Books written in the TW2000 timeline

[TiggerCCW UK]

(No prizes for guessing who the author is based on...)

His dad and mine used to work together and he and my brother used to play together when they were nippers. If memory serves me right (I was very wee at the time) they lived facing one of the TA barracks here in Belfast - wonder how much that influenced his future career

[Legbreaker]

"Behind enemy lines" by Thor Halgeirsen (2014)
A journey into madness and back.

[weswood]

"I'm not supposed to be here" ; William Tell Sacket (2007)

Autobiography of a civilian photojournalist and a handfull of survivors from the U.S. Army's 5th Infantry Division and thier epic tale of being stranded behind enemy lines for over 6 months.

This book also chronicles thier return to the United States, the hardy group of warriors are intsrumental in the reformation of the Lone Star Republic.

Hundreds of color and black and white photographs.

[pmulcahy11b]

The Death and Rebirth of Hope: A platoon of survivors describes the confused disintegration of the 5th Infantry Division, and how they strike out across Europe to eventually make it back to the US. (2011; Author Bobbie Lee Stanson)

[Raellus]

Yes! A Bobby Lee reference. Well done, sir.

[Targan]

Gone Fission: The Untold Story of Operation Sunfire - by Dr Anthony Po, Colonel (retired), US Army Special Forces. [This from the hardback edition dustcover] The never-before-published, true account of how a NATO special operations taskforce was assembled and led by the author, then-Major Anthony Po, to insert, deploy and detonate the last known nuclear strike of the Twilight War, resulting in the utter destruction of the Warsaw Pact's Reserve Front Headquarters in Lublin, Poland in October of 2000. Failure was never an option. Gritty, personal and frank; a triumph of the human spirit.

[Closer to the truth] Published in the months leading up to the 2024 Presidential election as an ill-concealed propaganda piece designed to bolster Anthony Po's presidential bid. Key elements of the narrative were hotly disputed by several of the surviving members of SOG 1, Team Alpha following the book's publishing (including suggestions that evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity were omitted in the final draft).

[WallShadow]

"Making the Rubble Bounce: the Dogfight for Warsaw's Bones"--Kannave and Danko, 2028, Baldwin Press, Harrisburg. Chronicles the city's fiery death, its painfully slow rebirth, and the unending assaults on the pioneers who literally scraped a new life for the city out of the "prairie of ruins". Contains the results of piecing together thousands of hours of interviews, fragmentary military records, and cullings of EMP-damaged recordings. Includes the testimony of participants in the "Black Legion" war crimes trials and the only existing photographs of "Baron" Czarny's execution.

"A rivetting read, filled with the struggles for survival and the hard-tested, but undying faith of the urban homesteaders. Absolutely an essential for our future generations to grasp the totality of war's devastation and the resilience of the human spirit."--Panch Maurie, CSN News.

[atiff]

Apologies to our French friends in advance.... just smile as you read it, I only wrote it about you because the wording fits

---------------------------

And for something completely different... The underground hit of 2009, on the 50th anniversary of the song that inspired it... The musical description of how France rose as the new superpower after the Twilight War.

For foreign readers:
'nads = gonads, bollocks, family jewels, etc.
MAD = mutually-assured destruction


World going down in atomic suns
We fought the war but the French won
We fought the war but the French won
We needed glory, now we've got none
We fought the war but the French won
We fought the war but the French won

We'd creamed the Commies, kicked 'em in the 'nads
We had them on the run
They nuked us back, now we feel so bad
We fought the war but the French won
We fought the war but the French won

In the year 2000, tried an end-run
We fought the war but the French won
We fought the war but the French won
Cut off in Poland, we were on the run
We fought the war but the French won
We fought the war but the French won

The French took over and I feel so sad
I guess our time is done
We fought real hard but we lost to MAD
We fought the war but the French won
We fought the war but the French won

We fought the war but the French won

[TiggerCCW UK]

"Across Europe with rod and shotgun" Alasdair Forston-Smythe RAF Ret.
The epic story of one mans escape and evasion across war torn Europe. Forston-Smythe was a Tornado pilot shot down on a raid on Gdansk. Over the next three years he successfully journeyed across Europe to friendly forces. Widely applauded for its realistic depiction of the difficulties of surviving on your own wits. New expanded edition including details of his time in the Danish militia.

