For me, it’s Harry Turtledove’s *Southern Victory* (a.k.a. Timeline-191), a series of 11 books that takes place in an alternate timeline where the Confederacy wins the American Civil War (called the War of Secession in the books) and sets the two American nations down a cycle of war that spans from 1880 to the end of the second Great War. The books are rich with interesting characters from differing socioeconomic groups (e.g. career military men, high-society Southerners, impoverished blacks, Northern Socialist activists, politicians, soldiers, etc.) which offer diverse perspectives of people on both sides of the Mason-Dixie line with parallels to our timeline that history buffs will find enjoyable.
That’s not to say these books are perfect; the worldbuilding gets a bit lazy towards the end of the series, the dialogue isn’t the best written, and there are sections of the book that feel like patting so Turtledove can reach his 20-chapter, 600-page limit, but those are things that can only be improved with a television adaptation under a capable director.
History has always been a popular genre of film and television, and with the success of Amazon’s adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s alternate history book *The Man in the High Castle* (except the last season) and HBO’s adaptation of Philip Roth’s alternate history book *The Plot Against America*, I feel studios are missing out on making this their next alt-history smash hit.
Which book (series) do you feel is overdue for a film/TV adaptation, and why?
by ManofWit