Anti-Corruption Measures are measures that aim at tackling Corruption. They include measures at all governmental levels as well as private sector and civil society initiatives.
Anti-corruption treaties
The United States were the first country to pass a comprehensive anti-corruption law that criminalized the bribery of foreign public officials by American firms, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, approved by the US Congress in 1977. Joint international initiatives to tackle corruption did only start after the end of the Cold War when security concerns were slowly overcome by the changing global political framework. The first regional convention, the Inter-American Convention against Corruption was adopted in 1996 by the Organization of American States. Just one year after, and both due to pressure exerted by the US whose enterprises until then were the only ones that were bound by an anti-corruption law while doing business abroad and concerns about the amount of money lost by enterprises based in industrialized countries due to corruption abroad lead the OECD to adopt its Convention against Bribery of Foreign Public Officials. In 1998 and 1999, the Council of Europe produced two anti-corruption treaties, the Criminal Law and the Civil Law Conventions on Corruption. The United Nations recognized the need for a global convention focused only on corruption in the year 2000, when they also adopted the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. The General Assembly then authorized an ad-hoc group to negotiate a “broad and effective” treaty that takes a “comprehensive and multidisciplinary” approach to the problem. This treaty, the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, was adopted in 2003 and came into force after its 30th ratification in December 2005. Another regional anti-corruption treaty, the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption as adopted in 2003.
Many countries also observe the Forty Financial Action Task Force Recommendations, revised in 2003.
Anti-corruption treaties
The United States were the first country to pass a comprehensive anti-corruption law that criminalized the bribery of foreign public officials by American firms, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, approved by the US Congress in 1977. Joint international initiatives to tackle corruption did only start after the end of the Cold War when security concerns were slowly overcome by the changing global political framework. The first regional convention, the Inter-American Convention against Corruption was adopted in 1996 by the Organization of American States. Just one year after, and both due to pressure exerted by the US whose enterprises until then were the only ones that were bound by an anti-corruption law while doing business abroad and concerns about the amount of money lost by enterprises based in industrialized countries due to corruption abroad lead the OECD to adopt its Convention against Bribery of Foreign Public Officials. In 1998 and 1999, the Council of Europe produced two anti-corruption treaties, the Criminal Law and the Civil Law Conventions on Corruption. The United Nations recognized the need for a global convention focused only on corruption in the year 2000, when they also adopted the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. The General Assembly then authorized an ad-hoc group to negotiate a “broad and effective” treaty that takes a “comprehensive and multidisciplinary” approach to the problem. This treaty, the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, was adopted in 2003 and came into force after its 30th ratification in December 2005. Another regional anti-corruption treaty, the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption as adopted in 2003.
Many countries also observe the Forty Financial Action Task Force Recommendations, revised in 2003.
Kris Hadlock is an accomplished rock and roll drummer, guitarist and lead singer. He was the drummer for the The Chesterfield Kings from 1994 through 1996. He played drums on their Surfin' Rampage album as well as the single Hey Little Bird (both credited). He also played on half of the band’s Where The Action Is album (not credited) and 6 of their other singles (also not credited). He toured with the band on the entire Let’s Go Get Stoned tour. From 1997 through 1999, he was a Hollywood actor and songwriter, releasing the CD Stayin’ On Track and three singles.
Since 2000, he has been the founder and lead singer of the band Hadlock, and has recorded and released 2 albums, After Sunset and Playin’ For Keeps, as well as the 3-song EP Your Wife’s Rock Band, and the unreleased experimental CD Full Disclosure, all under the independent label Lockout Records. In his spare time, he gives back to the music community by coaching and promoting youth rock bands in his hometown of Rochester, NY.
The Early Years
Kris has been playing music since he was eight years old. His first instrument was the accordion, which was his mom’s primary instrument. After mastering accordion, he saw the Kiss movie Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park on TV in 1978 and from that day on was completely hooked on rock and roll. He immediately started playing drums and guitar every hour he was not sleeping or in school. In 1984, he saw Bon Jovi perform at a small club in Rochester, NY, and realized that the purpose of his life was to reach people through his music. He spent the rest of his youth perfecting his craft.
