I saw the Tweet when it was going viral, liked by someone for whom I have a lot of respect, but at the time just considered it another instance on Twitter of someone throwing ignorant shit at the wall. It's 100% coming from a place of ignorance, "Google it" might have been a bit less called for were they not asking for
Fire on the Mountain - the book you are asking for literally exists and it was published in 1988. However, as with all ignorance on Twitter it comes with a hefty dose of arrogance along with it, the statement was not made to be proven wrong.
Similarly, perhaps instead of offering the services of a popular search engine could have just added a link to the SLP catalogue and a polite "Over 100 books and only a small few of them based around Nazi or Confederate victories." No one ever Tweets to be proven wrong though, so I doubt it would have done much. I'm curious,
@Gary Oswald, if there was any response from Burns? Regardless of the worth of just another ignorarrogant (TM) Tweet, it does seem to have engendered some soul searching, a lot more hand wringing, the merest hint of suggestions, and has gone very far from the original point.
First of all, let's make clear right away that the historical events under scrutiny here are between them the most significant global event of... ever? In the case of World War II. That might be recency bias, could say recent history but that doesn't feel significant enough. It's incredibly significant, anyway. The American Civil War is another incredibly significant event, perhaps not on a global scale, but there is a massive dose of protagonist syndrome going on from some in the US as well as others internationally who know that history better than there own. Add to that these two events casting a long shadow over much subsequent history and politics, maybe not so surprising they should be of interest.
This is not a denial of the issue but has to be acknowledged. It also has to be acknowledged that the most prominent work of alternate history content that most people would know about - Amazon's adaptation of
The Man in the High Castle - has a myriad of problematic aspects not present in the original work (which has its own, different, problematic elements, a discussion for another day!) It's difficult to escape such an image, but all alternate history
is Nazi/Confederate wish-fulfilment. Just like all anime is for perverts. Just like all wrestling fans are illiterate rednecks. Just like all horror fans are sadists who enjoy watching people chopped up. Just like all football supporters are violent hooligans. Trust me on this, I have a bluecheck and a job in the media.
A lot of people won't want to accept these are unfair stereotypes, and I know some will no doubt wish to derail this conversation to tell me how "that's true about
them, actually". What can be done to challenge this? Not much, because if you see someone expressing this online I can guarantee they're not open for proof they're wrong. On the other hand, maybe someone just scrolling the replies might come across a counter argument that, if not swaying them, might encourage them to be a bit more open. Perhaps I should have actually brought the Tweet here as an internal discussion matter for SLP asking if we want the Twitter account to drop the catalogue and a few subsequent replies maybe directing toward vignettes on the Magazine saying as politely as possible "here's a wealth of stuff beyond the tip of the iceberg."
If published alternate history has chased and cultivated an audience that is drawn to swastikas and the rebel battle flag, this particular branch of it found here has not. It's long been understood that books with flags and/or maps tend to sell better from SLP, but looking through the catalogue of colours it seems very, very few of the books have recognisable Fascist iconography and I reviewed it in the broadest possible definition counting the Flash-and-Circle motif on
A Greater Britain and the use of Hitler's hairline on
@The Red's
Red Fuhrer series. Far, far more of the books have variations on British flags and Communist iconography, which have their
own issues, of course. Maybe that's the argument: not here.
They might not be published here, but they have the self-publishing route. Poorly drawn covers of Gruppenfuhrers picking up blonde, buxom land girls in conquered Britain. Amazon isn't going to give a shit. Should the community here take a more active bent in slamming these. As much as I'd like to see it; it does put someone in the awful position of having to read that vile dross. Also, I think many of us remember the time this was tried on the forum itself, not even the public magazine, and the threat of litigation by its ossean gabby author over the matter.
Keep writing works that defy the stereotype. Promote this place as one where you can find works outside the stereotype. Keep doing the work needed here as mentioned almost as an afterthought in the article. You're not going to convince those that are happy being ignorant of anything that disproves their view, but you might get some others. Maybe hammer home alternate history as more of a setting as opposed to a genre, though I'll be saying more on that in the Magazine soon enough, and even then you'll find some idiot that will refuse to accept
Alien is a horror film because it's set in space.
If this is a concern, and I think it should be to an extent, though not because of one ignorarrogant (TM) Tweet, the worst thing you can do if you really enjoy it is nothing. Do it in a positive way: focus on what you actually like and promote it where possible. It might feel a wasted effort. because there'll be those that enjoy their ignorance too much on the outside; as well as those who would rather complain without any action to make things better on the inside. Outside and inside pissing in at times. However, if you enjoy something and want to be able to discuss it without cringing it's worth trying to up the game to achieve that.