, the meeting adjourns, and Lee is free to head to his family. quote:Lee smiled and shifted forward in his seat as the carriage rolled past the church. The house Mary Custis Lee was renting lay halfway down the same block, on the opposite side of the street. Mary Custis Lee suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis despite being only in late middle age. At this point in her life she was only 56 years old, but had been wheelchair bound for nearly 2 years. Historically, she would live until 1873, at which point she was nearly invalid. They settle in for a rare family evening, and the conversation eventually turns to the war. quote:“Our own soldiers suffer in Northern prison camps,” Lee said, “though the North has more to spare for captives than do we. The North has more to spare for everyone.” He sighed. “I have said that, thought that, wrestled with that for too long. I wish this war had never come; it wastes both sides.” Note that even Lee's daughters, who have almost no information, can see at once that there is something wrong with the AWB men. Lee reported suffering from chest pains and numbness in some of his letters starting in the latter half of the war, and it is commonly believed that he suffered from undiagnosed coronary artery disease. There is reliable evidence that he may have suffered from a heart attack around the time of Gettysburg, and this is consistent with the stroke that killed him in 1870. The next morning, Lee heads to the armory to confer with Colonel Josiah Gorgas. quote:The carriage rolled down Seventh Street toward the James River. The armory sprawled at the foot of Gamble’s Hill, diagonally between Seventh and Fourth. The Kanawha Canal ran behind it. Luke pulled up to the columned central entranceway; the dome that surmounted it did not seem to be of a piece with the rest of the long, low brick building. The Virginia Manufactory of Arms was originally established in 1798 to ensure a supply of arms for the militia of the state of Virginia, and shut down in 1821. Virginia attempted to reopen the facility in 1860 with equipment purchased from England, but the outbreak of open fighting prevented this equipment from being delivered. Thus, production did not begin until after the capture of equipment at Harper's Ferry in 1861, at which time production began on the "Richmond rifles", copies of the 1855 Springfield converted to standard percussion caps. Roughly 37,000 complete weapons were produced here durng the course of the war. The facility was destroyed when Richmond fell in 1865, much of the surviving equipment was used in the restoration of the Tredegar Iron Works postwar, and the few remaining ruins were demolished in 1900. Discussion turns to the reason that Lee is here - the AK-47. quote:Lee considered. “Henry Heth said something to that effect to me once,” he remarked. “It may be so. Hemmed in as I am by responsibility, I have few opportunities personally to demonstrate it, if it is. But I would surely rather strike a blow than either flee of remain quiet, waiting to be struck. Enough of my ramblings now, sir--to business. I thank God for these gentlemen from Rivington and for the arms with which they are supplying us. I am not, however, eager to forever depend on them for weapons. If anyone, if any establishment in the Confederacy can manufacture their like, you are the; man, and this is the place.” The AK does indeed have a number of less efficient ancestors, dating back to the 1908 Mondragón (the first gas-operated autoloading rifle) or to the failed recoil-operated rifles designed by Ferdinand Mannlicher in 1885. A less capable weapon would still have been a huge improvement to Confederate firepower, and would have raised far less suspicion. This raises the question of why the AWB chose the AK. Obviously it was an easy weapon for them to obtain in large numbers, but the same would have been true of other, less suspicious designs. Either they didn't care about maintaining their cover story, or they blithley assumed that the primitive 19th century Confederates were too stupid to figure it out. quote:“From the general to the particular.” Gorgas reached into a desk drawer, took out a couple of rounds for the AK-47. He passed them over to Lee. “You will observe that the bullets are not simply lead.” The Williams bullet is apparently controversial. That the thing existed is certain, but it is unclear what the actual intended purpose was (it may well have been intended for greater accuracy, with any cleaning being a side effect), if it worked, and to what extent it was actually used. One thing is certain - the design was not introduced until after the outbreak of war, and it was manufactured exclusively by the Union. Lee and Gorges might well know what it was, but they would not expect it to be regularly used. Jacketed projectiles began to see use in 1882 during experiments with smaller, higher-velocity projectiles - pushing the bullet faster made leading worse. A beneficial side effect is that, when applied to a magazine system, jacketed rounds are less likely to deform and jam than bare lead ones. quote:“Tell me what else you do know,” Lee urged, not liking to see such a capable officer so downhearted. At the time of the Civil War, all firearms used corned black powder, which had changed little (save in purity and manufacturing quality) in almost half a millenium. Experiments in creating a firearms propellent to replace it had been proceeding since the invention of guncotton in 1846, but this was dangerous to produce and unstable to use. Real progress didn't come until the late 1860s, and the first truly practical smokeless powder would not come until 1884 with the introduction of Poudre B, used in the revolutionary 1866 Lebel rifle. The price being charged is perhaps the most egregious error made by the AWB. While it is possible to come up with a plausible excuse, the fact that they offer none is proof that they either didn't care, or didn't comprehend the difference between gold and Confederate paper. The two agree that there are too many suspicious things about the AWB to really trust them, despite the benefit they bring. quote:“That is exactly my view.” Lee really stood this time. Through the window in Gorgas’s office, he saw the white frame buildings of the Confederate laboratory on Brown’s Island, separated from the mainland by a thin stretch of the James. Pointing across to them, he said, “I trust everyone at the cartridge loading works is busily engaged.” The Brown's Island facility was the largest ammunition factory the Confederacy possessed, producing over a million cartridges of small arms ammunition each week, and employed more than 600 workers. On March 13, 1863, a badly organized workroom combined with careless handling of shock-sensitive ammunition componets to produce an enormous explosion. The casualties Turtledove gives here are incorrect - ten women and girls were killed instantly, with the final death toll reaching 50. Another 14 were badly wounded but would heal, after a fashion. The youngest of the dead was only ten years old. Operations resumed on the 4th of April, the minimum working age was raised to 15, and no further accidents happened during the war. Leaving the armory, lee heads to the War Department to meet somebody quite important. quote:The clerk--John Beauchamp Jones his nameplate proclaimed him to be, as if by trumpeting his middle name he could make up for the utter plainness of those that flanked it--finished writing his sentence before he looked up. His thin, clean-shaven face bore a sour expression at the interruption. That quickly changed when he saw who stood before him. “Yes, General, he does. He’s there now, I believe; I saw him go up this morning.” Custis Lee did eventually achieve field command in the defense of Richmond against Grant. He was captured in action three days before the end of the war, held several academic posts afterward, and made headlines by suing to regain the family manision at Arlington. After winning the case, he sold the property to the US Government. He died in 1913. Note how incredibly suspicious the AWB men have been - nobody is buying their story, and the Confederates are almost forming a line to start prying into their secrets. Careless. quote:Lee walked out of his son’s office and down the stairs. His way out to the street carried him past John Jones’s desk. The clerk was turned away from him, talking to the man at the next desk: “My boy Custis’s parrot happened to be loose from its cage. It swooped down on the meat as if it were a hawk, the miserable bird, and gulped it down before we could get it back again. Meat is too hard to come by in Richmond these days to waste on a parrot; we’ll go without on account of it. I wish the damned talking feather duster would flyaway for good.” Gnoman fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Sep 25, 2021 |
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Sep 25, 2021 11:55
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quantumfoam posted:I think you meant to write metallic cartridge instead of "paper cartridge" when describing AK ammunition. While I can see how it happened going back and forth between the different kinds of ammunition, that is a truly embarrassing error to make. Epicurius posted:The old Richmond Custom House is right across from the State Capitol, and was, during the Civil War, the home of the offices of the President and the Confederate cabinet. Currently, as the Lewis F. Powell Jr. United States Courthouse, it's where the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals sets. Here's a picture of it from just after the Richmond fire of 1865. Edited into the post, thanks for that. ninjahedgehog posted:Obviously the real answer is that the AK is more iconic than possibly any other firearm in history and makes for a better book cover, but in-universe I bet AWB also chose it for its legendary reliability. Like you said, they're severely underestimating how savvy the Confederates are and probably wanted something that, from their perspective, even these backwards hillbillies would be hard pressed to break. Out of universe, the inspiration for the book was supposedly a complaint from another author (I'm finding conflicting information on precisely which author it was - some sources are saying Tanith Lee, others Judith Tarr) that the cover of her latest novel was as anachronistic as "Robert E. Lee holding an UZI". Turtledove was taken by the idea, but decided that the Uzi was not the proper weapon and substituted the AK. That said, speculating on in-universe reasons is entertaining.