The 1990’s
After being involved in two different local bands in the early 1990’s (Bad Action and Hate), The Chesterfield Kings saw Kris perform in late 1993 and immediately invited him to join the band. He recorded and toured with the Chesterfield Kings for the next 3 years. Although the band was very successful and Kris enjoyed playing with them, their 1960’s garage band style was not a match for Kris’s heritage, which was the hair and glam bands of the 1980’s.
So in 1996 he began his career as a lead singer, by releasing a CD called Stayin’ On Track and three singles: Catch Me I’m Falling, It All Comes Back To Me, and The Hurt Inside, as well as two music videos. And in 1997, he moved to Los Angeles.
For the next 3 years, while living in Los Angeles, he acted in commercials while writing what was to become a large collection of original songs, which were inspired by his personal experience working with various producers and trying to make it as a person and as a musician. He also acted in a variety of commercials and videos. And in 1999 he was on The Extreme Gong Show.
The 2000’s
He returned to Rochester, NY in early 2002 to form the Hadlock band with his good friend, collaborator and lead guitarist Richie Roccisano. In addition to Richie, the band included Bob Maslin on drums, Ron Brock on bass guitar, and Bryan Babcock on keyboards, with Kris as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist. Also, during 2005 and 2006, Scotti Roblee played lead guitar and Jeremy Rezz played bass guitar.
From 2002 through the present, Kris and his band have been perfecting and recording their “modern 80’s” style of rock and roll, which combines the emotionality, power and rich vocal harmonies of the 80’s, with the edginess and energy of modern rock. This modern 80’s sound was perfected through a combination of creative direction from Grammy award-winning producer Bob Kulick (Kiss, Meatloaf, Mötorhead and many others), Bob’s production partner Brett Chassen (together they are Office Studios), and Will Russell of Wilburland Studios.
In 2005, the band shot a full-length motion picture called The American Rock Star, which was directed by Richard Scudder. The film documented the rise of a band from nothing to stardom. The movie is not yet released, pending final editing and a distribution deal.
The band has released 2 full-length CD’s, After Sunset (2006) and Playin’ For Keeps (2007), as well as their most recent 3-song EP release Your Wife’s Rock Band (2009). Starting in 2007, Kris and his band have worked with two world-class photographers, Neil Zlozower and Gene Kirkland. In early 2009, well-known author Lonn Friend, the founder and editor of RIP magazine, who is credited with helping to break bands like Guns N Roses, Metallica and Bon Jovi, as well as ushering in the era of Grunge, agreed to promote and represent Kris Hadlock, and wrote a biographical article on Kris.
Discography
Stayin’ On Track (1996, produced by Kris Hadlock)
Catch Me I’m Fallin’ (2000, produced by Kris Hadlock and Craig Snyder)
After Sunset (2006, produced by Kris Hadlock and Richie Roccisano)
Playin’ For Keeps (2007, produced by Kris Hadlock and Richie Roccisano)
Full Disclosure (unreleased, produced by Bob Kulick and Brett Chassen)
Your Wife’s Rock Band (2009, produced by Bob Kulick and Brett Chassen, mixed by Will Russell)
Since 2000, he has been the founder and lead singer of the band Hadlock, and has recorded and released 2 albums, After Sunset and Playin’ For Keeps, as well as the 3-song EP Your Wife’s Rock Band, and the unreleased experimental CD Full Disclosure, all under the independent label Lockout Records. In his spare time, he gives back to the music community by coaching and promoting youth rock bands in his hometown of Rochester, NY.
The Early Years
Kris has been playing music since he was eight years old. His first instrument was the accordion, which was his mom’s primary instrument. After mastering accordion, he saw the Kiss movie Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park on TV in 1978 and from that day on was completely hooked on rock and roll. He immediately started playing drums and guitar every hour he was not sleeping or in school. In 1984, he saw Bon Jovi perform at a small club in Rochester, NY, and realized that the purpose of his life was to reach people through his music. He spent the rest of his youth perfecting his craft.
