Alternative History Fiction

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WanderAimlessly

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I have noticed in the science fiction section of the bookstores a series of books by Harry Turtledove that uses alternative history time lines. Being a history buff, I am always interested in what if theories. I am wondering if anyone has read these books or other alternative history books?

PF
 
the only two I remember are a famous one about what would happen if the South won the Civil War. I did not like it because it made all kinds of assumptions about the persons involved, like Lee and JEB Stuart, and the general situation in northern cities and southern society that simply had no basis in fact. To me such a work succeeds only when it begins with the actual historical situation, then changes only the circumstances that are the crux of the plot.

A much more successful attempt was by Len Deighton, writing about a British policeman, and what would have happened if the Nazis had invaded after the Battle of Britain.
 
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WanderAimlessly:
Being a history buff, I am always interested in what if theories. I am wondering if anyone has read these books or other alternative history books?

PF
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I like history too but haven’t read the Turtledove books (They didn’t look very interesting to me). I did read “Hannibal’s Children” and its sequel by John Maddox Roberts. It’s a “what if” about Rome being beaten by the Carthaginians. His understanding of Roman history is very good but the stories are violent. Of course the actual history was violent.
There are a couple of series that use alternate history short stories:
One is “Altenate …” (Alternate Presidents, Alternate Warriors) Mike Resnick is the editor. Another is “What Might Have Been” edited by Gregory Benford & Martin Greenberg.
There is another series with essays by eminent historians recoutning the actual events and the ramifications of alternate outcomes. I don’t remember the name of that series. I have a volume somewhere and will try to find it.
 
The book is called Guns of the South. It’s a lot more accurate than you think. Most people who read about Civil War history barely scratch the surface of the economic turmoil during and after the war.
 
I am a big Harry Turtledove fan and have read all of his books. The Guns of the South is not connected to his other series which start with the South winning the Civil War and then beginning a series of wars against the US. The chief protagonist in these stories is Jake Featherstone who is kind of an American adaptation of Hitler. He was a sergeant in the Confederate Army who comes home after the war and founds a political party. The Confederacy in this story does not persecute Jews but rather blacks and is in the process of running extermination camps. Very interesting series.

I also like Newt Gingrich’s alternative Civil War series and wish he had continued his WWII book, 1944.
 
Military History magazine did a whole special issue about What If’s. Very interesting and quite frightening.

It’s around here someplace.
 
An alternate history book you might like is The Plot Against America by Phillip Roth.

The premise is what if, instead of FDR being elected for a 2nd term, Lindbergh is elected. In the book he is portrayed as anti-semitic, and there are listings of actual speeches and papers of his that seem to back this up.

The story is told by a young Jewish boy. I won’t say more. It was a good “what if” story.
 
The series written by actual historians is called “What If?” and is edited by Robert Cowley and published by Putnam. I got a copy of “What If? 2” at a half price book store.
 
I love reading alternative history fiction…Turtledove is very good. But the whole genre is fascinating.
The concept of “what if” is a lot less far fetched than most people think!! I remember reading a “speculative history” book by a War Between the States historian, (can’t remember who?) back at the centenary year of the war, & it was fascinating. His main points were that if the South had gotten foreign backing, the North almost certainly could not have won…(Much to my delight, once that happened–if it did, I mean-- the entire outcome of the war would have depended on the survival of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, who is one of my all-time heroes!!)

So, after that, when I started to see alternative history fiction, I was hooked…
 
Old thread … new post … (sorry, I’m relatively new here).

Philip K. Dick’s “Man in the High Castle” tells the story of a world post WWII … after Hitler and his Nazis won.
 
I didn’t realize that “What If:…” was also by Stephen Ambrose. I love his work. I’ve had my eye on that book for a while, I’ll have to pick it up on my next book run.
 
You mean that there is an entire genre devoted to alternative history? Fascinating. Who are the best authors? I’ve never read any of this.
 
I think Flashman is more-or-less real history. Sure, he isn’t actually involved in all the battles and things, but the historical accuracy in terms of characters (except Flashman), settings, and dates, is supposed to be superb.

Guy Gavriel Kay has some decent books, notably A Song For Arbonne and the Sailing To Sarantium series. One’s about 12th century Europe, and the Sarantium series is Byzantine.

I recently read The Years of Rice and Salt, by Kim Stanley Robinson, and I highly recommend it. It’s a reimagining of history starting with the premise- what if the Black Death had wiped out the West, and the powers were the Islamic Middle East, China, and India?

The story starts in about 1450 and finishes in 2002.It’s retold through a group of characters who are reborn endlessly, and interact with each other in every lifetime. It’s the plot device that makes the story hang together as one very long lifetime shared by a group of friends.

Very interesting, and splendid writing.
 
It seems like books are the way to go for alternative history.
Television has done a very poor job of it.
The only televison show that comes to mind was the one that Fox aired then Sci-Fi took over. the show from the late 90’s was called Sliders.
The first season was good but then when they introduced alien canibols, it got boring and stupid.

I’m still waiting for a movie or tv series that would make ‘alternative history’ seem more real.

If not, I’d like to maybe write one.
 
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