The Center Cannot Hold
Author	Harry Turtledove
Cover artist	Big Bot Design
Language	English
Series	Southern Victory
Genre(s)	Alternate History
Publisher	Del Rey
Publication date	2002
Preceded by	Blood and Iron
Followed by	The Victorious Opposition

American Empire: The Center Cannot Hold is the second book in the American Empire trilogy, and is part of the larger Southern Victory series. It starts in 1923, soon after the assassination of Confederate President Wade Hampton V. It shows the prosperity of the 1920s and the decline of the Freedom Party until the Austro-Hungarian bank failure and subsequent Great Depression. As a result of the depression, the ruling Whigs in the Confederate States lose power to the Freedom Party. The book ends on March 4, 1934, with the inauguration of Jake Featherston as President of the Confederate States.

CharactersEdit

• Abner Dowling
• Anne Colleton
• Mary McGregor
• Sam Carsten
• Jefferson Pinkard
• Sylvia Enos
• Jake Featherston
• Irving Morrell
• Flora Blackford
• Clarence Potter
• Jonathan Moss
• Lucien Galtier
• Scipio
• Chester Martin
• Cincinnatus Driver
• Nellie Jacobs
• Reggie Bartlett
• Hipolito Rodriguez

v · d · e Southern Victory Books How Few Remain The Great War (American Front • Walk in Hell • Breakthroughs) American Empire (Blood and Iron • The Center Cannot Hold • The Victorious Opposition) Settling Accounts (Return Engagement • Drive to the East • The Grapple • In at the Death) 1 of 11 Add photo POV Characters Reggie Bartlett • Flora Blackford • Sam Carsten • Samuel Clemens • Anne Colleton • Tom Colleton • George Custer • Frederick Douglass • Jerry Dover • Abner Dowling • Cincinnatus Driver • George Enos • George Enos, Jr. • Sylvia Enos • Jake Featherston • Lucien Galtier • Armstrong Grimes • Thomas Jackson • Roger Kimball • Abraham Lincoln • Cassius Madison • Paul Mantarakis • Chester Martin • Arthur McGregor • Gordon McSweeney • Irving Morrell • Jonathan Moss • Leonard O'Doull • Jefferson Pinkard • Mary McGregor Pomeroy • Michael Pound • Clarence Potter • Stephen Ramsay • Hipolito Rodriguez • Jorge Rodriguez • Theodore Roosevelt • Scipio • Alfred von Schlieffen • Nellie Semphroch • Jeb Stuart Countries United States • Confederate States • Canada • Mexico • Republic of Quebec • Britain • France • Russia • Germany • Austria-Hungary • Ottoman Empire • Japan Events War of Secession • Second Mexican War • Great War • Pacific War • Second Great War Politicial Parties Democratic Party • Socialist Party • Republican Party • Whig Party • Radical Liberal Party • Freedom Party