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Sep 25, 2021 21:15
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Have to break this chapter into parts because there's a lot to comment on here Chapter 4 Part I: Robert E. Lee This chapter begins with Lee meeting several of his officers who have just used the AK-47 in combat. Reviews are good. quote:With his small, bald head, long nose, and long neck, Richard Ewell inevitably reminded everyone who met him of a stork. Having lost a leg at Groveton during Second Manassas, he could now also imitate the big white bird’s one-footed stance. He was sitting at the moment, however, sitting and pounding one, fist into the other palm to emphasize his words: “We smashed ‘em, sir, smashed ‘em, I tell you.” His voice was high and thin, almost piping. James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart was a highly successful cavalry commander who was responsible for multiple Confederate victories through reconnaissance and flanking maneuvers. He also performed very well at the Battle Of Chancellorsville, where he was pressed into service as an infantry commander due to the wounding of AP Hill. Accounts from contemporaries assign a large portion of the credit for winning that battle on Stuart's actions. Famed for his flamboyant manner of dress and behavior, his aggressive flair would lead to disaster. After fighting Union cavalry to a draw (rather than the victory to which he had been accustomed) in June of 1863, Stuart sought to reclaim his glory with aggressive action, possibly with a repeat of his earlier ride around the entire Union Army. Without Stuart to provide vital information on Union troop movements, the Army Of Northern Virginia blundered into US forces at a place called Gettysburg, resulting in what is likely the most critical defeat of the war. He never received a promotion beyond Major General, fought a grinding campaign against Grant's forces that rapidly eroded the remaining Confederate cavalry, and was shot by a Union private with a revolver on May 11, 1865. This would would kill him on the morning of the 12th. Richard Stoddert Ewell was a Virginian who served in combat during the Mexican-American War and in actions against the Apaches between the wars. He publicly condemned secession until Virginia seceded, at which time he resigned his commission in the US Army to join the Virginian Army and later the Confederate Army, and was the first Confederate officer of significant rank to be wounded in action. He received his commission on May 9, 1861 and was shot in the shoulder on May 31, 1861. After the First Battle Of Bull Run (Called First Manassas by the CSA), he advocated freeing and arming portions the black population of the CSA in order to achieve victory. Unlike Patrick Cleburne, he did this in private conversation with Jefferson Davis, and thus avoided significant backlash. He was (as Turtledove correctly states) shot in the leg at the Second Battle Of Bull Run (Second Manassas) resulting in the amputation of the limb. Ewell had the opportunity to take critical ground in the early stages of the Battle Of Gettysburg, but failed to for various reasons - not least of them conflicting orders from Lee. It is very likely that had he taken this ground, Gettysburg would have been a Confederate victory instead of a decisive defeat. His career continued downward from that point. He survived the war and died of pneumonia in 1872. The LeMat revolver was invented by a Frenchman in New Orleans in 1859 in partnership with Major Beauregard of the US Army. Beauregard would be one of the first US officers to switch to Confederate service. As the gun was invented immediately before the war and made primarily in Europe, it was quite rare - only 2900 or so were made, and most were intercepted by the US blockade. The most common model, and probably the sort Stuart carried, held 9 rounds of .42 ball in the cylinder. The most famous feature of the gun was the underbarrel smoothbore barrel for buckshot, which was 20 gauge (0.60")in the most common model. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpYoh2yzPqw quote:“The rifles are outstanding,” General Ewell agreed. “So are the men who furnish them. If I had a drink in my hand, I’d toast them.” quote:Ewell’s pale eyes turned inward as he pondered that. “Very competently. Sedgwick’s as good a corps commander as the Federals have, and Custer--what can I say about Custer, save that he wishes he were Jeb Stuart?” Stuart smiled again, a smile the brighter for peeping out through his forest of brown beard. The raid being discussed here was a disaster historically. Kilpatrick intended to assault Richmond and rescue US prisoners of war being held in that city, but was quickly repulsed. His response to this failure was to charge further south, looting and burning as he went More than 300 Union cavalrymen became casualties, and more than a thousand were captured. To make matters worse, papers found in the possession of Ulric Dahlgren, one of Kilpatrick's subordinates, suggested that Kilpatrick intended to lynch Jefferson Davis and most of the rest of the Confederate government in addition to freeing prisoners and torching the city. Only the direct intervention of Lee, who feared retaliation against Confederate prisoners, prevented the execution of the captured cavarlymen. Kilpatrick was sent to the Western theater in disgrace, where he participated in Sherman's scorched-earth March To The Sea in Georgia. His postwar political career was hounded by charges of corruption, and he died in 1881. Rhoodie meets with Lee, and is offered the same blackberry wine that was offered to Early. quote:“I believe I set out two glasses. Would you be kind enough to pour, sir? Ah, thank you. Your very good health.” Lee took a small sip. He was pleased to see Rhoodie toss off half his glass at a swallow; wine might help loosen the fellow’s tongue. He said, “From what General Ewell tells me, the Confederacy finds itself in your debt once more. Without your timely warning, Kilpatrick’s raiders might have done far worse than they actually succeeded in accomplishing.” Lee is handling this well - not only is he trying to get Rhoodie off-balance with alcohol, but throwing all the suspicious elements right in Rhoodie's face is pretty much guaranteed to unsettle him. How will Rhoodie get out of this? quote:Rhoodie’s poker face hid whatever calculations were going on behind it. At last he said,” All right, General Lee, I will. My friends and I--everyone who belongs to America Will Break--come from a hundred and fifty years in your future.” He folded his arms across his broad chest and waited to see what Lee would make of that. Oh. He just admits it at the slightest pressure. They weren't doing a very good job of keeping it secret, but they certainly seemed to be trying. Lee asks why they didn't come sooner, to which Rhoodie explains that their time machine only works in an increment of exactly 150 years. And that they didn't manage to steal it until late 2013. This is followed by the almost offhand comment that another year would have been too late. The Union will defeat the Confederacy. quote:
There was a slave revolt in Santo Domingo in 1521 that was put down with great bloodshed, but Turtledove is more likely to be referring to the Hatian Revolution of 1791-1804 that began as a slave uprising in the French colony of Saint-Domingue. Not only is this much more recent and relevant to somebody like Lee, the slaves actually won in Hati. The French colonizers were thrown out, the Hatians successfully defended attempts at reconquest, and a republic of sorts was set up out of the formerly servile population. Equally relevant, the last stages of the uprising involved a massacre of 3000-5000 men, women, and children, which was virtually the entire remaining white population. This was commonly used as an argument that abolition was too dangerous to be considered. I cannot find anything other than RW propaganda from groups like the AWB that come close to such levels, let alone surpass it to the level that Rhoodie is suggesting. Therefore he is creating any such incidents out of whole cloth, and is counting on either unquestioning acceptance from Lee or is confident that any proofs he manufactures will be good enough to accept. This is an effective lie precisely because many opponents of abolition believed, or claimed to believe, that freeing the slaves would inevitably result in such actions. Thaddeus Stevens was a firebrand abolitionist who advocated that the purpose of the Civil War should be the eradication of the "peculiar institution" with no concessions made to former slaveowners. He was the prime proponent of the 13th amendment banning slavery, and advocated seizing the property of