"Barbed wire love" Henry Cluney
A true story of love across the divide in civil war Belfast. Now held up as a positive light for the future, this book was originally serialised in an underground news sheet produced by the Peace People during the darkest days of Ulsters history. Although clearly fictional in some areas the author insists that the lead characters are real people who still live in Belfast.

[Raellus]

McCarthy's Mad Dogs and the making of the Free City of Gdansk- The stunning true story of a small band of NATO stragglers (and other assorted misfits) and their pivotal role in the liberation and political reinvention of the historic Baltic port city of Gdansk.

[Legbreaker]

"Assassinations and war crimes," published by the Fellowship of Reconciliation organisation in 2009.
A graphic and damning chronicle of atrocities committed by NATO soldiers behind Soviet lines in the latter half of 2000. Written from accounts of witnesses and survivors of such events as the razing of Tarnobrzeg, massacre of Zwolen, assault on Otwock, ambush of Wislinka, and many more terrible incidents inside the city of Gdansk during the Polish governments August 2000 attempt to bring humanitarian aid and support to it's citizens suffering under the iron rule of the so called "International Brigade".

[James Langham]

Updated version

Updated version. I've included some of the ideas people have kindly submitted. Some I haven't used but these are often as good. My main reason for non-inclusion was it not quite meshing with my campaign (Rainbow, I have something else in mind for your author...).

[Raellus]

A Beach Too Far: Task Force Inchon and the Siege of Elblag -Steve Hastings

The definitive history of the battle dubbed the "Chosin Resevoir of WWIII". During XI Corp's offensive in the summer of 2000, Task Force Inchon (a reinforced Marine battalion) was tasked with capturing the Elblag canal bridge over highway 21 in advance of the 8th Mechanized Infantry Division's raid into Soviet territory, and securing the rest of 2nd Marine Division's left flank, centered around Gdansk. What started out as a fairly routine operation turned into a bloody siege when TF Inchon was cut off by an unexpected Soviet counteroffensive. TF Inchon's epic struggle to hold out in the rubble of the city, and their eventual breakout and return to NATO lines is ably told here by renowned military historian, Steve Hastings.

[pmulcahy11b]

The Raid on Microsoft (James Farrin, 2007)

The story of the June 1997 attack (primarily with RPGs and small arms) on the Microsoft campus, in response to a worm planted by MS with the help of hackers in December 1996 that made much of the Soviet Air Defense Network ineffective for three weeks. The attack was undertaken by KGB agents who were given no hard targets, no real support, had only MS-made maps, and were all killed in the attack. A look at a classic bungled operation.

[simonmark6]

Not a book, but something for the Holidays.

Team New America: Trey Parker and Matt Stone
A satirical radio programme broadcast from Colorado in the early 2000s. The series featured the misadventures of a bunch of redneck New American Fascists as they tried to rid the US of the deadly trinity as their leader "Respect Ma Authority" Cartman referred to as "Kay,Dubbau and Ens". The show featured the running gag of one of the team being killed messily every episode. This was always Kenny, the point man.
The show achieved cult status when the New American authorities issued death warrants for the two writers and producers.
The last of the series took place just after a major defeat of the NA in real life and features General Cummings telling Cartman to "Suck on my salty chocolate balls" before emptying an M16 into him.
The show is often credited with helping to marginalise New America during the dark days when America was facing a three way civil war. Stone said "We never took ourselves seriously until Colonel White put a hit out on us. Then we knew we were making a difference. There's nothing like having a redneck firing at you out of a rusty pickup to say that your art's having an impact."

In 2015, the radio series was remade as an animated cartoon series that achieved cult status in its own right.