Stealing Alabama, by Allen Steele

Stealing Alabama was a Hugo nominee for best novella in 2002.  It's an alternate history, and the exact background is somewhat hard to figure.  One discerns that the South basically won the civil war, pushing the North back to New England and claiming much of what is known now as America, including the informal name.  The protagonist of the story is a descendent of Robert E. Lee, named after him.  And the center of the action is the first starship, named the Alabama.

The story is solid and the alternate history is fun to puzzle out, it's a real change from many versions of the South surviving the Civil War that I have read.  The characters are a little stiff but the SF is pretty basic space opera, which appeals to me.  It's not going to rock your world, but it will fill a couple of hours and leave you entertained.  I give it 3 stars.