traitors in order to give the newly-freed blacks a leg up on building a new life. An opponent of the reconciliatory policies of Reconstruction, he was one of the loudest voices in the impeachment proceedings against Andrew Johnson in 1867. His attempts to make the party focus on ensuring the black vote failed repeatedly, and he died at the age of 76 of illness. While his death was not universally mourned, he was the third man to lie in state at the US Capitol rotunda, with black troops providing his honor guard. Few men in the North would be as horrifying a leader from a Confederate standpoint, meaning that this lie is also well chosen. Lee accepts this for now, and turns to what Rhoodie knows about the course of the war. Rhoodie explains that he only knows the OTL course of the war - what actually happened. The new timeline that is being created is as much a mystery to Rhoodie and the AWB as it is to the Confederacy. Lee responds to this by demanding the most detailed information available right now - the AK-47 has been used in only very limited ways thus far, and thus hasn't had a chance to change much. Rhoodie agrees, and they begin to break up the meeting. quote:“My pleasure, General.” Rhoodie stood to go. Lee also rose. As he did so, the pain that sometimes clogged his chest struck him a stinging blow. He tried to bear up under it, but it must have shown on his face, for Rhoodie took a step toward him and asked, “Are you all right, General?” Much to unpack here. The first is Lee's relief that his fate is not - can not be - preordained. An incredibly human thought, and a very nice touch. We also see the possibility that Lee will die sooner rather than later being raised for the first time, something that will be relevant later. By far, however, the most important exchange here is the last one. While Lee's oddly reasonable thought toward the possibility of black lawmakers stands out the most, as does Rhoodie's obvious anger that Lee is not the unthinkingly racist caricature that Rhoodie is himself, the more interesting element is perhaps more subtle. It might go unnoticed compared to the sparks starting to fly, but note the casual racism inherent in Lee's response - he takes it almost as granted that black lawmakers could only have been elected by black voters, and assumes without question that blacks being separate from whites is the natural way of the world. How realistic Lee's response is in other respects is a difficult question to answer. The historical Lee opposed the black vote unconditionally, stating that "at this time, they [black Southerners] cannot vote intelligently, and that giving them the [vote] would lead to a great deal of demagogism, and lead to embarrassments in various ways.". He also expressed "a deep-seated conviction that, at present, the negroes have neither the intelligence nor the other qualifications which are necessary to make them safe depositories of political power." This would indicate that the historical Lee would not have responded to the idea of black lawmakers nearly as well as the Lee that Turtledove writes. The counter-argument, that Lee lived only a few years after abolition and thus had no opportunity to test or improve his views, or to conclude that his weasel-words "at this time" or "at present" would allow him to reject those stances with time, seems a thin reed. That said, there is no record that the historical Lee was ever given a glimpse, however twisted, into the state of affairs one hundred and fifty years in the future, which kind of has to have an effect on one's outlook. Lee ends this segment by considering telling his staff the great secret, concluding that it is a bad idea, and savoring the notion of turning the tide of history against Ulysses S. Grant. Gnoman fucked around with this message at 04:11 on Oct 18, 2021 |
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Oct 18, 2021 04:08
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Chapter 4 Part II: Nate Caudellquote:“Here you go, First Sergeant,” Preston Kelly said. “They’re ‘most as good as new.” This little exchange perfectly illustrates the dire straits that the Confederacy is in at this point. While Union troops were generally well supplied unless they were cut off due to a combination of the Union's superiority in wealth and the fact that General George McClellan was, for all his faults, a genuine genius at logistics, the Confederates were not nearly as lucky. The southern states had far less to begin with due to the nature of their economy, and after 4 years the Union blockade is doing an excellent job of strangling their commerce. Equally important, the states that would form the CSA were not well supplied with railroads, and most of the lines that did exist were optimized for moving cash crops to the ports for export, as that was the economic lifeblood of the region. This made it very hard to move goods around. This is also a pretty good parallel to Lee's opening lines in his segment of this chapter. He reprimands Stuart on wasting leather on fancy bandoliers instead of providing a soldier with shoes, and here we get a soldier's eye view of the shoe situation. Caudell watches a baseball game for a bit before wandering over to talk to "Melvin". quote:
"They should have thinned out instead of standing in tight lines" is a common criticism directed towards armies of the past. A big amount of US mythmaking holds that the Continentals defeated the Redcoats by using dispersed riflemen to peck at and destroy the rigid lines of the Redcoats, as seen in Mel Gibson's love letter to Mel Gibson The Patriot. This is hogwash. If a tight body of men closes to bayonet range with a dispersed body, they'll sweep the enemy aside with ease. Preventing such a force from closing requires a very high density of fire - a density impossible to achieve with single-shot muzzle-loaders unless you have a densely packed line that can discharge a wall of bullets. It isn't until breech loaders that you start to see situations where a handful of men can make a massed charge suicidally dangerous. Or, in other words, the sort of formation Lewis is suggesting would be suicide with any normal weapon of the ACW - but is doable with the AK, and represents a huge step toward the sort of infantry tactics that would be developed to deal with such weapons almost 60 years later OTL. Having the "natives" recognize this almost immediately before ever seeing the new weapon in action is a good way to show that these people are not idiots just because they lived around a century and a half ago. Caudell begins to instruct his subordinates in the new plan at the first opportunity, and the value is seen immediately. quote:Having made up his mind thus, he ran into Otis Massey not five minutes later. “Makes sense to me, First Sergeant,” Massey said when Caudell was through relaying Captain Lewis’s words. “ ‘Course, rememberin’ it when them damnyankees is shootin’ at us might could take a bit o’ doin’.” The power dynamics are extremely well portrayed here. Caudell views the black man in a fairly positive way, but from an undeniable position of authority. His treatment of George here is more in the manner of a favored pet than you would give another man. Meanwhile, George is very disarmingly pleasant towards the white man who is so high above him, but locks down the second it goes toward anything that might reveal his true thoughts. From this exchange, it is unclear if his elaboration is a genuine unbending because they're closer than they should be, or a way to assure Caudell that he doesn't need to set a closer watch on George because George is really happy, honest. The comparison with Mollie will show up again soon, and I'll reserve commentary until then. Unfortunately for all concerned, Ballentine draws the attention of one of the men from the future. Lang is furious at the rifle on his back. quote:“He’s not in my company, so I can’t answer you exactly, Mr. Lang,” Caudell said, speaking as carefully as if the Rivington man were an officer. The commentary on race relations here is surprisingly nuanced. There's no attempt to downplay Confederate racism, but they view their "property" in an altogether different light from the way the AWB men do. There's the awareness that there are limits they don't dare exceeed, and they have to deal with these people in a way that you can't just slot them into an easy stereotype in the brain - there's too many seen too frequently to do otherwise. Meanwhile, the AWB men would deal with black South Africans very rarely, and can keep their attitudes "pure". Their time in the Confederacy is a game to them as much as anything else - they can finally do all the things that they've wanted to do for so long. The discussion is interrupted by smoke