The 1990’s
After being involved in two different local bands in the early 1990’s (Bad Action and Hate), The Chesterfield Kings saw Kris perform in late 1993 and immediately invited him to join the band. He recorded and toured with the Chesterfield Kings for the next 3 years. Although the band was very successful and Kris enjoyed playing with them, their 1960’s garage band style was not a match for Kris’s heritage, which was the hair and glam bands of the 1980’s.
So in 1996 he began his career as a lead singer, by releasing a CD called Stayin’ On Track and three singles: Catch Me I’m Falling, It All Comes Back To Me, and The Hurt Inside, as well as two music videos. And in 1997, he moved to Los Angeles.
For the next 3 years, while living in Los Angeles, he acted in commercials while writing what was to become a large collection of original songs, which were inspired by his personal experience working with various producers and trying to make it as a person and as a musician. He also acted in a variety of commercials and videos. And in 1999 he was on The Extreme Gong Show.
The 2000’s
He returned to Rochester, NY in early 2002 to form the Hadlock band with his good friend, collaborator and lead guitarist Richie Roccisano. In addition to Richie, the band included Bob Maslin on drums, Ron Brock on bass guitar, and Bryan Babcock on keyboards, with Kris as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist. Also, during 2005 and 2006, Scotti Roblee played lead guitar and Jeremy Rezz played bass guitar.
From 2002 through the present, Kris and his band have been perfecting and recording their “modern 80’s” style of rock and roll, which combines the emotionality, power and rich vocal harmonies of the 80’s, with the edginess and energy of modern rock. This modern 80’s sound was perfected through a combination of creative direction from Grammy award-winning producer Bob Kulick (Kiss, Meatloaf, Mötorhead and many others), Bob’s production partner Brett Chassen (together they are Office Studios), and Will Russell of Wilburland Studios.
In 2005, the band shot a full-length motion picture called The American Rock Star, which was directed by Richard Scudder. The film documented the rise of a band from nothing to stardom. The movie is not yet released, pending final editing and a distribution deal.
The band has released 2 full-length CD’s, After Sunset (2006) and Playin’ For Keeps (2007), as well as their most recent 3-song EP release Your Wife’s Rock Band (2009). Starting in 2007, Kris and his band have worked with two world-class photographers, Neil Zlozower and Gene Kirkland. In early 2009, well-known author Lonn Friend, the founder and editor of RIP magazine, who is credited with helping to break bands like Guns N Roses, Metallica and Bon Jovi, as well as ushering in the era of Grunge, agreed to promote and represent Kris Hadlock, and wrote a biographical article on Kris.
Discography
Stayin’ On Track (1996, produced by Kris Hadlock)
Catch Me I’m Fallin’ (2000, produced by Kris Hadlock and Craig Snyder)
After Sunset (2006, produced by Kris Hadlock and Richie Roccisano)
Playin’ For Keeps (2007, produced by Kris Hadlock and Richie Roccisano)
Full Disclosure (unreleased, produced by Bob Kulick and Brett Chassen)
Your Wife’s Rock Band (2009, produced by Bob Kulick and Brett Chassen, mixed by Will Russell)
Sam Hargrave is an actor, martial artist and stunt actor from Hillsborough, North Carolina got his started in acting in 2003 with the movie The Pink House starring Zack Ward also he's the lighting technician for the movie and first stunt work on the first episode of Supernatural.
Sam's hobbins are reading, writing, dancing, riding horses, climbing, mountain biking, hiking, basketball and baseball and martial arts. Graduated at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 2002 to 2004, has a Bachelor's Degree and major in Communications & Media Production.
Filmography
Stunt work on TV
* Supernatural uncredited as stunt double for Jensen Ackles
* Huff as stunt double
* What About Brian in What About Denial...
