The Great War of the Quartet (The Imperial Timeline Book 1) by M.K. Sangert

Engineering at Columbia over its admissions policy concerning the other sex. That was how it always went when she would bemoan the people who did not follow one of the preachers she had devoted herself to promote or how she just couldn’t believe this or that obvious fact.
    Frederic had never bothered to argue with her when she went on one of her harangues about how it was a national disgrace that the suffrage amendment was passed in 1911 —two generations past negro suffrage!—and how horrified she was to think that a couple of small, less advanced countries in Europe had beaten the United States to changing its federal laws. While he felt that it had been perfectly sensible to let women vote, it was rather obvious that women politicians were not nearly as sensible, and Emily Winston’s bemoaning that there were no ladies in the US Senate was irksome to no end. While the House of Representatives was not as deliberating as the Senate, it was downright impossible to imagine a creature such as Emily Winston having the calm and state of mind to seriously craft and evaluate legislation. And to add to that, if every woman would follow her example and have but one child, then society would extinguish itself in the long run. It would be national suicide.
    Even wise women would do well to think about the kinds of things that were in their domain rather than try their hand in politics. Unless you actually worked in business or law you wouldn’t have the state of mind for politics since legislation was based on business and law. There was a reason why accomplished lawyers and businessmen could become accomplished politicians, and it was impossible to imagine a female Jefferson, Madison, or General Washington. Impossible! Such an uneducated woman like Emily Winston was the worst kind of woman since she had the time and money to devote herself to propagating rule by incompetents. Women were such philistines!
    “I hope they won’t tear down Rome if they get that far,” Emily said, already imagining what the Huns would be capable of doing if they overran the spectacular cities of old Italy.
    The Evening Post had its suspicions that the bloodthirsty Germans would destroy the ancient culture of old Rome and France, and in addition to her childish infatuation with women orators, Emily Winston had a romantic attachment to classical Europe. The fact that Greece and Rome were facing the Germanic hordes seemed to be an excellent metaphor for the old spiritual Europe being at war with the cold, industrialized Deutschland which represented the modern, ugly godless world. Surely this brain-dead woman knew nothing of Hegel, Nietzsche, or Wagner—modern culture—rather than ancient antiquity which science and philosophy had moved beyond. Besides, the fact that most of the uncivilized parts of Europe were on the side of Italy and France did not seem to bother the inane woman the slightest. Frederic had a hard time sympathizing either with the quarreling Balkan states that had started the war or their big brother, Russia, who had decided to step up and keep Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece from being taught a lesson by Austria for beating up on their equally backwards sibling, Bulgaria.
    But of c ourse, only pro-German partisans still bothered with Bulgaria as they insisted the war was all about protecting her from her mean neighbors. And when Austria had stepped up to intervene, the chain of alliances had finally finished the long list of combatants when the Chinese had cast their lot in with the Germans almost half a year after Germany had declared war on Russia.
    “You could always volunteer for the Red Cross,” Frederic said, amusing himself by imagining what she would look like working as a nurse covered in blood and sweat. It might at least shut her up.
    She was clearly surprised by the suggestion, and when she saw that it was not a simple joke she found it hard to quickly answer.
    “I’m not sure that would make a