pouring out of a cabin. Fear of fire is quickly dispelled by noticing that the chimney had been blocked with a board - a prank. Caudell is forced to break up the ensuing assault on the prankster, and the scene ends. quote:When Sunday morning rolled around, Caudell joined most of the regiment at divine services. Chaplain William Lacy was a Presbyterian, while the majority of the men he served--Caudell among them--were Baptists, but he had proved himself a good and pious man, which counted for more than differences in creed. As the service progress, Caudell notices something odd about the hymns. George never misses a service, but his distinctive voice is absent from the singing. Some investigation reveals that George had run away because his AK got confiscated. quote:“Yup,” Caudell said. Instead of waiting for the next hymn, he drifted away from the open-air assembly. Johnson had hit the nail on the head. Not giving George Ballentine a repeater in the first place would have been one thing. But to give him one and then take it away--that was wrong. He hoped Ballentine made it over the Rapidan to freedom, too. Again, you can see the Confederate attitude towards race from both characters. Caudell finds nothing wrong with denying the rifle as a matter of course, only with revoking the "privilege" once it had been generously granted. Meanwhile, the wagon driver has no personal connection to George, and thus sees the body as just trash - an attitude that Caudell would probably share if it were just some random shot runaway. A Caudell expected, George's regiment requests and recieves a full burial service. Consumed by guilt, but unwilling to talk to an officer, he consults Mollie Bean. quote:
Here, the attudes are stated straight out - George was "like a person" because they knew him - the notion that he was a person in his own right is beyond them. Meanwhile, the notion that some are disposable and have to be "sold south" is unquestioned, because they're dealing with an abstract "them" rather than a living, breathing reality - the same sort of attitude shown by the AWB men. To be "sold south", also called "sold down the river" typically refers to selling a slave into much harder conditions - either from a comparitively comfortable position as a house servant or similar to farm labor on a plantation or else from a plantation to swamp-clearing and similar work that consumed the lives of workers like water. Even here, though, there is some connection between them and their legal inferiors that is missing with the AWB men - they are able to concieve of one of their peers in the same situation, which is unlikely for the AWB men. Here again we see Caudell (and Bean) making a connection between a lower-class white prostitute and a slave. I'm not sure where Turtledove was going with this, but it feels rather facile - the mere fact that Mollie is in the army at all points to her having far greater freedom of action than any slave, and she presents herself as being in her line of work willingly. It might work better if she were forced by circumstance or abuse into her role, but no sign of that is given. After some further discussion, Caudell decides that he might as well give Mollie some business and the scene ends. Turtledove is in rare restraint so far this book. That's two sex scenes involving a POV character, and both are fade-to-black. This is a great mercy for the reader.
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Nov 7, 2021 19:20
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Sorry for the delay, been busy adjusting to a new job Chapter 4 Part I: Robert E. Lee quote:
Characterizing Grant's Wilderness campaign as being aimed at Lee's army rather than Richmond itself is dubious. While Grant did hope to bait the Army of Northern Virginia out of fortifications where they could be engaged in the field, the goal was to knock them out of the way to take the city itself instead of fighting the grinding siege that would be necessary in a repeat of McClellan's failed Peninsular Campaign. The notion that the Confederacy could survive without Richmond as long as the ANV stayed in the fight is also nonsense, although that may be calculated to please Lee's ego - historically, Grant's campaign ultimately took Richmond without annihilating Lee's forces, resulting in the surrender at Appomatax Court House six days later. quote:“May I suggest, General, that when it does come next month, you station it around Jackson’s Shop or Orange Springs, rather than farther west at Gordonsville?” Rhoodie said. “As the fight developed, Longstreet’s men nearly came too late because they had so far to travel.” What Lee describes is, in essense, exactly what happened in the historical battle. Grant was hoping to bait Lee into the field, and succeeded. Lee was, however, much more decisive and aggressive than expected, leading the battle to be fought in the unkempt Wilderness area instead of past it, giving the Confederates the advantage stated - the Union could not use their decisive artillery arm effectively. The result was a Confederate victory in the Wilderness, followed by a second victory over Grant's attempt to outflank them at Spotsylvania Court House. In response to these significant victories, Grant... backed up a little, adjusted his tactics, and kept coming. Nitroglycerine tablets are an effective means of treating many heart conditions, including an in-progress heart attack. This use was discovered in 1878. Lee ponders the map to the point of not even noticing a servant bringing his dinner. quote:Lee slid off Traveller. The horse’s grassy, earthy smell mingled with the perfume of dogwoods at last in blossom. Spring had taken a long time coming, but was finally here in full force. However high the hill is, it provides an excellent view of the Union winter encampments. quote:He lowered the telescope. “All seems quiet still in the Federal camps. Soon enough, though, those people will move.” He pointed east, toward the rank green growth of the Wilderness. “They will come by way of the fords there, Germanna and Ely’s just east of it.” James Longstreet was Lee's most senior subordinate, and probably the man Lee trusted most after the death of Thomas Jackson. Their relationship became strained after the battle at Gettysburg, where Longstreet advocated significantly different approaches to the battle than Lee took. After the crushing Confederate defeat, he was transferred to the Western theater for months before being wounded and returning to Lee not long before this book started. Longstreet survived the war and joined the Republican party and worked for the US government as a administrator and ambassador. In 1874, Longstreet was wounded while trying to prevent a large force of white supremacist milita from siezing control of the Lousiana capital in protest of a "rigged" election. He died of multiple illnesses in 1904. Unlike most Confederate generals, Longstreet is extremely unpopular with Lost Cause activists, due to his disagreements with Lee and his "treasonous" association with the Reconstruction-era government. Historically, a significant portion of the blame for the Confederate defeat has been laid on Longstreet due to his major disagreements and "sabotage" of "better" generals. In more recent years, his reputation as a tactician has undergone significant revision, and common opinion is that he was among the most able officers in the Confederate army. Ambrose Powell Hill was Thomas Jackson's top subordinate, and replaced that officer when Jackson was accidentally killed by Confederate troops. The frequent illnesess mentioned were the result of an dose of gonorrhea that he picked up in his West Point days, with both the condition itself and the complications thereof effectively incurable before the invention of antibiotics. Unlike Lee, we do in fact have contemporary sources to justify his position on slavery here - there's no evidence that he owned any, and statments from relatives that he did not and disapproved of the "peculiar institution". Hill repeatedly stated that he had no wish to survive Confederate defeat, and this wish was granted when he was shot by a Union soldier on April 2, 1865 - seven days before the end of the war. More observation of the terrain follows, with a suggestion that Grant will back off after intial sharp losses. quote:Longstreet shook his head. “I know Sam Grant. He’s never been one to back away from a fight. He will come straight at us every day he leads the Army of the Potomac.” Longstreet and Grant were old friends before the war, and that friendship resumed afterwards. While giving Lee these pills do a lot to keep Lee alive and in top fighting shape (thus serving the AWB's aims), note that they also give them yet another hold on him.