* Dexter as assistant stunt coordinator in Born Free and stunt double for Christian Camargo in Seeing Red
* Numb3rs uncredited in Velocity
* Moonlight stunt double for Alex O'Loughlin in ten episodes
* Sports Science as stunt performer
* Scrubs as stunt double for Zach Braff in My Number One Doctor and My Jerks
* The Middleman as stunt double in The Cursed Tuba Contingency
* Entourage in Pie
* Heroes in A Clear and Present Danger
* Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight in Kamen Rider Camo
* Dollhouse uncredited as stunt double for Tahmoh Penikett in Man on the Street
* Trush Me
Stunt work on film
* The Return of Laura Peters (2006)
* Mad Cowgirl (2006) as assistant stunt coordinator
* Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
* Road House 2: Last Call (2006) as stunt double for Johnathon Schaech
* Soft Target (2006) uncredited
* TKO (2007) as fight coordinator
* Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) as utility stunts
* Transformers (2007) uncredited
* Underdog (2007) as stunt double for Patrick Warburton
* Pistol Whipped (2008)
* Acts of Violence (2008) as stunt coordinator
* The Truth Is Underrated (2008) as stunt coordinator
* Blood and Bone (2009) also as co-fight coordinator
* Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009) as stunt double for Neal McDonough in re-shoots
* X-men Origins: Wolverine (2009) as stunt double for Liev Schreiber & Taylor Kitsch
* Angel of Death (2009)
* Once Fallen (2009) as stunt coordinator and stunt double for Brian Presley
* Warrior (2010) as stunt double
* The King of Fighters (2010) as stunt double
Actor on film
* The Pink House (2003) as punk at painting
* Driving to Zigzigland (2006) as Nicolas
* Safe (2006) as guard #1
* Soft Target (2006) as fighter
* TKO (2007) as cage fighter #1
* Acts of Violence (2008) as Peter
* Angel of Death (2009) as Chip
* The King of Fighters (2010) as Ryo Sakazaki
Sam's hobbins are reading, writing, dancing, riding horses, climbing, mountain biking, hiking, basketball and baseball and martial arts. Graduated at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 2002 to 2004, has a Bachelor's Degree and major in Communications & Media Production.
Filmography
Stunt work on TV
* Supernatural uncredited as stunt double for Jensen Ackles
* Huff as stunt double
* What About Brian in What About Denial...
* Dexter as assistant stunt coordinator in Born Free and stunt double for Christian Camargo in Seeing Red
* Numb3rs uncredited in Velocity
* Moonlight stunt double for Alex O'Loughlin in ten episodes
* Sports Science as stunt performer
* Scrubs as stunt double for Zach Braff in My Number One Doctor and My Jerks
* The Middleman as stunt double in The Cursed Tuba Contingency
* Entourage in Pie
* Heroes in A Clear and Present Danger
* Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight in Kamen Rider Camo
* Dollhouse uncredited as stunt double for Tahmoh Penikett in Man on the Street
* Trush Me
Stunt work on film
* The Return of Laura Peters (2006)
* Mad Cowgirl (2006) as assistant stunt coordinator
* Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
* Road House 2: Last Call (2006) as stunt double for Johnathon Schaech
* Soft Target (2006) uncredited
* TKO (2007) as fight coordinator
* Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) as utility stunts
* Transformers (2007) uncredited
* Underdog (2007) as stunt double for Patrick Warburton
* Pistol Whipped (2008)
* Acts of Violence (2008) as stunt coordinator
* The Truth Is Underrated (2008) as stunt coordinator
* Blood and Bone (2009) also as co-fight coordinator
* Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009) as stunt double for Neal McDonough in re-shoots
* X-men Origins: Wolverine (2009) as stunt double for Liev Schreiber & Taylor Kitsch
* Angel of Death (2009)
* Once Fallen (2009) as stunt coordinator and stunt double for Brian Presley
* Warrior (2010) as stunt double
* The King of Fighters (2010) as stunt double
Actor on film
* The Pink House (2003) as punk at painting
* Driving to Zigzigland (2006) as Nicolas
* Safe (2006) as guard #1
* Soft Target (2006) as fighter
* TKO (2007) as cage fighter #1
* Acts of Violence (2008) as Peter
* Angel of Death (2009) as Chip
* The King of Fighters (2010) as Ryo Sakazaki
1632 is the lead novel by historian/writer/editor Eric Flint in an epic book series set in the region of Thuringia at the southern edge of the central German plains. The series pits powerful antagonists like Denmark, England, Spain, France, the Holy Roman Empire and the kingdom of Hungary against a loose confederation of protestant states primarily defended by the intervention of the armies of the king of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus II, who is reinforced in the struggle known as the Thirty Years' War by the odd arrival of Grantville, a town from the future.
