When the Great War engulfed Europe in 1914, the United States and the Confederate States of America, bitter enemies for five decades, entered the fray on opposite sides: the United States aligned with the newly strong Germany, while the Confederacy joined forces with their longtime allies, Britain and France. But it soon became clear to both sides that this fight would be different—that war itself would never be the same again. For this was to be a protracted, global conflict waged with new and chillingly efficient innovations—the machine gun, the airplane, poison gas, and trench warfare. Across the Americas, the fighting raged like wildfire on multiple and far-flung fronts. As President Theodore Roosevelt rallied the diverse ethnic groups of the northern states—Irish and Italians, Mormons and Jews—Confederate President Woodrow Wilson struggled to hold together a Confederacy still beset by ignorance, prejudice, and class divisions. And as the war thundered on, southern blacks, oppressed for generations, found themselves fatefully drawn into a climactic confrontation . . .

The year is 1915, and the world is convulsing. Though the Confederacy has defeated its northern enemy twice, this time the United States has allied with the Kaiser. In the South, the freed slaves, fueled by Marxist rhetoric and the bitterness of a racist nation, take up the weapons of the Red rebellion. Despite these advantages, the United States remains pinned between Canada and the Confederate States of America, so the bloody conflict continues and grows. Both presidents—Theodore Roosevelt of the Union and staunch Confederate Woodrow Wilson—are stubbornly determined to lead their nations to victory, at any cost. . .

Is it the war to end all wars—or war without end? What began as a conflict in Europe, when Germany unleashed a lightning assault on its enemies, soon spreads to North America, as a long-simmering hatred between two independent nations explodes in bloody combat. Twice in fifty years the Confederate States of America had humiliated their northern neighbor. Now revenge may at last be at hand. Into this vast, seething cauldron plunges a new generation of weaponry changing the shape of war and the balance of power. While the Confederate States are distracted by an insurgency of African Americans who dream of establishing their own socialist republic, the United States are free to bring their military and industrial might directly to bear—and to unleash the most horrific armored assault the world has ever seen. Victory is at hand. But at a price that may be worse than war itself . . .