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Dec 6, 2021 03:40
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drat it, you're right. I accidentally transposed a few li es in what I was reading.
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Dec 6, 2021 16:32
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Chapter V: Nate Caudellquote:The drums beat on and on, not just in the 47th North Carolina but in all the III Corps’s winter quarters. The hoarse, monotonous sound warned of battle to come. The second sentence of this chapter is pretty solid, I think. The reader knows what's coming, but this gives it a sense of ominousness. The attention to Nate's gear is a nice detail. because it shows just how little the Confederates have (and, thus, how dependent they are on the AWB). Everything Nate has fits in a simple blanket bundle, and without the MREs he would have a pitifully tiny amount of food. There is a subtle indication of the advantages of the AK here - a standard ammunition loadout for a Civil War soldier was one cartridge box containing 40 paper cartridges, with a second pouch worn if heavy fighting was expected. Nate casually packs 120 rounds without thinking about it. Part of this is the unnaturally good supply situation, but the compactness and convenience of carrying loaded magazines also plays a part. quote:The weather was fine and mild. A better day to march could hardly have been imagined. As Caudell had hoped, his new repeater seemed to weigh nothing. He looked back over his shoulder. That gray serpent seemed to have no end, as regiment after regiment followed the 47th North Carolina. But other, even longer, snakes, these clad in blue, surely lay ahead. This section of the book takes place in the same area as the historical opening to the Battle Of The Wilderness, along the Orange Turnpike and the Brock Road intersection. Comparisons to the historical battle will be made as appropriate. The Battle Cry of Freedom was a popular abolitionist and Union anthem written in 1862, which was adapted for the Confederate cause. Both versions are linked below. Union https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ-Rhuc7PyU Confederate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdMLb3eiWWg The march continues until twilight. Caudell details men to collect water and firewood, and those who haven't already eaten or discarded their rations prepare meals. quote:A frying pan was not the ideal instrument for boiling water, but it was what Caudell had, and he managed. Then he opened one of the metallic ration packs and poured the water over it. A couple of minutes later, he was spooning up noodles and ground meat in tomato sauce. He’d had that supper before, and liked it. After a day on the march, he was hungry enough to lick the inside of the pack clean. Little of importance here, but giving some time to this scene helps to build tension before the battle, and gives a greater appearance that these are real people. In the morning, they are sent into the wilderness after another few hours march. quote:
This passage does a pretty solid job of showing this fight to be a hell of a mess. Nobody knows where anybody is, the advantage of the AK is as much in stealth as it is in ammunition capacity, rate of fire, or accuracy, and the new superweapon is not making this an easy one-sided victory. It is an advantage, but the Confederates are taking losses of their own. As fighting progresses, more cavalrymen are flushed from cover and taken down or captured. quote:They drove the Federals past Parker’s Store and the handful of houses that huddled in the clearing with it. The open space gave the Confederates a chance to dress their lines a little; victory had left them about as disorganized as defeat had the Yankees. Caudell almost stumbled over Captain Lewis. “What are we aiming to do now, sir?” he asked. As mentioned earlier, the historical fighting centered around the Orange Turnpike and Brock Road intersection, but the actual Confederate forces reached it shortly after noon, at which time Union forces under General George Getty were able to contest it, and the Confederates were unable to secure the ground, taking position significantly to the west. By dawn of May 6, Union forces were pressing hard, the Confederate forces were breaking, General A. P. Hill was personally manning artillery in preparation for a last stand, and his portion of the Confederate Army was on the brink of annihilation. It was at this time that General Longstreet arrived with reinforcements. A successful flanking maneuver led by Longstreet himself was able to rout the Union forces, but at a cost - Confederate troops mistook Longstreet's group for high ranking Union officers and opened fire, wounding Longstreet and killing one of his subordinates. This stalled the counterattack, and Lee was forced to take direct command - and the time it took to do so made resuming the counterattack impossible before Hancock had managed to take a formidable defensive position in field fortifications. With both sides unable to annihilate the enemy army, Grant elected to withdraw the next day and attack along a different route, allowing the Confederacy to claim a victory of possession - they kept the ground. The wild advance through the woods meets resistance, but not much. quote:Cheers came from just ahead. Caudell wondered why; the fight seemed no different now from what it had been all along--confusing, exhilarating, and terrifying at the same time. Then, without warning, he found himself out of the underbrush and standing in the middle of a dirt road which had recently seen heavy traffic, a dirt road that, by the sun, ran north instead of east. quote:The horsemen--officers, some of them, by their fancy trappings--rode forward again, more slowly now, to see just what sort of barrier the Confederates had built and how many of them crouched behind it. Caudell took careful aim at the lead man, whose gray hair said he might be of high rank. The range was long, close to a quarter mile, but worth a try. He rested the barrel of the rifle on the log in front of him, took a deep breath, let it out, pulled the trigger. In Turtledove's version, Hill wins the race - he gets the crossroad first, and it is the Union that has to try to take it by force. A quarter-mile is around 400 meters. That's not an easy shot with either weapon, but far easier with the AK. The ballistic drop is significant - almost 60 inches - but the AK's ladder sight can be readily and quickly adjusted for that, and the flight time is short. On the Springfield rifle-musket, the flip-up sights don't give great precision, while the Enfield's sights need more fiddling at such extreme range. Ballistically, a round from an AK will drop around a meter and a half in the .7 seconds it takes to fly that distance, while a rifle-musket round would drop about three meters in the 1 second it takes to fly. This not only increases the amount of aiming correction you have to do (aided by the sights, but it still matters), but gives extra time for the target's motion to generate a miss. Not a deliberate dodge, of course, but if you gauge the speed wrong or his horse gets spooked or such, that extra .3 seconds matters. The AK is also more mechanically accurate in other ways, but that's a bit harder to explain. quote:Men hurried up the road and north through the woods. An ammunition wagon reached the crossroads. Its horses were lathered and blowing. Caudell and several other soldiers helped the driver unload crate after crate of cartridges. The wagon also carried hatchets and shovels. The driver passed those out, too, so the men could strengthen the breastworks in whatever time was left before the enemy descended on them. This is a good time to bring up an issue that Turtledove kind of handwaves away. Comparing dimensions of wagons of the period to the dimensions of ammunition packaging, you probably get around 80,000 rounds in each wagon. Nate started the march with 120 rounds, and seems to have already used most of it. A single infantry regiment is supposed to contain a thousand men, so that basic load would be 120,000 rounds. Meaning you use 3 wagons (even if it is loaded entirely with ammo) to give basic supply for two regiments. The Confederates brought 42 infantry regiments to the Wilderness. Even if you assume they're down to half strength, you need 8 pure-ammo wagons to supply them for the start, plus multiple other loads of ammo for in-battle resupply. That means you're going to need 30-40 wagonloads just to supply ammunition to the infantry, not counting what you need to bring up food, tools, artillery ammunition, whatever replacement clothing that can be scrounged up, etc. Even with the AWB maintaining steady deliveries to Rivington from the future, actually distributing this to the armies in the field is a nightmarish task. Fortunately for Caudell, not all the crates have useless ammunition. quote:“Here’s the right ones!” somebody shouted, his voice rising in relief. Caudell hurried over, grabbed a couple of magazines, and stuffed them into his pockets. The firing was getting closer in a hurry, not just AK-47s but also the familiar deep roar of Springfields. Under the gunfire came the tramp of marching men. Case in point - Nate just dumped somewhere between 30 and 60 rounds in seconds. He had reason to, and the thought of automatic rifle fire into that packed a body of troops is the stuff of nightmares, but that's the amount of ammo you'd expect to last a soldier for an entire battle in that era. Union forces advancing in cover to either side threaten to outflank the fortifications, and artillery begins to open up. Reinforcements come up just in time to silence the guns, and the fighting starts to die down. quote:Not all the Yankees had been smashed; firing continued in the woods as knots of soldiers refused to give ground. On a more open battlefield, that would have been impossible; in the Wilderness’s thickets and tangles and clumps of bushes, men could find places to make a stand even after their comrades had given way. But the Confederates had gained a long stretch of the Brock Road. As if the automatic rifles and cannon were not enough, there's fire to contend with.