The fiction of the series is about how the small American town of three-thousand 'West Virginians' transported across time and space to May 1631 impacts the historical, cultural, technological, political and geo-historic development of Europe as the influence of the knowledge it brings with it percolates through the seventeenth century. This article is about the confluence of historic factors which attracted Flint the author to choose the setting of his literary experiment in the day and age half-way through the conflict which killed off 25% of the German people of the day.
History and premise
The historical setting
A century and a quarter after the Council of Trent, the new role of the Roman Catholic Pope had been established as an absolute ruler (in name) over the priesthood as was strongly characteristic of the new age of absolutism ushered in by the sixteenth century. At that time the Pope had Society of Jesus (Jesuits — established in 1534) which had for nearly a hundred years the institutional goal of stamping out Judaism, Protestantism and heresy where and whenever they occurred.
Politically, the era was wedded to authoritarianism rooted in the Divine Right of Kings, and Spain was the pre-eminent power, dominating in both Europe and on the world stage at large while the other sea faring nations raced to grab territories of their own in the middle of the Age of Exploration. The Roman Catholic Church had settled well into the path of the counter-reformation, the Puritan revolution was on the horizon. It was the heyday of the Dutch Merchantile Empire and somewhat past the beginning of Poland's decline and the ascension of Russia, while the Swedish empire was at its zenith. England had yet to rise, and Catholic France was led by Prime Minister Cardinal Reichlieu.
The Jesuits increasingly contributed to the reinvigoration of the Counter-Reformation Church, seducing Europe's nobles away from protestantism by a variety of measures. This culminated in the Edict of Restitution — the papal proclamation that all property of Protestant churches was to be confiscated for the Church. Consequently, the Jesuits had done nothing but grow more powerful as the century passed, and many of its members were the heart and soul of the Office of the Holy Inquisition, but they were also sworn agent-soldiers of the Pope, anxious to intrigue and sway any Protestant ruler by any means, including war. When the Jesuits were banned upon pain of death from living in the Holy Roman Empire, this (in part) created the conditions leading to the Thirty Years' War, the geopolitical background into which author Flint paints yet a bleaker picture.
The Catholic Church used two main methods to fight the spread of Protestantism. The first was the Catholic Spanish Habsburg Monarchy. The second was the doctrine of Cuius regio, eius religio — 'The people take on the faith of the Ruler'. It was far easier to convert one prince (or conquer him) than a hundred thousand individual peasants.
The 1632 series begins after years of war in the Holy Roman Empire, as the armies of the German Protestant states and their Swedish allies fight against the troops of the Catholic League. The town arrives shortly after the sack of Magdeburg by Catholic armies, and only begin to influence larger political events after Gustav Vasa's victory at the Battle of Breitenfield.
In the beginning
Flint created the fictional town of Grantville, West Virginia (modeled on the real town of Mannington) and dropped it and its powerplant abruptly into the new time-space, through a side effect (An accident, in truth) of an alien technology (The Assiti Shards). A spherical section of land about three miles in radius measured from the town center was transported back in time into the middle of the Thirty Years' War, in the German province of Thuringia in the Thuringer Wald. This occurred during the middle of a wedding (accounting for the presence of a few characters not native to the town, including an extra doctor and his daughter, a nurse). He created another nearby fictional German free city, (Badenburg) and plunged both populations into tentative contact. Real Thuringian municipalities located close to Grantville were posited as Weimar, Jena, Saalfeld and the more remote Erfurt, Arnstadt, and Eisenach; all located in the valley of the Saale River East of the Palatinate (Rhine) well to the south of Halle and Leipzig.
