Bring the Jubilee

Ward Moore's seminal work, "Bring the Jubilee," immerses readers in a chilling alternate history where the Confederacy emerged victorious from the American Civil War, forever altering the course of the world. In this 20th century, the Confederate States of America reigns as a technologically stagnant, agrarian superpower, while the remnants of the United States of America languish in poverty and decline. The story follows Hodgins Backmaker, an orphan from the struggling USA, who yearns for knowledge and escapes to the Great University. He dedicates his life to becoming a historian, meticulously studying the pivotal "War of Secession" that defined his desolate present. Hodgins eventually joins the Grand Army of the Potomac Association, a clandestine society committed to historical research and, covertly, time travel. When he embarks on a mission to witness the decisive Battle of Gettysburg, Hodgins inadvertently triggers a catastrophic paradox: his very presence at the historical event causes the Confederate victory, thus creating the grim timeline he has always known. The novel brilliantly explores themes of causality, fate, and the profound, unforeseen consequences of altering the past.