In the tradition of the bestselling novels Fatherland and SS-GB, Fox on the Rhine was the heart-stopping novel of military suspense that showed what might have happened behind the scenes and on the battlefield had a single incident of WWII been different. Now, that alternate war continues in Fox at the Front. July 20, 1944. A group of disillusioned officers of Hitler's high command plant a bomb that successfully kills the Führer. For a moment, there is an opportunity for surrender, peace, and survival for all of Germany ... but Himmler has other plans. An armistice is signed with Stalin's Soviet Union. New battle lines result in a very different Battle of the Bulge, where the legendary Desert Fox, Erwin Rommel, meets Blood 'n' Guts George Patton. These two masters of modern cavalry tactics must join forces and push to the East, where the hungry bear of Stalin's army is readying a land grab of all of Eastern Europe, claiming war spoils they ill deserve. From battlefields to board rooms, Niles and Dobson spin an action-filled military thriller, so rich in detail you believe that it could have occurred. The outstanding sequel to Fox on the Rhine (2000) continues Niles and Dobson's alternate World War II to its bloody conclusion. The Soviet Union reenters the war, at first fighting both Himmler's reeling Third Reich and the new German Republic, a nation-in-arms under the effective leadership of the Allies' newest general, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Many of the unfolding events are rendered from the perspective of Rommel and his entourage, much of the rest through the eyes of various old friends from the 19th Armored Division. The Third Reich's side appears as seen by ruthless SS Colonel Joachim Piefer, but even more by the memorable Lukas Vogel, who comes of age as a Waffen SS lieutenant before his sixteenth birthday. Character-centered alternate history is not that common, and this is an eminently successful example of it, thanks to Niles and Dobson's work on real and fictional characterizations alike and their choice of Rommel as principal protagonist. Standing head and shoulders above its predecessor, this is must reading for imaginative WWII buffs. Roland Green Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Praise for Fox on the Rhine "For people who love history, written by people who know it well" --Larry Bond "An intriguing what-if scenario, and one that could have happened ... not since SSGB by Len Deighton have I seen a more credible conclusion to WWII ... the book is a triumph!" --Walter J. Boyne, bestselling co-author of the The Wild Blue "A colossal epic of a World War II that might have been...A real page turner!" -- Frank Chadwick, New York Times b estselling author of The Desert Shield Fact Book Praise for Fox on the Rhine "For people who love history, written by people who know it well" --Larry Bond "An intriguing what-if scenario, and one that could have happened ... not since SSGB by Len Deighton have I seen a more credible conclusion to WWII ... the book is a triumph!" --Walter J. Boyne, bestselling co-author of the The Wild Blue "A colossal epic of a World War II that might have been...A real page turner!" -- Frank Chadwick, New York Times b estselling author of The Desert Shield Fact Book Praise for Fox on the Rhine "For people who love history, written by people who know it well" --Larry Bond "An intriguing what-if scenario, and one that could have happened ... not since SSGB by Len Deighton have I seen a more credible conclusion to WWII ... the book is a triumph!" --Walter J. Boyne, bestselling co-author of the The Wild Blue "A colossal epic of a World War II that might have been...A real page turner!" -- Frank Chadwick, New York Times bestselling author of The Desert Shield Fact Book Douglas Niles is a bestselling author of fantasy novels for TSR and an award-winning game designer whose credits include Tom Clancy's T he Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising board games. He lives in Wisconsin. Michael Dobson is also an award-winning game designer. He served as a member of the team that built the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. He lives in Maryland. Fox at the Front OPERATION VENGEANCE2 7-3 1 DECEMBER 1944 The leaders of the American economy and the American General Staff have achieved miracles. The organization, training and equipment of the U.S. Army all bear witness to great imagination and foresight, and, above all, to the positive determination of the American people to act in unison and create a war machine with real striking power ... Technically and strategically the landing in Normandy was a brilliant achievement of the first magnitude. It showed that the Americans had the courage, at any rate in the technical field, to employ a multitude of devices hitherto untried in action. European generals of the old school could certainly have executed the invasion with the forces available, but they could never have