History Literature / TheTwoGeorges

* SaltAndPepper: Played straight with Bushell and his regular partner Sam Stanley, who's both HappilyMarried and decidedly less dependent on whiskey.

* BaitAndSwitch: [[spoiler:The last part of the Sons of Liberty's plan: the huge, heavy frame of ''The Two Georges'' is replaced with a near-identical one loaded with explosives. Bushell only cottons to this when he realizes the BigBad's SmugSnake attitude isn't broken. In the end, he disarms the device with a bit more than five minutes in the clock.]]

* ForWantOfANail: Keeping ahold of North America meant that Britain was powerful enough to enforce a 'Pax Britannia'[[note]] The real one is said to have lasted 1815-1914[[/note]] that lasted throughout the twentieth century. Not even France was in a position to challenge British interests, and Germany never united. There were no World Wars or major conflicts, meaning that the European (Colonial) Empires never fell. However, though the world is much more peaceful and stable (albeit with a non-nuclear Cold War between the different colonial powers rather than the USA / Soviet Union), it is also less technologically less-advanced; the novel is set in the 1990s but the technology used and fixation with social class puts one in mind of the 1930s-1950s.

** It's often discussed that the gun-crime statistics in the NAU are getting worse, with as many as ''five'' gun-related homicides that year in New Liverpool alone. New Liverpool is quite clearly the AlternateHistory's equivalent of OTL's Los Angeles, which has a much worse reputation for gun-related violence by several orders of magnitude.

* AlternateHistoryWank: Played with; the British Empire is still around, as are most of the pre-20th century colonial empires. However, with the obvious exception of the NAU, the British Empire and its dominions aren't that greatly different from what they were at the height of the British Empire anyway, and it's often suggested that the Empire has gradually become more like the OTL-Commonwealth anyway, except with Britain remaining a lot more influential. There's also details that suggest that the pace of economic development and associated technological changes have been much more relaxed, with the world having less of the modern conveniences (but also much less social inequality and injustice) available in the OTL at that era.

** The British also intervened earlier to stamp out slavery in the North Americas, with something of a cross between the American Civil War and a second American Revolution happening in the 1830s. Americans consequently don't really believe in races or see them as an issue worth making a fuss over, much as you'd expect of OTL 1990s Britain (although it has been discussed with regards to how much of this is [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory Politically Correct Alternate History]]). Class-ism and snobbery are the big issues of the day.

* AlternateHistory and many of the [[AlternateHistoryTropes tropes]] associated with it.

* NamesTheSame: The North American Union in this book has nothing to do with the hypothetical one brought up by [[ConspiracyTheorist Conspiracy Theorists]] all the time.

* YourCheatingHeart: The reason Bushell broke up with his first wife, not to mention the reason he hates Sir David Clarke, Sir Martin's chief-of-staff.

* SelfMadeMan: This universe's version of Richard Nixon takes great pride in how he came from humble beginnings and built a business empire. He also embraces his lower-class background because it distinguishes him from the UpperClassTwits surrounding him.