Well, here’s to hope that my gamble is correct. For if I am wrong, I may truly regret this decision.—Vice Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi, commander of the Kido Butai

July 1943. When the United Kingdom was torn asunder under a hail of German firebombs and nerve gas, the distant outpost of Ceylon was an afterthought for both Allies and Axis. Now, one year after King George VI's death, the small island off of India becomes center stage for a titanic confrontation.

For Vice Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi, the Commonwealth forces on the island sit astride Japan's sole reliable source of oil. With the Dutch East Indies' refineries damaged during the Imperial Japanese conquest, Axis crude from the Persian Gulf and rubber from Ceylon's plantations will be critical to the Japanese Navy's ability to continue the war into 1944. Yamaguchi knows challenging Vice Admiral Andrew Cunningham may end poorly. Still, the Kido Butai is undefeated, and with good planning the Commonwealth's Far East Fleet will have to face Yamaguchi's carriers alone. With the Empire's lifeblood on the line, the Japanese must roll the dice.

Across the Indian Ocean, Lieutenant Eric Cobb is  bewildered to be operating with the Commonwealth against Axis forces in Africa. Along with an Asiatic Fleet contingent that includes Captain Jacob Morton's Houston, Vice Admiral Fletcher's forces set out to rampage from Madagascar to Mogadishu. Unfortunately for the Allies' plan, the IJN's unexpected attack forces them to immediately respond.

When established foes clash in a wholly unexpected location, brave men and violent execution will determine whether the Commonwealth holds Ceylon…or succumbs to the Tide Imperial.

Against the Tide Imperial is the third novel of the Usurper's War series. As Allied and Axis warriors are faced with a completely different conflict than the one planned for decades, their actions will chart a new course for the Greatest Generation.

"Great stuff. Authentic, plausible, and action packed."-Taylor Anderson

My God, we are losing this war.—Lt. Nicholas Cobb, USN

March 1943. The Usurper’s War has resumed, with disastrous results for the Allies. The U.S. Pacific Fleet lies shattered after the Battle of Hawaii, its battleships decimated and its carriers savaged.  The Imperial Japanese Navy, flush with victory and with their flanks appearing secure, turns their gimlet gaze to the south and the ultimate prize for their Emperor: The Dutch East Indies.

For Commander Jacob Morton and the other members of the Asiatic Fleet, the oncoming Japanese storm is not unexpected.  Despite this, the IJN's victory means U.S.S. Houston and her Allied companions will have to fight against overwhelming odds, at night, against an enemy who claims the darkness as their own. Above the Houston and the Allies' other old, tired companions, Flight Lieutenant Russell Wolford leads his men in their attempt to use new technology to negate the Japanese advantages in training.  Beset on all sides, the American, Commonwealth, Dutch, and Australian (ACDA) forces resolve to hold out until the Allies' industrial might can be brought to bear.

On the Japanese side, the Dutch East Indies Campaign quickly becomes an attritional maelstrom that they did not expect.  Vice Admiral Yamaguchi, commander of the Kido Butai and victor of Hawaii, finds himself fighting to preserve the First Air Fleet’s carrier wings rather than fritter them away in a battle of attrition. For even as brave pilots such as Lieutenant Isoro Honda and his fellow Shiden pilots cut a bloody swathe through their Allied counterparts, Yamaguchi realizes each pilot that falls is an almost irreplaceable resource for Japan.  Like any seasoned warrior, Yamaguchi knows a sword grows duller with even a victorious strike...and The Decisive Battle looms.

Collisions of the Damned is the continuation of the Usurper's War series.  Picking up where Acts of War left off, this book contains even more relentless combat and breathless naval actions than its predecessor.  As Japan confronts a divided United States and its desperate allies, ordinary men and women are forced to make decisions that will have far reaching consequences for both themselves and their nations.

Somehow I doubt that this is quite how anyone expected Adolf Hitler's death to turn out...--Squadron Leader Adam Haynes, No. 303 (Polish) Squadron

August 1942. London is in flames. Heinrich Himmler's Germany stands triumphant in the West, its "Most Dangerous Enemy" forced to the peace table by a hailstorm of nerve gas and incendiaries. With Adolf Hitler avenged and portions of the Royal Navy seized as war prizes, Nazi Germany casts its baleful gaze across the Atlantic towards an increasingly isolationist United States.

With no causus belli, President Roosevelt must convince his fellow Americans that it is better to deal with a triumphant Germany now than to curse their children with the problem of a united, fascist Europe later. As Germany and Japan prepare to launch the next phase of the conflict, Fate forces normal men and women to make hard choices in hopes of securing a better future.

For Adam Haynes, Londonfall means he must continue an odyssey that began in the skies over Spain. For while fighting Fascism has already cost him dearly, he would sooner perish than see a world where freedom has been snuffed out by a jackboot heel.

Despite nominally being a noncombatant, American naval officer Eric Cobb finds that neutrality is a far cry from safety. Forced to choose between the letter of the law and its spirit, Cobb makes a choice that irrevocably changes history.

In the Pacific, Tamon Yamaguchi must prepare himself and his men to fight a Pacific War that is far different than what his nation and the IJN had planned.  Forced to call off a meticulously planned surprise attack in December 1941, Japan instead turned north.  Rather than finding resources in Siberia, the Imperial Army found defeat and a tremendous loss of face.  Now, the Imperial Japanese Navy has once more turned its intentions towards Hawaii and the USN's Pacific Fleet.  Although Yamaguchi knows that his force will likely be detected, he intends to strike a heavy blow for his Emperor regardless of cost. 