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Dec 18, 2021 11:16
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ninjahedgehog posted:Caudell refers to the AK magazines as banana clips a bunch (haha!) throughout this segment, but I'm curious -- for a poor Southerner in the 1860s, how much of a familiarity with actual bananas would he have? My cursory research tells me that bananas were a rare treat for the elite even after the war, but maybe he knew *of* them more than he had actually tried one. Or maybe the Rivington men called it that? The latter, as it happens. Nice question, though - I never even thought to wonder how common bananas were in the ACW era. quote:Chapter 2: Nate Caudell ((Also, if it wasn't clear, that wasn't the entire chapter. Trimmed for length, and will get the rest up a little later.)) Gnoman fucked around with this message at 12:28 on Dec 19, 2021 |
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Dec 19, 2021 12:17
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Chapter V: Nate Caudell (part 2)quote:“As you were, gentlemen, please.” Lee peered north up the Brock Road toward the blue-clad bodies that corduroyed it like so many planks. “Those people are paying dearly for every acre of Wilderness they hold,” he remarked as he turned to look south. “Henry, push such forces as you can spare down along this road, if you please. General Hancock will be along shortly, unless I miss my guess.” While I can see the appeal, the notion of reloading a rifle musket on the run feels dubious to me. Even if you stop to ram, it is a very long weapon to be trying to shove loose powder and bullet in one end of while running. In this situation, a charge isn't the absolute worst possible solution, but it isn't a good one. Beyond that, it is good to note that the AK didn't prevent the troops from getting off a volley, nor does it rob the minee ball of the ability to kill. More troops pour in. quote:He was none too soon, for more Federals tramped up the Brock Road a few minutes later. The crossfire would have chewed him to pieces. The bluecoats came to a ragged halt when they saw what had happened to the first attacking party, but then moved ahead all the same. The South had gone into the war doubting Yankee courage. After three years of fighting, few in the Army of Northern Virginia doubted it anymore. This is a better tactic, but there's no good tactic for this particular tactical solution. Might be the least bad one, though. This attack fares little better than the first, and is followed by another, and another. quote:Between assaults up the roadway, he filled banana clips, chewed on corn bread and salt pork, and drank from his canteen. The water was warm and turbid. It went down like champagne even so. He and his companions smoked and listened to the gunfire all around and tried to guess how the fighting was going away from their little piece of it. The carnage that you would get from pressing an entire regiment (nominally a thousand men, and a US regiment this early in the campaigning season would be a lot closer to that than normal) against a well-manned fortified position armed with modern autoloading weaponry is a horrifying thought. All war is terrible, but a mismatch like this one is considerably beyond that - closer to some of the horrors against civilians from the middle part of the last century than a real fight. Nate can hear Federal forces trying to break around to the flanks and being repulsed by the skirmish line, and a third regiment attacks. It fares no better than the first, even if they're managing to inflict real casualties by sheer number of rifles. quote:Caudell and his companions on the firing line raised a tired cheer to see them go. Dead and wounded men were thick on the ground behind the barricade, too, even if the Yankees had never come close to reaching it. The soldiers gave what rough first aid they could, and sent to the rear men who could walk. Hospital stewards, some wearing green sashes as their Federal counterparts did, came forward to haul off on stretchers men too badly hurt to travel on their own. This engagement started around noon. Sunset comes at around 20:00 (8 PM) in Virginia in May. Even if we assume this is a couple of hours before actual sunset, they've been at this for a long, long time. Also a nice touch here - the Confederate troops leap to rescue the men they'd just been killing, because what kind of man would abandone helpless wounded to a horrible death by fire if it can be avoided? This fourth regiment doesn't advance as readily, and is greatly slowed by the heaped bodies left by the first three attacks. Until events force their hands. quote:Then, drowning cries and screams alike, a great new eruption of gunfire broke out to the south. The Federals on the Brock Road looked back over their shoulders in surprise and alarm. Even their officers stopped urging them forward for a moment. With no officer to take over, Caudell manages the prisoners. Said prisoners are promptly looted of everything they're carrying before being sent onward. No further attack comes, though the signs of fighting can be heard in both directions. quote:The sun sank, a blood-red ball looking down on blood through tangled branches and curls of smoke from gunpowder and brushfires. The fifth Yankee attack had not come. As darkness gathered, the sound of fighting to north and south began to slacken. It also eased in the woods east of the Brock Road, though it never died away altogether, and would flare up every so often in a brief spasm of ferocity. With great difficulty, they manage to make their way to their own men. One of his first concerns is to find water. quote:He found the water by stepping into it. He took off his shoes and bathed his tired feet before he filled the canteen. Once he’d drunk, he felt better. He knew his comrades were only a few yards away, knew tens of thousands of Federals and Confederates were within a few miles, but for all he could see of them, he might as well have been alone in the Wilderness. At the time of the Battle Of The Wilderness, II Corps of the Army Of The Potomac contained four divisions, and was recorded to have 28,333 at the end of April. Total Union forces available for the Wilderness Campaign was just under 113,000 men, meaning that Faribult and his superiors are hoping to wipe out nearly a quarter of the forces against them. To put this even more into perspective, the historical battle of the Wilderness cost the US 2246 Killed In Action and 12000 Wounded In Action over the course of the entire campaign. At Antietam, the bloodiest single day of the war, the US suffered 2108 KIA and 9500 WIA. At Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle of the war, the Union lost 3155 and 14,500. The fighting Caudell personally witnessed, where four regiments were smashed, probably puts this days fighting into the company of those battles, but that's nothing to what their ambition is to be. Taking out the entire II Corps would hurt the Union almost as badly as the war's two biggest battles combined did, in an unmitigated defeat instead of a strategic victory (Antietam) or a decisive one (Gettysburg). The papers would have a field day with that! Faribault heads onward to try figuring out where all his men are and make sure everybody knows the plan for tomorrow. Caudell and the rest sleep. quote:The long roll woke him early the next morning, or so he thought until he realized where he was. The rattle was not drumsticks on snares; it was gunfire, the reports bunched tighter together than the fastest drummer could hurry his sticks. The fighting had begun again, even if sunrise still lay ahead. The ambush goes a long way toward neutralizing his rate of fire. It does nothing to neutralize the advantage of the improved powder - he engages the ambushers by muzzle flashes and drives them off. quote:He rejoined Otis Massey and several other soldiers with whom he’d spent the night. The firing ahead grew ever more intense. A few minutes later, he discovered why: the bluecoats were fighting from behind a breastwork of their own. Hereabouts, it stood at the far edge of a cleared space. Even with the AK-47 in his hands, his mouth went dry at the prospect of charging those blazing rifles. The interesting thing here is that troops in good fortifications are entirely capable of putting up a fight with muzzle-loaders, even against the AK. Despite the huge superiority it offers, the AK does not magic away the defender's advantage, any more than it prevented the massed fire of the earlier attacks from killing many Confederates in their own fort.
