THE GATES OF VICTORY: The Alternate History Novel of The Battle of El Alamein (The Malta Fulcrum WW2 Alternate History Series)

Scott Ward should be commended for his detailed, dramatic, and alternate historical work on the Battle of Alamein and Field Marshall Rommel's stunning victory over Imperial Britain. Its also refreshing, for myself, to see the German military, aka the Wehrmacht, victorious, please note I know I'm being totally politically incorrect, but I don't give a damn. After viewing movies, like Where Eagles Dare, The Guns of Navarone and The Dirty Dozen, to name a few, where countless German soldiers were murdered to satisfy American audiences, and its political correctness, it is good to see the shoe on the other foot. Also should the German military had been victorious in World War Two there's a good chance Europe, much less the world, wouldn't be facing the challenges they do today, e.g. European nation's becoming Islamic Republics, spread of terrorism, especially the tragic events of 9/11, much less past conflicts such as the Korean War, conflict in Vietnam and the Cold War. For Scott Ward, on his alternatives for his next work on the alternate history of World War Two, I would have Field Marshall Rommel be given command of the Sixth Army as his new command approaches Stalingrad and Southern Russia. I might add by then Rommel would of had a wealth of combat, command experience, as opposed to Field Marshal Paulus, who had a minimum amount of experience in a combat, command. Surely Rommel would have perceived the trap that Stalingrad was and would of protected his flanks, which Paulus did not. In closing, perhaps one should read the editorial by the gifted and great American, Walter Williams: Communism Killed More People Than Fascism!

Interesting book, I liked the premise and found the plot and its execution a very enjoyable read. All 3 books in this series thus far were quite enjoyable. I did want a bit more detail on the Artic operations and military situation/environment while reading Book 2 however it was still fun to read but a tad short. -- My Vote is for Rommel on the Eastern Front --, After all it does make one wonder how things might have occurred differently if Rommel was not only on the Eastern Front but commanding either the entire Army Group South or just replacing Friedrich Paulus in charge of the Sixth Army. The possibilities and implications are varied and intriguing to say the least!

I vote for Stalingrad, though I'd put Guadacanal second, Gibralter third. Gates was a very good book like the previous two. Mr. Ward is an excellent storyteller, constructs his plot well, and doesn't bloat the storyline like some alt history writers do. His battle sequences are generally excellent, though he's weaker on air battles than on sea and land battles. I'm not sure why he thinks the Bf-109E variant was still in action in July 1942, and the Italians were flying a lot of the Macchi 202s, not the 200s, at this stage; this made them much more competitive with Allied planes. The Ju-52 with retractable landing gear someone else already pointed out. . . Well, you can't get everything right, but Mr. Ward gets the majority of it right, and I'll keep reading whatever he writes next. One of the best alt history writers right now.

This meaty book tells an alternative tale of the battle of El Alamein/Alam Halfa in World Wat II, after the also-fictional conquest of Malta that helped ease Rommel's supply situation, and while the Germans still had the ability to potentially win World War II. This book brings back many of the characters from the first (of so far) three books, the invasion of Malta. The book is written historically accurately, with well developed combat scenes, and an interesting cast of characters. I'm looking forward to reading of one the main character's (Kuno Schact) future adventures on the eastern front. Sadly, it's been several years since this installment of Mr. Ward's efforts, and I see no word on publication of the next book. But this book is definitely worth your time and effort if you're a fan of alternate history novels. Be warned that you need to read the first book (but not the second book) in this trilogy before reading this one. Five stars.

I absolutely love this series of books. I think Ward's three books definitely take the cake for some of the best alternative history I have ever read. I am a huge fan of the alternative history genre and just plain old history in general, the way ward weaves everything together and the great length of the books just leaves me constantly turning pages, with intense curiosity of how he will change history for us to ponder! I would recommend all 3 of his books to any fan of alternate history or even just regular history. Cannot wait for the last 3 books in the series.

I've read the first three of Scott's books and he's a good storyteller. From my perspective, almost all of the Fortunes of War in this book favor the Axis powers -- a very lucky bunch. Too lucky for my taste which drained most of the suspense from the book.

Great books, very good character development, realistic outcomes of the battles. For me one of the most important things is that the German military is not comprised of barbaric terrorists that kill indiscriminately in lots (will not comment on the Evil nature of the Nazi regime, just that a majority of German soldiers were just that: soldiers). Now for the next installment: definitely Stalingrad. Mr. Ward please let Rommel meet von Mainstein, let them work together. Give the 6th Army to Rommel but only after it became trapped in street fighting in the city (say early October 1942) which definitely would have strongly annoyed Rommel. Give von Mainstein the Army Group Don the same period. What would have been Rommel’s and von Mainstein sudden reaction the very next day of the Soviet offensive? What would have happened when the best Armor tactician – Rommel – works with Mainstein, the man who understood the best the armored mobile warfare and had such an unparalleled strategic sense?

Having very much enjoyed 1 and 2 I went into this one with high hopes. If you like AH novels this is a must to read in my opinion. The only faults are as another reviewer says replaying books 1 and 2 occasionally, which can get slightly jarring. And one that is just me I'd think and won't happen again was the crossing of two characters story that made world a little to small for me. I'd preferred he'd just added a new character to get the two sides of when part. All told though a fantastic book and can't wait to carry on reading this alternate timeline. Very, very good. If you like AH history novels please treat yourself to this!

klasse geschrieben, ein Vergnügen zu lesen. ich warte schon gespannt auf die Fortsetzung. Einzig fehlt, was der Gewinn der Achse f d Menschheit bedeutet hätte - sprich, wieviel mehr Menschen die Verbrechen der Nazis hätten erleiden müssen, das wird weitestgehend übergangen.

I've been a what if fan since I first encountered the concept. In this one with Malta in hand the German supply lines are secure, the momentum and psychological advantage is still with the Axis and major Schacht believes that German communications aren't secure. This leads to believable changes to the Egyptian campaign. Like previous entries in this series Ward doesn't over power the Axis or artificially cripple the Allies. This leads to battles that swing from one side having the advantage to the other. I like the characters. My vote for the next book would be Panzers On The Volga, imagine a manoeuvring general like Rommel on the Stalingrad front.

Just like my previous reviews on the first two books, this story just gets better and better. Same level of detail and character backgrounds which doesn’t appear over the top but just helps fill what is becoming a great series. The three future strands offered for the next book are all equally brilliant in concept and offer great additions to this series. Difficult to choose which one I want to see first but Panzers on the Volga gets my vote. Please just hurry up and release them!!

Mr Ward has written another believable story of what might have been. His writing is okay without being great but that's not what I'm after with this type of book. The Germans get a few lucky breaks but war is often connected to luck. I really enjoyed this late sets addition to Mr Ward's time line. My vote for the next book is either Spain or Russia