Interesting circumstance
Grantville, led by Mike Stearns, President of the local United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), and a supporting cast of characters widely diverse in background and viewpoint coped with the town's space-time dislocation, the surrounding raging war (with several of its minor armies), language barriers, class conflict, witchcraft, Woman's Lib, the reformation and the counter-reformation and strife (at its peak) among many other factors. Once complication was a compounding of the town's food shortage when the town was flooded by refugees from the war. Flint mixed in sexual shocks (Cheerleaders, miniskirts and blue jeans) experienced by down-time stalwarts, as well as shock at American style rah-rah political rallies. In a more serious vein, the plot covered short-term survival of the town, as well as the long-term question of how to maintain technology sundered from twenty-first century resources.
Flint develops the plot mainly through character interactions and jocular bantering rather than dry narrative. Add in a lot of significant Jewish and European history (The central of several developed romances in the novel occurs between the daughter ('Becky') of a historically powerful and real Jewish extended family clan, the Abrabanels, and UMWA workers/New USA president Mike Stearns) as the new USA begins to evolve from a flag with but one star.
Flint paints the armed conflicts by the era's superpowers as a pretext for less noble machiavellian Affairs of State which are themselves being guided, manipulated, and used by the power behind the throne (in particular, Cardinal Richelieu). His depiction of the armies of mercenaries of the time is too strong for the generally upbeat tale to be totally pleasant, but serves to create tension and generate a series of crises.
Characters imagined and historical
Historical figures in the books
Several historical figures occupy prominent or supporting roles in the novel include King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden, Johan t'Serclaes, Count of Tilly, and Albrecht von Wallenstein, all general officers of note and fame. And Cardinal Richelieu, takes on the role of the ultimate villain forced by circumstance in the later third of the work.
Characters of more than minor note
To the historical personalities, Flint adds a rich mix of well developed believable characters of local origin (down-timers) including some with a real person basis like the various members of the Abrabanel family (composite characters), or the holder of this or that office. He then creates action by introducing up time Americans (i.e. those caught by the Ring of Fire from the future) in conversations large and small.
Publishing history
1632 was first published in New York by Baen Books in 2001 with ISBN 0-671-31972-8 . The full text of the novel is available from the Baen Free Library (see below).
Notes and references
The fiction of the series is about how the small American town of three-thousand 'West Virginians' transported across time and space to May 1631 impacts the historical, cultural, technological, political and geo-historic development of Europe as the influence of the knowledge it brings with it percolates through the seventeenth century. This article is about the confluence of historic factors which attracted Flint the author to choose the setting of his literary experiment in the day and age half-way through the conflict which killed off 25% of the German people of the day.
History and premise
The historical setting
A century and a quarter after the Council of Trent, the new role of the Roman Catholic Pope had been established as an absolute ruler (in name) over the priesthood as was strongly characteristic of the new age of absolutism ushered in by the sixteenth century. At that time the Pope had Society of Jesus (Jesuits — established in 1534) which had for nearly a hundred years the institutional goal of stamping out Judaism, Protestantism and heresy where and whenever they occurred.
Politically, the era was wedded to authoritarianism rooted in the Divine Right of Kings, and Spain was the pre-eminent power, dominating in both Europe and on the world stage at large while the other sea faring nations raced to grab territories of their own in the middle of the Age of Exploration. The Roman Catholic Church had settled well into the path of the counter-reformation, the Puritan revolution was on the horizon. It was the heyday of the Dutch Merchantile Empire and somewhat past the beginning of Poland's decline and the ascension of Russia, while the Swedish empire was at its zenith. England had yet to rise, and Catholic France was led by Prime Minister Cardinal Reichlieu.
The Jesuits increasingly contributed to the reinvigoration of the Counter-Reformation Church, seducing Europe's nobles away from protestantism by a variety of measures. This culminated in the Edict of Restitution — the papal proclamation that all property of Protestant churches was to be confiscated for the Church. Consequently, the Jesuits had done nothing but grow more powerful as the century passed, and many of its members were the heart and soul of the Office of the Holy Inquisition, but they were also sworn agent-soldiers of the Pope, anxious to intrigue and sway any Protestant ruler by any means, including war. When the Jesuits were banned upon pain of death from living in the Holy Roman Empire, this (in part) created the conditions leading to the Thirty Years' War, the geopolitical background into which author Flint paints yet a bleaker picture.
