14. What alternative histories should I read?
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This article is from the soc.history.what-if FAQ, by Anthony Mayer anthonyemayer@yahoo.co.uk with numerous contributions by others.
14. What alternative histories should I read?
Everyone has different tastes; asking for suggestions on the newsgroup
will usually get several quite different responses. Some of the most
widely acknowledged classics of the field are listed below. It should be
emphasised that many of these "histories" are in fact science fiction,
utilising supernatural or non-historical effects as a literary device:
Benford, Gregory, & Martin H. Greenberg (eds), HITLER VICTORIOUS:
ELEVEN STORIES OF THE GERMAN VICTORY IN WORLD WAR II (Garland 1986,
etc) [an anthology including several classic stories]
de Camp, L. Sprague, LEST DARKNESS FALL (Ballantine 1949, etc)
Dick, Philip K., THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE (Putnam's 1962, etc)
Dixon, Dougal, THE NEW DINOSAURS, AN ALTERNATE EVOLUTION (Grafton
1988, etc)
Garrett, Randall, LORD DARCY (SFBC 1983, etc); omnibus of MURDER AND
MAGIC (Ace 1979); TOO MANY MAGICIANS (Doubleday 1967, etc); and LORD
DARCY INVESTIGATES (Ace 1981)
Kantor, Mackinlay, IF THE SOUTH HAD WON THE CIVIL WAR (Bantam 1961)
Moore, Ward, BRING THE JUBILEE (Farrar, Straus & Young 1953, etc)
Piper, H. Beam, LORD KALVAN OF OTHERWHEN (Ace 1965, etc; vt GUNPOWDER
GOD, Sphere 1978; available in THE COMPLETE PARATIME Ace 2001)
Roberts, Keith, PAVANE (Hart-Davis 1968, etc)
Sobel, Robert, FOR WANT OF A NAIL: IF BURGOYNE HAD WON AT SARATOGA
(Macmillan 1973; Greenhill 1997)
Spinrad, Norman, THE IRON DREAM (Avon 1972, etc)
Squire, J.C. (ed), IF IT HAD HAPPENED OTHERWISE: LAPSES INTO IMAGINARY
HISTORY (Longmans, Green 1931; exp Sidgwick & Jackson 1972; St.
Martin's 1974); rev as IF: OR, HISTORY REWRITTEN (Viking 1931;
Kennikat 1964)
Stirling, S.M., THE DOMINATION (Baen 1999); omnibus of MARCHING
THROUGH GEORGIA (Baen 1988); UNDER THE YOKE (Baen 1989); and THE STONE
DOGS (Baen 1990)
Turtledove, Harry, AGENT OF BYZANTIUM (Congdon & Weed/Contemporary
1987, etc; exp Baen 1994)
Turtledove, Harry, and L. Sprague de Camp, DOWN IN THE BOTTOMLANDS
(AND OTHER PLACES) (Baen 1999) [includes Turtledove's title story, plus
the classic "Wheels of If" by de Camp & Turtledove's sequel]
Turtledove, Harry, THE GUNS OF THE SOUTH: A NOVEL OF THE CIVIL WAR
(Ballantine 1992, etc)
The science fiction goes in and out of print, and they can be difficult to
find unless you have a friend with a personal library of SF classics. Note
that Kantor, Sobel, and the Squire anthology are not SF or even fiction;
they are essays in "imaginary history." Such books are more likely to be
found in libraries which view SF as beneath their dignity. Special mention
should be made of Robert Sobel's FOR WANT OF A NAIL.
FOR WANT OF A NAIL: IF BURGOYNE HAD WON AT SARATOGA is probably the most
detailed alternative history of all time, written by a real historian with
a number of publications in American business history. Taking the form of
a lengthy (400+ pages) academic history of the two sister nations which
result, it has a full scholarly apparatus including hundreds of
references, all of them completely invented. Long out of print, FOR WANT
OF A NAIL was republished by Greenhill in late 1997.
The alternative timeline of FOR WANT OF A NAIL has been unofficially
developed beyond the date where Sobel ended his history, through the
collective effort of a number of SHWI contributors. The FOR ALL NAILS
timeline explores in depth many of the issues raised in Sobel's work, as
well as being extremely entertaining. An archive of FOR ALL NAILS posts
and information regarding the project and the FOR ALL NAILS "cabal" can be
found at:
http://www.kebe.com/for-all-nails/
The following books were published recently enough to be easily findable,
and have all received at least some favorable attention. As with the
classics above, some are "pure" alternative history, but others involve
time travel, magic, or some other implausible deus ex machina device.
