December 7, 1941: A Different Path
 The novel begins with a Japanese air strike on the port of Vladivostok, the prelude to a Japanese invasion of western Siberia. Simultaneously, Japanese forces strike southward, bypassing the American colony in the Philippines and taking Australia and the European colonies in southeast Asia. Facing invasion on two fronts, the Soviet Union soon collapses, as Joseph Stalin and his entourage are massacred by escapees from a gulag during their evacuation from Moscow. Though President Franklin D. Roosevelt endeavors to prepare the United States for war against Germany, he faces renewed isolationist opinion. A proposal to begin work on an atomic bomb is rejected because of the cost and uncertainty that it will work. Facing a resurgent Germany, Winston Churchill has little choice but to surrender. Adolf Hitler uses his dominance to complete the extermination of the Jews in Europe and expands his program to the Middle East. German scientists also complete work on an atomic bomb, which Hitler uses to destroy New York City and force the United States to surrender. When the Germans learn of the harsh Japanese treatment of the Australians, they force the Japanese to abandon their conquest of the continent on pain of atomic destruction. Though Germany now dominates the world, cracks start to appear in their empire. The puppet regime in the United States encounters resistance when they attempt to implement the "Final Solution" in America. News of the growing difficulties exposes the extent of the Holocaust to Albert Speer.