The Man with the Iron Heart (novel)

Plot summary

The point of divergence occurs in June 1942, when Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich survives an assassination attempt in Prague. In February 1943, after the German defeat at Stalingrad, Heydrich meets with Heinrich Himmler and convinces him to prepare for a partisan campaign should Germany lose the war. Two years later, Allied forces have conquered Germany; Hitler and Himmler are dead by suicide. Heydrich's insurgents launch guerrilla attacks using car bombs, improvised explosive devices, anti-tank rockets, and suicide bombers.

They assassinate Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev and American General George S. Patton. Occupation officials struggle to respond: the Americans and British tighten security, while the Soviet NKVD conducts ruthless reprisals and deportations, and the French impose repressive measures. In the United States, an Indiana housewife whose son died on occupation duty organizes a movement to withdraw American forces. Her Congressman, a Republican, attacks the Truman administration over the issue.

A truck bomb destroys the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, postponing war crimes trials. In Berlin, Soviet officers are killed at a New Year's Eve party when insurgents poison their drinks with wood alcohol. The American protests grow, while the Soviets intensify their crackdown.