Acts of War is the first novel of the Usurper's War series, which charts a very different World War II. As young men and women are forced to answer their nation's call, the choices they make and risks they take will write a different song for the Greatest Generation.

Acts of War [is an] enjoyable read that I can recommend to anyone looking for a good war alternate history--Matt Mitrovich, Amazing Stories, America's First Sci-Fi Magazine (2015)

Since 1972, the United States Air Force has argued that its operations against North Vietnam were unsuccessful primarily through a combination of civilian interference and poor strategic choices. Often citing the “success” of Operation Linebacker II as an example of what might have been had its leaders been given free rein, for almost fifty years the Air Force has maintained that its proper employment is the key to winning America’s wars.

In Barren SEAD, award winning historian James L. Young Jr. propagates a different theory: Instead of being a sign of what the Air Force was capable of, Linebacker II was a bitter failure that starkly outlined the USAF’s limitations. Furthermore, the meddling of the Johnson and Nixon Administrations played a minor role in this outcome. The USAF's defeat was not brought about by civilian meddling, but resulted from Air Force leaders’ refusal to develop a Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) doctrine from 1953-1972. Relying primarily on Air Force archival documents, memoirs, and contemporary doctrinal publications, Dr. Young illustrates just how dangerous the Air Force’s inability to nurture its SEAD capability was during this period of the Cold War.

James L. Young Jr. holds a doctorate in U.S. History from Kansas State University and is a graduate of the United States Military Academy. Barren SEAD is his first non-fiction book. Previously he has won the United States Naval Institute's 2016 Cyberwarfare Essay Contest, runner up in the 2011 James Adams Cold War Essay Contest, and has had an essay selected by the U.S. Naval Heritage Command for its professional reading list. Dr. Young's other professional articles can be found in Armor Magazine, The Journal of Military History, and Proceedings. For those who prefer fiction, Dr. Young also writes alternate history (Usurper's War series / Phases of Mars anthologies) and military science fiction (Vergassy Universe).

December 1943. Adolf Hitler is dead. Queen Elizabeth II reigns on the Commonwealth throne while a usurper sympathetic to the Nazis inhabits Buckingham Palace. Having turned aside the Soviet Union's initial assault into the Greater Reich, the Wehrmacht is now stymied at the gates of Moscow. With the Red Air Force bloodied, the Kremlin under steady blows from the Luftwaffe, and Joseph Stalin comatose, the desperate Soviet Triumvirate turns to the United States in a plea for aid against the mutual Nazi foe. Indifferently equipped, the young men of the American Air Expeditionary Force (AAEF) are thrown into action in order to keep the Soviet Union in the war.

December 1965. Tabitha Cobb, a Masters student at Berkley University, sets out to learn the truth about the AAEF and the scars it left on its survivors. Attempting to earn a scholarship, Tabitha quickly learns that sometimes ignorance truly is bliss.

"Pandora's Memories" is a short story set in the Usurper's War alternate history universe. This 2nd Edition also includes an excerpt from Acts of War, the first novel in the series. If you'd like additional alternate history, James Young is the co-editor of the Phases of Mars alternate history anthologies. These short collections include short stories from David Weber, S.M. Stirling, and Taylor Anderson. Both Acts of War and Those In Peril (Phases of Mars No. 1) are available at your favorite bookseller.

"[A]uthor James Young shows himself to be a master of that science fiction sub-genre called 'Alternate History'."--Midwest Book Review

Adolf Hitler is dead. Great Britain lies prostrate, subdued under a storm of poison gas and incendiaries that have turned the great city of London into a blazing abattoir. The Royal Family's whereabouts are unknown, while Heinrich Himmler, new Fuhrer of the victorious Reich, prepares to dictate terms to Lord Halifax's government.

For RAF Squadron Leader Adam Haynes, London's destruction is the nightmare outcome of years spent fighting the specter of Fascism. With his own combatant status uncertain, Adam must rush to save as many of his Polish-speaking pilots as he can.

For Lieutenant (j.g.) Eric Cobb, Great Britain's subjugation has immediate and deadly effects. After his flight leader is murdered by Kriegsmarine anti-aircraft fire, Eric must decide between remaining neutral or helping his British rescuers. His choices will dramatically alter the course of history.

In the Pacific, Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi witnesses firsthand the myriad opportunities that Germany's victory has provided for Japan. Defeated in China by Soviet forces after the Imperial Army foolishly attached northwards in December 1941, Japan has not only changed governments to a Navy dominated cabinet, but also changed strategies. It is to the south, in the oil rich Dutch East Indies, that Nippon will find her destiny. Yamaguchi, as the new head of the Kido Butai, must develop a plan that prevents American interference while simultaneously husbanding the Imperial Japanese Navy's strength for a single, great Decisive Battle.

"[R]ecommend[ed] to anyone looking for a good war alternate history..."--Amazing Stories, America's First Sci-Fi Magazine

**** THIS IS A COLLECTION FOR JAMES YOUNG'S USURPER'S WAR. IT CONTAINS BOTH THE NOVELS ACTS OF WAR and COLLISIONS OF THE DAMNED IN A SINGLE VOLUME***