questions common to and characteristic of the science fiction genre: "What if a mysterious cosmic event occurred which juxtaposed the location of a whole populated region of West Virginia with a matching portion of early modern Germany?"

The series lands a fictional town of about 3,000 people (Grantville, West Virginia) in Germany amidst the chaos and disorders of the Thirty Years War.

As well as presenting the moral and ethical issues implicit in aiding the enemy, the story focuses heavily on artist and diplomat Peter Paul Rubens, whose portrait of Jefferson forms the book's cover art.

The story focus on the farmer girl, Anna Braun, who fled from mercenaries that bowled over Police Chief Dan Frost and signaled the arrival of conflict and war at the opening of 1632.

Furthermore, Santee learns that Frank Jackson wants him to join Grantville's army as a trainer of cadre, as he has more combat and years of general military experience than everyone else in town put together.

Going out with Cantrell to test fire and evaluate different load combinations in the three calibers selected for use by the New United States Army, the two stumble upon and combat brigands raiding a nearby farm.

The down-timer Germans had chopped down several trees behind the battlefield of the Battle of the Crapper to gauge and evaluate the penetration power of the Grantvillers' firearms, and used the knowledge to create an armored (timberclad) wagon.

Armed with a father who has become part of Grantville's Finance Subcommittee the one girl has a dinner conversation involving "Federal Reserve [Bank] Fairies", who magically make more money and regulate the economy.

This story is Virginia DeMarce's second fictional foray in the series and like "Biting Time", the tale establishes some important canonical underpinnings that draw references, or are extrapolated upon in the various novel sequels.

At the heart of the matter is the strongly held belief in the authoritarian philosophy, embraced by the nobility and churchmen alike, that a state cannot not stand without a uniform official religion.

Further, the position and power of all nobles draws from that belief and that of kings being the chosen and anointed protectors of both church and state, regardless of how well or poorly they conduct the business of taking care of the populace at large.

A story in a later volume includes use of crude penicillin extract, based on real historical uses, and some culture samples found in a lab refrigerator at Grantville High School.