It's sort of an alternative history, in which the Arabs unify, push out the colonial powers, and industrialize. When the Europeans embroil themselves in two big wars, the power shifts to the middle east. In the present day, Christian terrorists have attacked Baghdad, and North America has been invaded to suppress terrorist training camps.[return][return]He slips in the occasional excerpt from the 'Library of Alexandria' wiki, which is really effective. There are big parallels between today's world and his mirage world, of course, but I'm loving the little, sly ones (and wondering how many I'm missing). My recent favorite, in a list of notable sites in Washington -- the Smithsonian Creation Science Museum. Oh, how the skin crawls. I also loved the Republic of Texas being a member of OPEC.