title: End of the Beginning: A Novel of Alternate History
author:  Harry Turtledove 
description: The human price of war, regardless of nationality, is the relentless focus of this chilling sequel to Turtledove's alternative history <I>Days of Infamy</I> (2004), in which the Japanese conquer Hawaii after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Times are hard for Americans under the occupation. Scarce food and resources result in privation and a thriving black market. Japanese soldiers work POWs to death with heavy labor on insufficient rations. Women are forced into prostitution as comfort women. But the U.S. armed forces have a few tricks up their sleeve, notably a new kind of aircraft that can hold its own against the Zero. Both the Japanese and American militaries scheme, plan and train, while surfer bums, POWs and fishermen just try to get by. A plethora of characters, each with his or her own point of view, provide experiences in miniature that combine to paint a broad canvas of the titanic struggle, if at the cost of a fragmented narrative. <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  “Harry Turtledove has established himself as the grand master of the
  alternative history form … _How Few Remain_ is perhaps his best so far.”
  
  
  —POUL ANDERSON
  
  
  “ _How Few Remain_ proves once again that Harry Turtledove is, quite simply,
  the best … and that he is getting even better. It has gripping action and real
  people in a history not our own; Turtledove brings off a tour de force.”
  
  
  —S.M. STIRLING  
  Author of Drakon
  
  
  “The cast of characters is rich and wonderful and brilliantly selected to put
  the brightest light on what this World of If has to say to our World of Is …
  The action in the book is sweeping and exciting and opens up many wonderful
  cans of worms.”
  
  
  —GAHAN WILSON  
   _Realms of Fantasy_
  
  
  “Turtledove has once again done such a masterful job of rewriting history
  that, after finishing this book, I had to check my copy of _USA Today_ to make
  sure we were still one united country.”
  
  
  —BRYCE ZABEL  
  Executi