This is a follow-up to New York Times best-seller Eric Flint and ace historian Virginia DeMarce's 1634: The Bavarian Crisis. Here DeMarce follows Flint's "alternate timeline" and delivers another entry in the hugely popular Ring of Fire alternate history series. Freedom-loving modern Americans thrown back in time must carve out lives in war-torn 17th century Europe - a time and place that's got one foot firmly planted in the Dark Ages. Long-time Eric Flint collaborator and Stanford-educated historian Virginia DeMarce delivers an intricate web of interrelated adventures in alternate history master Eric Flint's hugely popular "Ring of Fire" series. A cosmic accident sets the modern town of Grantville, West Virginia, down in war-torn seventeenth century Europe and a new nation is forged. Now bewildered down-timers and freedom-loving future folk who lived near the "displaced" form the future must learn to weave their lives together. 21st century ideals run head-on into medieval skullduggery - along with a few admirable ancient customs that aren't going to crumble overnight. Or ever. Up-timer and down-timer alike fight it out, strike deals, and forge a new nation. To do so, both sides must break a few mind-forged manacles in the process. About 1634: The Bavarian Crisis by Eric Flint and Virginia DeMarce: ." . . fascinating reading. . . . It is especially refreshing to read...how modern ideas of human rights, education...and law might have affected the Europe of the 30 Years War." --Publishers Weekly About Eric Flint's "Ring of Fire" series: "This alternate history series is...a landmark..." - Booklist "[Eric] Flint's 1632 universe seems to be inspiring a whole new crop of gifted alternate historians."-Booklist ..".reads like a technothriller set in the age of the Medicis..."- Publishers Weekly ..".each new entry appears better than the previous one, a seemingly impossible feat...terrific." - Midwest Book Review