The Catholic Church used two main methods to fight the spread of Protestantism. The first was the Catholic Spanish Habsburg Monarchy. The second was the doctrine of Cuius regio, eius religio — 'The people take on the faith of the Ruler'. It was far easier to convert one prince (or conquer him) than a hundred thousand individual peasants.
The 1632 series begins after years of war in the Holy Roman Empire, as the armies of the German Protestant states and their Swedish allies fight against the troops of the Catholic League. The town arrives shortly after the sack of Magdeburg by Catholic armies, and only begin to influence larger political events after Gustav Vasa's victory at the Battle of Breitenfield.
In the beginning
Flint created the fictional town of Grantville, West Virginia (modeled on the real town of Mannington) and dropped it and its powerplant abruptly into the new time-space, through a side effect (An accident, in truth) of an alien technology (The Assiti Shards). A spherical section of land about three miles in radius measured from the town center was transported back in time into the middle of the Thirty Years' War, in the German province of Thuringia in the Thuringer Wald. This occurred during the middle of a wedding (accounting for the presence of a few characters not native to the town, including an extra doctor and his daughter, a nurse). He created another nearby fictional German free city, (Badenburg) and plunged both populations into tentative contact. Real Thuringian municipalities located close to Grantville were posited as Weimar, Jena, Saalfeld and the more remote Erfurt, Arnstadt, and Eisenach; all located in the valley of the Saale River East of the Palatinate (Rhine) well to the south of Halle and Leipzig.
Interesting circumstance
Grantville, led by Mike Stearns, President of the local United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), and a supporting cast of characters widely diverse in background and viewpoint coped with the town's space-time dislocation, the surrounding raging war (with several of its minor armies), language barriers, class conflict, witchcraft, Woman's Lib, the reformation and the counter-reformation and strife (at its peak) among many other factors. Once complication was a compounding of the town's food shortage when the town was flooded by refugees from the war. Flint mixed in sexual shocks (Cheerleaders, miniskirts and blue jeans) experienced by down-time stalwarts, as well as shock at American style rah-rah political rallies. In a more serious vein, the plot covered short-term survival of the town, as well as the long-term question of how to maintain technology sundered from twenty-first century resources.
Flint develops the plot mainly through character interactions and jocular bantering rather than dry narrative. Add in a lot of significant Jewish and European history (The central of several developed romances in the novel occurs between the daughter ('Becky') of a historically powerful and real Jewish extended family clan, the Abrabanels, and UMWA workers/New USA president Mike Stearns) as the new USA begins to evolve from a flag with but one star.
Flint paints the armed conflicts by the era's superpowers as a pretext for less noble machiavellian Affairs of State which are themselves being guided, manipulated, and used by the power behind the throne (in particular, Cardinal Richelieu). His depiction of the armies of mercenaries of the time is too strong for the generally upbeat tale to be totally pleasant, but serves to create tension and generate a series of crises.
Characters imagined and historical
Historical figures in the books
Several historical figures occupy prominent or supporting roles in the novel include King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden, Johan t'Serclaes, Count of Tilly, and Albrecht von Wallenstein, all general officers of note and fame. And Cardinal Richelieu, takes on the role of the ultimate villain forced by circumstance in the later third of the work.
Characters of more than minor note
To the historical personalities, Flint adds a rich mix of well developed believable characters of local origin (down-timers) including some with a real person basis like the various members of the Abrabanel family (composite characters), or the holder of this or that office. He then creates action by introducing up time Americans (i.e. those caught by the Ring of Fire from the future) in conversations large and small.
Publishing history
1632 was first published in New York by Baen Books in 2001 with ISBN 0-671-31972-8 . The full text of the novel is available from the Baen Free Library (see below).
Notes and references