The Man in the High Castle

The Man in the High Castle, written by Phillip K. Dick in 1962, depicts a world in which Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan have won World War II. The story is set in the year 1962, fifteen years after a longer version of World War II (1939-1947) ended. I'll refrain from getting into the storyline of the novel, so as not to spoil the book for any of you who may be interesting in reading it, but instead I'll describe the world as Dick imagines it to be, for I feel that is most relevant to the information we're learning about.

A map of the world in the novel.

Giuseppe Zangara, who is famous for actually assassinating Chicago mayor Anton Cermak, successfully kills President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who, in reality, was rumored to be Zangara's original target, in 1934. So, FDR's current Vice President at the time, John Nance Garner, becomes President of the United States, with Republican candidate John W. Bricker winning the presidency in 1941. Unfortunately, both politicians fail to help the country recover from the Great Depression, and continue the United States' isolationist policies. As a result, the United States never intervenes in World War II and fails to build up their military, making itself unable to help Great Britain or the USSR, and unable to defend itself.

The Nazis successfully conquer the USSR in 1941 and proceed to kill off most of the Slavic people, with the remaining few captured and put into camps. Over in the Pacific, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is significantly more successful than what actually happened, as the Japanese destroy the United States' entire naval fleet in that one, decisive battle. The Japanese then proceed to conquer Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania during the early 1940's. Then, Germany and Japan, working together, attack the United States from both coasts, conquering the West coast, and the United States and the other Allied powers surrender in 1947.

Alaska, California, Oregon, Hawaii, and parts of Nevada and Washington formed the puppet state of the Pacific States of America under the rule of Japan. The remaining mountainous areas, the Great Plains, and Southwestern states became the Rocky Mountain States, a Nazi puppet state comparable to that of Vichy France. The Rocky Mountain States act as a buffer region between the Pacific States of America and what remains of the United States.

Because Germany and Japan triumphed in World War II, the rise as superpowers and as a result have their own Cold War. The Nazis have a so-called "hydrogen bomb" that has the potential to destroy all of the main islands of Japanese territory, which becomes the basis of a storyline throughout the novel.

Hitler dies of syphilis, leaving Martin Bormann, the Chancellor of the Nazi Party, complete, dictatorial control of Germany. Bormann uses newfound technology to drain the Mediterranean Sea and turn it into farm land. Arthur Seyss-Inquart, who was Chancellor of Austria for two days when the Nazis created Anschluss and who was a supporter of the Nazi party, organized the colonization of Africa and the extermination of most of the people who lived there. The novel begins soon after Bormann dies, with many of the remaining top Nazis vying for his position.

I found the set up of this book particularly interesting because I always wonder what would have happened in history if something had gone differently. Parts of this scenario are quite outrageous, like the draining of the Mediterranean Sea, but I think some parts of it were totally possible, like FDR's assassination. There is also a TV adaptation to this book that was just released on Amazon, and with some quick research the reviews don't look very good. I also glanced at some sources saying there was a movie being made based on this book, if anyone wants to look more into the TV or movie adaptation I'd be interested to hear what they have to say!