Barnes, John, FINITY (Tor 1999)
Baxter, Stephen, VOYAGE (HarperCollins UK 1996, etc)
Bear, Greg, DINOSAUR SUMMER (Warner 1998)
Blom, Suzanne Alles, INCA: THE SCARLET FRINGE (Tor/Forge 2001)
Dreyfuss, Richard and Harry Turtledove, THE TWO GEORGES (Tor 1996,
etc)
DuBois, Brendan, RESURRECTION DAY (Putnam 1999, etc)
Flint, Eric, 1632 (Baen 2000)
Fry, Stephen, MAKING HISTORY (Hutchinson 1996, etc)
Garfinkle, Richard, CELESTIAL MATTERS: A NOVEL OF ALTERNATE SCIENCE
(Tor 1996, etc)
Gentle, Mary. ASH: A SECRET HISTORY Series (Avon/Eos 1999-2000, etc)
Harris, Robert, FATHERLAND (Hutchinson 1992, etc)
Keyes, J. Gregory, AGE OF UNREASON Series (Ballantine 1998-2001, etc)
McAuley, Paul J., PASQUALE'S ANGEL (Morrow 1995, etc)
Newman, Kim, ANNO DRACULA Series (Simon & Schuster 1992-1998, etc)
Niles, Douglas and Michael Dobson, FOX ON THE RHINE (Tor/Forge 2000)
Sargent, Pamela, CLIMB THE WIND (Harper Prism 1998, etc)
Stirling, S.M., NANTUCKET Trilogy (ROC 1998-2000)
Stirling, S.M., THE PESHAWAR LANCERS (ROC 2002)
Stroyar, J.N., THE CHILDREN'S WAR (Pocket 2001)
Turtledove, Harry, HOW FEW REMAIN: A NOVEL OF THE SECOND WAR BETWEEN
THE STATES (Ballantine 1997, etc)
Turtledove, Harry, THE GREAT WAR/AMERICAN EMPIRE Series (Ballantine
1998-)
Turtledove, Harry, WORLDWAR Series (Ballantine 1994-2001)
Wilson, Robert Charles, DARWINIA (Tor 1998, etc)
Some decent alternative history anthologies which are currently available
are:
Dozois, Gardner & Stanley Schmidt (eds), ROADS NOT TAKEN: TALES OF
ALTERNATE HISTORY (Del Rey 1998)
Greenberg, Martin H. (ed), THE WAY IT WASN'T: GREAT STORIES OF
ALTERNATE HISTORY (Carol 1996)
Shainblum, Marc and John Dupuis (eds), ARROWDREAMS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF
ALTERNATE CANADAS (Nuage 1998)
Stirling, S.M., DRAKAS! (Baen, 2000)
Turtledove, Harry and Roland J. Green (eds), ALTERNATE GENERALS (Baen
1998)
Turtledove, Harry and Martin H. Greenberg, THE BEST ALTERNATE
HISTORY STORIES OF THE 20TH CENTURY (Ballantine/Del Rey 2001)
Some non-English language alternative histories include:
Rasmus Dahlberg (editor), EN ANDEN HISTORIE. NI ALTERNATIVE
DANMARKSHISTORIER, Aschehoug et egmont forlag, Viborg, 2001
Christian von Ditfurth, DIE MAUER STEHT AM RHEIN. DEUTSCHLAND NACH DEM
SIEG DER SOZIALISMUS, Verlag Kiepenhauer & Witsch, Köln, 1999
Ralph Giordano, WENN HITLER DEN KRIEG GEWONNEN HÄTTE. DIE PLÄNE DER
NAZIS NACH DEM ENDSIEG, Verlag Kiepenhauer & Witsch, Köln, 2000 (has
some allohistorical content)
Eric B. Henriet, L'HISTOIRE REVISITÉE. PANORAMA DE L'UCHRONIE SOUS
TOUTES SES FORMES, Encrage, Amiens, 1999
Nicolas Saudray, LES ORANGES DE YALTA, Ballard Edition, 1992
Thanks to the recent mini-boom in "non-fiction" alternative
history centering on military AH, it needs its own section of recently
published or republished books. Greenhill/Stackpole apparently intends to
publish at least one such volume every year. See also Question 13.
Deutsch, Harold and Dennis Showalter, WHAT IF? STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES
OF WWII (The Emperor's Press, 1997)
Macksey, Kenneth, INVASION: THE GERMAN INVASION OF ENGLAND, JULY
1940 (Macmillan 1980, etc)
Macksey, Kenneth (ed), THE HITLER OPTIONS (Greenhill 1994, etc)
North, Jonathan (ed), THE NAPOLEON OPTIONS (Greenhill 2000)
Talley, Steve, ALMOST AMERICA: FROM THE COLONISTS TO CLINTON: A
"WHAT IF" HISTORY OF THE U.S. (HarperCollins 2000)
Tsouras, Peter G., DISASTER AT D-DAY: THE GERMANS DEFEAT THE ALLIES,
JUNE 1944 (Greenhill 1994)
Tsouras, Peter G., GETTYSBURG: AN ALTERNATE HISTORY (Greenhill 1997)
Tsouras, Peter G., ed., RISING SUN VICTORIOUS: THE ALTERNATE HISTORY
OF HOW JAPAN WON THE PACIFIC WAR (Greenhill 2001)
Alternative history is also used as the basis for role-playing games. An
example which deserves special mention is:
Hite, Kenneth, Craig Neumeier and Michael S. Schiffer, GURPS
ALTERNATE EARTHS (Steve Jackson Games 1996) and GURPS ALTERNATE EARTHS
2 (Steve Jackson Games 1999)
This is a collection of six alternative histories written for Steve
Jackson Games' role-playing game GURPS. Three of the timelines are
relatively "standard" choices (CSA, Nazis, Roman Empire); three are
unusual (Aztecs, Christian Japan, 1920s pulp science). It has a page at
the SJ Games website
http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/AltEarths/
There is a sequel GURPS ALTERNATE EARTHS 2, six more worlds tending to
more unusual choices in its scenarios (American Revolution, Ming China,
Vikings, scientific Muslims, Revolution of 1688 and a paratime empire)
http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/altearths2/
There are currently no plans for additional volumes. The histories are
worth examining in their own right as a good introduction to alternative
history -- one does not need to be interested in GURPS or role playing to
find value in them.
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