History that never was

What Might Have Been: Imaginary History...
Interesting book this. Just finished -so quickly I didn't get to put it up on my 'now reading' list alongside. I'm a great fan of alternative histories based on the #what if ...' question; what if ROme didn't fall, the reformation never succeeded, Hitler won, etc etc. In fact I'd love to have a go at writing a 'what if...?' book one day.

This one has twelve leading historians come up with essays or stories of what may have been if ... Napoleon had succeeded, the Japanese had not gone for Pearl Harbour, Lenin was assasinated at Finland Station, the Spanish Armada landed, the Brighton bomb had killed Margaret Thatcher .... and so on. It's patchy in that some are easier to read than others but most scenarios are intriguing and the value of them being written by historians is that there is a good feel for the real probablities that do justice by how things really were and are rather than a desperate seeking for an interesting hook to swing a story from, however improbable. It's interesting too to guess whether the historians individually are more or less determinist. I'm not a historian but I felt, for me, this kind of approach helps me to appreciate the craft of history writing and research.

The opening essay by the editor [Andrew Roberts]is a good airing of the issues of writing good "what if ...?" stories; feel for the period and actual dynamics of the episode, coming up with credible alternatives and realistic plots on the basis of those alternative timelines. Worth getting if you're into history or alternative timeline fiction [and if you enjoyed the His dark Materials stuff ...]