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Jan 15, 2022 10:22
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Chapter VI: Part I - Robert E Leequote:General Lee sat easily on Traveller, watching his soldiers splash up out of the Rapidan at Raccoon Ford. Once on the north side of the river, the men paused to put their trousers back on before they formed ranks again. Many of them had no drawers. That bothered Lee more than it seemed to bother them. They grinned and cheered and waved their hats as they marched past. I don't know if this is a direct quote from the historical Lee, but there are many examples of similar statements. Pulling from known historical dialog is a way to make the characters more authentic, but sometimes Turtledove takes it too far - the dialogue feels stilted and the characters feel less "real". In this case, it works well enough because this is something of a speech situation. Lee is making plans to go forward. Longstreet's understrength corps will be left to hold the line against Grant, while the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia goes North. What Lee has seen of Grant's generalship has impressed him. quote:“No, but now we shall have to go through him, and that after he has made the acquaintance of our repeaters. Any man may be taken by surprise once, but only a fool will be surprised twice, and General Grant, I fear, is not a fool.” Note the subtle reminder of how dependent the Confederacy is on the AWB. Lee's heart medication is a small thing, perhaps, but the lifeline they represent is never far from his thoughts. Lee has decided that everything must be done hastily. This victory is only the latest in a string of Confederate victories, and none of the previous ones lasted. He still has the AK-47 to even the odds, but he no longer has the near-perfect intelligence that the Rivington men provided, and Grant is not an easy foe. The clock is ticking. quote:As for Grant, he’d handled his army about as well as could be expected, given the trouble in which he’d found himself. In a defensive fight, with his powerful artillery to back up his numbers, he might yet be very rough indeed. The tiny town of Bealeton, Virginia saw no major action during the war historically, though it was an important supply corridor for the Union once the Confederacy was pushed back into Central Virginia and there were many skirmishes in the region. In this history, it will have far greater importance. Stuart is ordered to hold the town at all costs while infantry is rushed to reinforce. This is an interesting mirror of Gettysburg, where Union cavalry held important ground against Confederate assault until Union Infantry could reinforce and hold. Stuart's men normally would have no chance of holding long enough, but Lee hopes the AK-47 will give them just enough edge to do the job. quote:As the aide rode off, A. P. Hill rode up. Always gaunt and hollow-eyed, he no longer seemed on the edge of breaking down, as he had before the campaign began. Victory, Lee thought, agrees with him. As he had with Ewell, he told Hill of the new situation. In 1862, Lee launched an invasion of the North, prompted by a shortage of food in the war-torn border regions of the Confederacy and the belief that following their many defensive victories with an offensive one was critical for victory. As part of this advance, Lee issued Special Order 191, dividing his forces and hit several key positions by surprise. In one of the most famous coincidences in history, a pair of Union enlisted men managed to find a copy of this order wrapped around three cigars. This order made it to the hands of General George McClellan, prompting the infamously risk-averse general into launching a counter-attack. While McClellan was still slow enough (not least because he was trying to get Lincoln to send the troops covering Washington City under General Pope as reinforcements) that the Army of Northern Virginia was mostly able to reconstitute, the fact that McClellan attacked at all was game-changing. The Confederates named the resulting battle Sharpsburg, after the town near the battle site. The Union preferred to name battles after bodies of water, and called it Antietam. 87,000 US troops met 38,000 Confederates in the largest single-day battle of the war. Lee was forced to retire in good order after suffering 10,000 casualties (1567 of them fatal), while McClellan allowed the 12,000 casualties he suffered (2,108 KIA) to prevent him from a vigorous pursuit that could well have destroyed Lee's army entirely. Tactically a draw, the battle nonetheless put an end to Lee's hopes of an offensive victory until his second invasion in 1864, and finally gave Lincoln an ironclad excuse to fire the well-connected George McClellan. Of equal importance, it was enough of a Union victory for Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring slavery abolished in the rebel states. Had Grant been in charge at that time, it is very likely that the Confederates would have been destroyed. It is a stretch to say that the entire war could have been won then and there, but an entire army could have been taken off the board, and Lee's officer corps had to know that. This makes their apprehension here quite reasonable. And, of course, we have another, more explicit reminder of how dependent the Confederacy is on the AK, and how Lee is trying to wriggle out of that. Battle lines are drawn, and the orders are given. Chapter VI: Part II - Nate Caudell quote:Dempsey Eure let out a loud, unmusical bray. “If I was a mule, they’d shoot me after a march like this, on account of I wouldn’t be of no more use nohow.” This, of course, encapsulates the problems of the historical Confederacy. No victory they won could materialy reduce the odds against them. The battle begins much as the one the previous day did. With one major exception. quote:Lieutenant Dunn carried a pair of field glasses on a leather strap around his neck. He lifted them to his face for a better look at the foe ahead. When he let go with a cry of outrage, Caudell and all the Confederates in earshot stared at him. The field glasses had already fallen to his chest again. Pointing ahead, he shouted, “You know what those are up ahead, boys? Those are n****r troops!” The United States Colored Troops were first raised in 1862 after the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Initially small units, their numbers swelled rapidly - by 1865, they constituted nearly 10% of the Union Army - roughly 180,000 black men would serve. 36,000 would perish in that service (although only 2200 or so of those were from battle), a proportion far higher than that suffered by white troops. These units were noted for superb discipline and almost fanatical courage - Turtledove's portrayal here is entirely in line with the historical performance. Of the 1523 Medals of Honor awarded durning the Civil War, sixteen were awarded to USCT men - an astonishing percerntage given the limited combat service the units were allowed to participate in, the relative numbers, and the racism of the officers who would award medals. The US troops fire two volleys - all but ingnoring the steady AK fire tearing into their lines, and advance into a charge. quote:Between shells and rifle fire, the battle din was deafening. A near miss from a shell knocked the man beside Caudell into him. He fell over. Somehow he hung on to his repeater. Two men stepped on him before he managed to get to his feet. He looked down at himself, hardly daring to believe he was still intact. Muttering a prayer of thanks, he started shooting again. Such was the fate of many USCT men. Many such soldiers that found themselves in Confederate hands were summarily butchered, with at least three full-blown massacres. Those who survived this saw incredibly poor treatment even by the atrocious standards shown by the Confederacy in general. Caudell's subdued admiration, however, is also a historically attested reaction. The efforts of Fredrick Douglass, W. E. B. DuBois, and later activists to highlight the performance of USCT was a major part of the early Civil Rights movement, and had a strong impact on public opinion. With this charge broken, even if it came far closer to stopping the Confederates than anything thus far, Caudell and his men are pulled out to try outflanking the US artillery that has been