Ed Piazza, the Secretary of State of the small United States being forged in war-torn Germany during the Thirty Years War, has a problem on his hands. A religious conference has been called in nearby Rudolstadt which will determine doctrine for all the Lutherans in the nation. The hard-fought principle of religious freedom is at stake, threatened alike by intransigent theologians and students rioting in the streets. As if that weren't bad enough: \* the up-time American Lutherans are themselves divided; \* a rambunctious old folk singer is cheerfully pouring gasoline on the flames; \* and a Calvinist "facilitator" from Geneva is maneuvering to get the U.S. involved with the developing revolutionary movement in Naples. Stories include: \* Portraits by Eric Flint \* Anna's Story by Loren Jones \* Curio and Relic by Tom Van Natta \* The Sewing Circle by Gorg Huff \* The Rudolstadt Colloquy by Virginia DeMarce \* Radio in the 1632 Universe by Rick Boatright \* They've Got Bread Mold, So Why Can't They Make Penicillin? by Robert Gottlieb \* Horse Power by Karen Bergstralh

Stories include: \* Postage Due by Eric Flint \* Pastor Kastenmayer's Revenge by Virginia DeMarce \* The Sound of Music by David Carrico \* Other People's Money by Gorg Huff \* If the Demons Will Sleep by Eva Musch \* Hobson's Choice by Francis Turner \* Hell Fighters by Wood Hughes \* Euterpe, Episode 2 by Enrico M. Toro \* Iron by Rick Boatright \* The Impact of Mechanization on German Farms by Karen Bergstralh \* Firearms in the 1632 Universe by Leonard Hollar, Bob Hollingsworth, Tom Van Natta, and John Zeek \* Alchemical Distillation by Andrew Clark

After the West Virginia town of Grantville was unceremoniously hurled back through time to the 1630s, the seventeenth century would never be the same. Teenage capitalist girls have formed an investment group; a linotype operator, whose profession was wiped out by computers, finds a new life in an old century; a narrow gauge railroad, with a sit-down mower doubling as a locomotive, revolutionizes military transportation; the proud tradition of the U.S. Marines is started ahead of schedule among downtime Europeans; and what will the master musicians and composers of the pre-Bach era make of heavy metal sounds? Stories include: \* The Anatomy Lesson by Eric Flint \* Poor Little Rich Girls by Paula Goodlett and Gorg Huff \* 'Til We Meet Again by Virginia DeMarce \* One Man's Junk by Karen Bergstrahl \* Chip's Christmas Gift by Russ Rittgers \* Dice's Drawings by Dan Robinson \* The Class of '34 by Kerryn Offord \* Magdeburg Marines: The Few and the Proud by Jose J. Clavell \* Elizabeth by Ernest Lutz and John Zeek \* Heavy Metal Music or Revolution in Three Flats by David Carrico \* Drillers in Doublets by Iver P. Cooper \* How to Keep Your Old John Deere Plowing: Diesel Fuel Alternatives for Grantville 1631–1639 by Allen W. McDonnell \* How to Build a Machine Gun in 1634 with Available Technology: First View by Leonard Hollar, Tom Van Natta, and John Zeek \* How to Build a Machine Gun in 1634 with Available Technology: Second View by Bob Hollingsworth \* A Looming Challenge by Pam Poggiani