Customer Reviews

What Might Have Been: Imaginary History from Twelve Leading Historians (Phoenix Paperback Series)

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"What Might Have Been" is an exercise in academic alternative history - the "counterfactual" approach. Where traditional history writing tells us about what actually happened, counterfactual history speculates on what might have happened if things had gone another way. Sometimes, this approach ends up looking like intellectuals playing parlour games, but at its best, it is quite an interesting way of looking at the world.

This collection, thankfully, falls into that second category. Andrew Roberts' introduction pays homage to what is considered to be the classic of the genre - Niall Ferguson's "Virtual History" - but clearly demonstrates that this is going to be irreverent at best. Having shown his hand, it's over to the individual contributors to write about their own What If moments.

Several of these are from unexpected sources. The customary "Royalists Win The Civil War" scenario makes an appearance, and the conclusions here are quite interesting - and far removed from the continuation of absolutist rule that tends to be given as the natural result. As well, we are treated to some musings on a very different American Civil War (with the Trent Incident bringing England into the war), a successful Gunpowder Plot, the Spanish Armada landing in England and even the untimely death of Margaret Thatcher at the hands of the IRA.

In all of these, the contributors skillfully detail the real facts and the point at which their assumptions take over. In some cases - particularly the Gunpowder Plot essay - it is the facts themselves which are quite startling and the reader is treated to a crash course in "What Really Happened" as well as "What Might Have Been".

Another great strength of this collection is that the contributors all tend to assume very little background on the part of their readers. Thus, events such as the Trent Incident and the Brighton Bomb - which may be particularly famous to historians of certain periods - are explained in simple terms to those of us who have no prior knowledge thereof. In addition, the important actors in these dramas are fleshed out in much greater detail than the average textbook.

At the same time, it is also important to note that not all contributors indulge in the wild fantasy of "The world would be a very different place if...". The sucessful Gunpowder Plot, for example, is argued to be potentially of no real import at all, while Conrad Black's essay on a world where Pearl Harbour did not occur basically posits that the Second World War would have continued in much the same way. Of a similar cut is the conclusion of the Brighton Bomb essay, which almost implies that the Conservatives would have been stronger after the short-term problems the loss of Mrs Thatcher would have caused.

Two essays in particular stand out as particularly playful. The first of these is Roberts' own "Lenin Is Shot At The Finland Station", in which the mysterious Lev Harveiovich Oswalt creates the conspiracy of "Who Shot VIL?" before the Bolshevik leader could take control. This essay purports to be part of a Russian history textbook, and so speculates on what could have happened had Lenin survived, thereby blurring fact and fiction even more.

In a similar vein, although less expertly performed, is Simon Sebag Montefiore's discussion of what would have happened if Stalin had fled Moscow. This is a highly enjoyable read, not least for its creation of "Colonel Fiktionashvili" (Son of Fiction), a Georgian security guard. Ultimately, however, it falls flat as Vyachslav Molotov becomes the Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev of this alternate universe - which seems a rather hasty conclusion to draw.

Sadly, though, there are three essays which are not up to the same standards as the rest of the volume. The first of these is a discussion of Benedict Anderson's treason during the American Revolution being successful - at least, it would be, but the author involved merely rehashes Anderson's career and provides a number of points at which something could have changed. We are not treated to any discussion of what might have happened if the Revolution had been put down.

The second is Conrad Black's on America not being attacked in Pearl Harbor. While his thesis - that Franklin Roosevelt would have gone to war regardless - is cogently argued, it never really reaches the heights of the other contributions.

The third of these is David Frum's take on Al Gore's potential response to September 11. While this may have been intended as humour, it is in reality a thinly-disguised partisan piece in which Gore and his team embody everything the American conservative movement fear. The sheer nonsense of most of what Frum writes demonstrates that it is far too early to write a counterfactual on the 2000 election, as partisan issues will still come to the fore. Of course, there may well be other readers who will take this drivel about handing Spain back to Syria (from which it was never really ruled in the first place, despite Frum's assertions) as a good reason to buy the book.