pounding the regiment to bits. quote:Up ahead, the artillerymen were still at their trade. One soldier Set ball and powder inside a Napoleon’s muzzle. Another rammed them down to the bottom of the barrel. A third jabbed a wire pick through the vent to pierce the bag that contained the powder. Still another attached primer and lanyard. That same man yanked on the lanyard and fired the piece. The fellow with the rammer swabbed it down. Back at the limber that held the ammunition chest, two more soldiers handed another bag of powder and a ball to a third, who carried them at a run to the man who loaded them into the smoothbore. The process began again. The battle comes to an end, and they set down to rest. This includes taking advantage of the battlefield loot - not only were the USCT units far closer to full-strength than normal, they were extordinarily well supplied. Most of the men are not happy with the nature of the enemy this day. quote:Caudell wanted to argue more. Despite questions about Georgie Ballentine, he’d always thought pretty much as Winstead did. So did most people in the South; so, for that matter, did most people in the North. But as a teacher, he’d urged his students--especially the bright ones--to test what people said about the world against the world itself. Here, what they said and what he’d seen didn’t add up the same way. The Negroes had fought as well as anyone could expect. Chapter VI: Part III - Robert E. Lee quote:“Major Marshall, I should like you to draft a general order to the Army of Northern Virginia, to be published as soon as it is completed,” Lee said. I can find no evidence that the historical Lee ever issued such an order. It is certain that he resisted the notion of including captured USCT men in the hitherto regular prisoner exchanges, which largely ended the practice until late in the war. I do not know if Turtledove found something that I have missed, or if this is intended to be Lee already changing due to his interactions with the AWB men. quote:“Good. Now on to other business.” Lee unfolded several newspapers. “These have been sent on to me by those behind Federal lines who are in sympathy with our cause. Not only does the government in Washington City often inadvertently reveal its intentions in the press, but through it we can gauge Northern sentiment toward the war.” This reaction from the newspapers is far, far milder than you would expect after such an event. 40,000 casualties - even assuming that this includes wounded in the normal proportion - is a disaster of incredible proportion. The historical Union Army suffered casualties in the range of 800,000 men (this figure includes disease, as far as I can determine), so 40,000 would equal 5 percent of the losses for the entire war. The Confederate newspapers are much happier with the outcome, and there is news of other fronts. quote:Venable handed them to him. As he read the first, he felt a great load of worry lift from his shoulders. “General Johnston has held General Sherman at Rocky Face Ridge, with heavy losses on the Federal side, and then again at Resaca and Snake Creek Gap, when he tried to use his superior numbers to outflank us. Sherman’s forces are now halted; prisoners report he dares not seek to outflank us again for fear of the casualties he would sustain from our rifles.” Lee is fearful of simply driving the Union forces into fortifications, and begins to sketch out a plan that is, for the moment, left unsaid. quote:Andries Rhoodie’s horse came trotting up to Lee as he rode alongside the head of a long column of gray-clad troops. The Rivington man politely stayed a few feet outside the group of generals and officers with Lee and waited to be recognized. “Good morning, Mr. Rhoodie,” Lee said. He studied the way Rhoodie handled his bay gelding. “Your horsemanship has improved, sir, since I first had the pleasure of your acquaintance.” Rhoodie is absolutely furious about Lee's order to treat all soldiers as prisoners, and orders him to rescind it immediately. quote:“You go about giving the friend of the family equality in anyone way, General Lee, and you set foot on the path to making him equal in all ways.” Rhoodie sounded less peremptory than he had a moment before, but no less serious. “That is not what America Will Break stands for, General. If you don’t care to bear that in mind, we don’t care to keep providing you with ammunition.” Lee fails to rise to the threat, much to Rhoodie's confusion. quote:Now it was Rhoodie’s turn to stare at Lee. “You would sacrifice your precious Virginia for the sake of kaffirs who were doing their best to kill your own men?” The historical Forrest was, in fact, held in disdain by Southern society for his slave trading, despite the fact that said society quite happily and proudly built their wealth on the backs of said slaves. This is one of the most blatant hypocracies of the slaver class and the society they built. The Fort Pillow Massacre, unfortunately, is quite real. A force of around 1500 Confederate cavalry captured Fort Pillow, which was defended by roughly 600 Union troops - half of which were USCT men. When a large portion of this force attempted to surrender, the Confederates merely slaughtered them with bayonet and musket fire. There has been great debate to the degree to which Forrest himself was responsible for this - some sources claim he personally ordered no quarter, others claim that the massacre was spontaneous and that Forrest put a stop to it as rapidly as possible. There is also no certain consensus as to how many prisoners were murdered, and if any civilians were among them. Rhoodie promises to cut off Lee's supply of ammunition for the AK if the order is not removed. Lee is unmoved, and refuses. Though Rhoodie leaves in retreat, Lee is not immune to fear of the consequences of what he has done. quote:What if no more cartridges were forthcoming? Lee thought about that. He did not care for any of the conclusions he reached. Reequipping his army with repeaters had taken a couple of months. If he required that much time to go back to rifle muskets, the Army of Northern Virginia was done for. The Army of the Potomac would never leave it alone long enough to make the changeover, not in spring. Chapter VI: Part IV - Nate Caudell quote:Rain in his face, rain turning the roadway to muddy soup. Nate Caudell slogged on. When the weather was fine, he’d wished for rain to cut the dust. Now that he had it, he wished for dust again. Mud was worse. This is a short interlude to end the chapter, showing Nate's unit crossing into Maryland. Nate and the rest dream of taking Washington City and ending the war, fight a few brisk actions with Union cavalry, and keep advancing. quote:“Maybe.” Caudell looked southeast. Nothing lay between Lee’s soldiers and Washington City but its ring of forts. It was a big but. He suspected Marse Robert would keep the army too busy for it to do much wrecking for wrecking’s sake.
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Mar 3, 2022 07:00
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I've had little motivation to keep going since War Were Declared, but I do intend to get back to it eventually. Kchama's told me he intends to get back to his as well.
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Apr 30, 2022 21:54
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cock hero flux posted:it's pretty much the same in worldwar where some random wehrmacht guy will bumble into the story, do something extremely lovely, and then die at the precise frequency required to satisfy most people that it's not perpetuating the clean wehrmacht myth without pissing off wehraboos. Not really. In that series, the only Nazis that really get a favorable depiction are Heinrich Jager's panzer crew and the commandant of the later military spaceport. Of the two whose heads we get inside, Jager remains willfully ignorant of the evils of the regime (much easier to justify for a panzer crew) until getting his face rubbed into it, and Drucker is largely supportive of things (albeit not really thinking too hard about what it means) until his wife gets nabbed as a secret Jew. Everyone else we see is monstrous, even if Skorzeny doesn't really show it until later on.
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Apr 30, 2022 23:25
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