Blackout by Connie Willis

If you are studying history, what could be better than actually going back into the past to watch events unfold yourself? In 2060 they can do just that. Several students have assignments in WWII Britain. One is studying the evacuation from Dunkirk, another is in London for the beginning of the Blitz, and a third is studying the evacuation of children from a post as a housemaid at a country house whose owner has generously taken in a whole contingent and then expects her servants to take care of them. All are short assignments – but things start going wrong right from the beginning. Michael, the student studying Dunkirk, finds himself “dropped” miles from where he should be – and days later. Polly misses the beginning of the Blitz – another accident of “slippage.” And Merope, stranded in the country, can’t figure out why her “drop” to return her back to 2060 won’t work. As errors accumulate, Michael, Polly and Merope begin to fear the rumors of problems and the theories that too many historians going to too many destinations in the past have begun to alter history – and that history might be trying to “correct itself.”  This is gripping on two levels – both for its detailed descriptions of WWII Britain and also for the suspense of the time travelers’ dilemma. Blackout is the first of two books; the second, All Clear is already available.