- Tunnel Through the Deeps
"Tunnel Through the Deeps" (also published as "A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah!") is a 1972
alternate history /science fiction novel byHarry Harrison . It was serialized inAnalog magazine beginning in the April 1972 issue.Plot summary
In an alternate history, the (abortive)
United States lost theAmerican Revolutionary War ,George Washington was shot as a traitor, and America is still under control from an ascendant but benevolent and utopian British Empire. However, this world'sdivergence point from our own occurred far earlier, when theMoors won the battle ofNavas de Tolosa onJuly 16 1212 on theIberian peninsula . Thus, it wasJohn Cabot who discovered America, asSpain was unable to become unified due to the survival of anIslamic presence on its territory, and therefore could not finance the expedition ofChristopher Columbus in 1492. The protagonist, Augustine Washington, is a direct descendant of George Washington and labors in his 'traitorous' shadow.The title refers to the construction of a submerged floating-tube
pontoon bridge /tunnel across theAtlantic Ocean in the novel.Captain Augustine Washington and Sir Isambard Brassey-Brunel (descendant of
Isambard Kingdom Brunel ) get together to link the heart of theBritish Empire with its far-flung Atlantic colony inNorth America , although they fall out over Gus' wooing of his young daughter, Isabel, and disputes overengineering theTransatlantic tunnel . However, the two are reconciled on Sir Isambard's deathbed, and the lovers marry afterwards.ee also
*
Pontoon bridge
*Transatlantic tunnel External links
* [http://www.iol.ie/~carrollm/hh/n13.htm A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah! page] on Official website
* [http://www.iol.ie/~carrollm/hh/n13-tt-worlds.htm Worlds Beside Worlds (Harry Harrison desribes how the book was written)]
* [http://www.law.harvard.edu/alumni/bulletin/2002/summer/bf_04.html "Tunnel Vision" (real-life ideas for a Transatlantic Tunnel)]
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