In conclusion, as with any edited volume "What Might Have Been" has its highlights and lowlights. In this particular case, the former outweigh the the latter. Students of history who are not afraid to cock a snook at the orthodoxy of the discipline should enjoy this collection immensely.

There are several similar books on Alternate History,and this is as good as any of them. Many of them cover the same event and write an alternate version to what happened.The Editor suggests that the first rule for "What If " history-writing should be to keep it as believable as possible;and that we can untune one string,but not the whole violin.

One of the most popular events that writers like to redo is "What if the South had Won the Civil War?" But not in this case.

Here we get;

The Spanish Armada Lands in England.

The Gunpowder Plot Succeeds

King Charles I Wins the English Civil War.

Benedict Arnold Wins the Revolutionary War for Britain.

Napoleon Triumphs in Russia.

The TRENT Incident Leads to War.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand Survives Sarajevo.

Lenin is Assassinated at the Finland Station.

Stalin Flees Moscow in 1941.

The Japanese Do not Attack Pearl Harbor.

The Brighton Bomb Kills Margaret Thatcher.

The Chads Fall Off in Florida.

Throughout history ,unsuspected things have happened and changed the course of events,particularly military battles. Napoleon understood this and once made this very appropriate remark;"Woe to the General who goes into battle with a preconceived plan". I've often wondered if he said this before or after he decided to invade Russia.

The one "What If",I enjoyed most was that written by Conrad Black;"The Japanese Do Not Attack Pearl Harbor". (Yes, this is the same Conrad Black who is prominent in the news today with financial problems.) He gives a good insight into both why Hitler decided to invade Russia and why ToJo attacked Pearl Harbor.

In all the "What Ifs",the authors give a short summary of the lead-up to the event and then lets history unfold in a different direction.

Overall,a good interesting collection of suppositions.

I had just finished re-reading Nassim Nicholas Taleb's "Fooled by Randomness - The Hidden Role of Chance in the Markets and in Life" when the title and particularly the cover of "What Might Have Been" caught my eye. A book containing twelve essays on fictional alternatives to historic events seemed, at the time, an appropriate follow-up to Taleb's book. There is nothing in the book to justify the cover which shows a Swastika on the moon.

In reading the first three essays, dealing with the Spanish Armada, the Gunpowder Plot and the English Civil War, I felt handicapped by a lack of very detailed knowledge of the actual events and for one who feels that reading all but the very best fiction is something of a waste of time it seemed ludicrous to be reading fictional history! However, the essay on Benedict Arnold has prompted me to learn more of the actual events in which he participated and "What Might Have Been" is worth its price if only for Conrad Black's essay entitled "The Japanese Do Not Attack Pearl Harbor". Finally, critics of President Bush will revel in the last essay, although I cannot imagine that admirers, or even critics, of Al Gore will enjoy his portayal in this outrageous spoof.

There were some interesting takes on the alternate histories. But silly nonsense like having an assassin with a name similar to Lee Harvey Oswald killing Lenin, and the whole story "Chads Fall Off in Florida" were amateurish and reeked of patronization towards Americans in general.

This was an intriguing purchase for me. I've been indulging in my passion for alternative histories and after reading _Bring The Jubilee_ by Ward Moore and _Almost America: A "What If" history of the U.S._ by Steve Talley, I decided to purchase this book. Andrew Roberts begins with a decent introduction to the concept of "counterfactual history", to use the academic term, along with examples appearing in print and film. The illustration on the cover refers to a scenario in his introduction, but doesn't have an accompanying chapter in the book. Roberts writes with a pleasant, engaging tone and is very knowledgeable, as are the other contributors to this collection. Sometimes the chapters can be somewhat dry, but they all spur the imagination. As this book was originally published in Great Britain, and many of the contributors British, several essays focus on noteworthy turning-points in English history and current affairs: the attack of the Spain Armada against the English Navy; The Gunpowder Plot; The English Civil War; and The Brighton Bombing assassination attempt against Margaret Thatcher. The writing also contains some British English spellings and grammar, which, for me, added to the enjoyable atmosphere of the anthology. The collection contains quite a range of historical events, from the 17th century to the early 21st. The authors have a scholarly knowledge of the people, places and incidents involved in the periods they write about; this can make the essays more burdensome if you're not as well-schooled on that particular subject, but most include a comparison of their imagined efforts to the actual events, and no one chapter is that long (about 13-14 pages on average by rough estimate). Preceding the introduction are contributor notes, so you can examine the bona fides of an author if you found favor or took exception to his or her piece. Overall, _What Might Have Been_ is an interesting contribution to counterfactual historical books, though it appears targeted more towards specialists in history than the general audience.

I always wondere what the world would be like if one piece of history had gone another way instead of what actually happened.

This book covers many points in history and re-tells them as historical fact... its an interesting read but I would recommend knowing some of and reading up on the real facts in history prior to reading this so that the 'What If' would have a bigger impact. I would have liked to have read an essay on what may have happened if the Nazis had won WW2 but I guess that's covered in many other books.

I look forward to reading more.. overall its a great read and I'd recommend it for history buffs and for those who wonder.. "What if.."

This book has twelve stories about historical events in which a historian asks him- or herself what would have happened if that event had happened differently.

The historical events in this book are divers. I read a couple of them, for example about the landing of the Spanish armada in England, about the victory of Napoleon in Russia, about Staling fleeing Moskow, about the succesvol bombing on Margaret Thatcher, about the victory of Al Gore.

I really liked reading how these events could have turned out. Some stories would have ended the same, like the story about Stalin. Even without him in Moskow there would have been a very violent period in Russia. He was one of many....

I thought this book was a fascinating read and I recommend this to anybody who loves history. Especially if you're sometimes wondering about things going differently.

Alternate History is a fascinating genre and depending on the subject and the author's talents can be merely entertaining or tantalizingly thought provoking, What Might Have Been falls into the latter category. Be advised, however - this is not for the casual reader of Alt History novels and stories. Six of the twelve contributors are academians of note, the others are seasoned authors of historical tomes and as a result many of the articles depend on a higher knowledge of history than the average reader may have. For example the first three articles concern fairly obscure, to an American at least, pieces of English History, the Gunpowder plot, the English Civil War and the Spanish Armada. One of the last stories concerns the detonation of a large bomb by the Irish Republican Army in the British city of Brighton, an event that almost cost British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher her life, although in this telling she is not so lucky. The story was mildly interesting, but became so bogged down in British Party politics that I simply lost interest. Five stories deal with war, the American Revolution with Benedict Arnold bringing victory to the British; Napoleon victorious in Russia in 1812; The British enter the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy; The Germans enter Moscow in 1941 and Stalin flees. Conrad Black's contribution, apparently borrowing from his gigantic biography of Franklin Roosevelt, reads rather like an examination of American diplomatic missteps vis a vis the Japanese and Roosevelt's conviction that Hitler's Germany posed a far great threat to the world than Japanese Imperialism instead of an alternate history imagining. Two stories center on assassinations one successful the other a failure, successful in the case of Nicolai Lenin in 1917 and a failure in the attempt on Austrian Archduke Ferdinand in 1914. Both stories assume a peaceful cooperative Europe as a result of these imagined outcomes, a little too utopian for my taste. Every story, even those I found somewhat dry or farfetched, were interesting and thought provoking, except one a rehash of the 2000 Presidential Election.David Frum, former speechwriter and special assistant to President George W Bush comically imagines an Al Gore as President in 2001, thanks to 102 falling chads in the Florida vote count. Frum sees Gore as somewhat of blissful idiot, consumed with Environmental Issues to the extent that he decides against an invasion of Al Qaeda enclaves because the fuel consumed in so large an operation would add to greenhouse gas emissions thus increasing global warming. At the story's end Frum has Gore imagining the mess George Bush would have made if he were President in Gore's place. An attempt at humor on Frum's part that falls flat when the cost of the war both in lives and treasure is considered from the war that George Bush started when he did in fact sit in that chair.

There was absolutely no entertain value for this book. It was layed out giving facts just like a high school history book. There is nothing in each story to point out where the pivitol event occurred that changed history, unless you are very much informed on the subject.

I ask myself questions like this all the time. While the specific scenarios detailed might be a little overplayed, I could not put this book down.

Highly recommended.