What if...? [Hardcover]

Various (Author), Robert Cowley (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 13, 1999

Essays by Stephen E. Ambrose, John Keegan, David McCullough, James M. McPherson, and others

A fascinating collection of never-before-published essays on the great turning points in world history written by the most renowned historians at work today.

Historians and inquisitive laymen alike love to ponder the dramatic "what ifs" of history. In these twenty-two original essays, scholars ask the tantalizing question: Where might we be if history had not unfolded the way it did? Their answers are surprising, and sometimes frightening, but always entertaining.

David McCullough imagines George Washington's ignoble end at the hands of the British if he had not made his escape from Long Island in August 1776. Writing about the Civil War, James M. McPherson suggests General Robert E. Lee could have moved into Union territory and the ultimate crossroads-- Gettysburg--and won it all in 1862, if only his Special Order No. 191 had not been lost and turned over to General McClellan. Would the Union have been cleaved in half? Stephen Ambrose describes what might have happened if D-Day had failed. If the storm enveloping the Normandy coast in 1944 had become worse on June 6th, the invasion would have resulted in catastrophe.

Other essay topics include Alexander the Great's luck, the Spanish Armada's ill wind, Napoleon's overconfidence, Hirohito's missed opportunity, and Hitler's inflated ego. In addition to the twenty-two essays, fifteen "sidebars," or shorter pieces, cover even more "what ifs." Among the contributors are Stephen W. Sears, Thomas Fleming, Victor Davis Hanson, Lewis H. Lapham, William H. McNeill, Williamson Murray, Josiah Ober and Theodore K. Rabb.

edited by Robert Cowley

featuring maps and photographs throughout

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Counterfactuals--what-if scenarios--fueled countless bull sessions in smoke-filled dorm rooms in the 1960s. What if Sitting Bull had had a machine gun at Little Big Horn? What if Attila the Hun had had a time machine? What if Columbus had landed in India after all? Some of those dorm-room speculators grew up to be historians, and their generation (along with a few younger and older scholars) makes a strong showing in this anthology of essays, in which the what-ifs are substantially more plausible. What if Hitler had not attacked Russia when he did? He might have moved into the Middle East and secured the oil supplies the Third Reich so badly needed, helping it retain its power in Europe. What if D-Day had been a failure? The Soviet Union might have controlled all of Europe. What if Sennacherib had pressed the siege of Jerusalem in 701 B.C.? Then the nascent, monotheistic Jewish religion might never have taken hold among the people of Judah--and the daughter religions of Christianity and Islam would never have been born.

So suggest some of the many first-rate contributors to this collection, which grew from a special issue of MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History. One of them is classicist Josiah Ober, who suggests that if Alexander the Great had died at the age of 21 instead of 32, Greece would have been swallowed up by Persia and Rome, and the modern Western world would have a much different sensibility--and probably little idea of democratic government. Still other contributors are Stephen E. Ambrose, Caleb Carr, John Keegan, David McCullough, and James McPherson, who examine a range of scenarios populated by dozens of historical figures, including Sir Walter Raleigh, Chiang Kai-shek, Robert E. Lee, Benito Mussolini, and Themistocles. The result is a fascinating exercise in historical speculation, one that emphasizes the importance of accident and of roads not taken in the evolution of human societies across time. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly

CounterfactualsAconsiderations of alternate outcomesAmake up one of the main provinces of military history. This volume, for which an A&E companion TV documentary is scheduled in November, incorporates two dozen essays and a dozen sidebars on what might have happened by writers of diverse specialties, including generalist Lewis Lapham, novelist Cecelia Holland and historians John Keegan, David McCullough and Stephen Ambrose. Readers willing to be open-minded can consider Europe's fate had the Mongols continued their 13th-century course of conquest. They can speculate on the death in battle of Hern n Cort?s and the consequences of an Aztec Empire surviving to present times. Thanks to James McPherson, they can read of a battle of Gettysburg fought in 1862 (instead of 1963) and resulting in a Confederate victory, or the consequences of a Confederate defeat at Chancellorsville courtesy of Steven Sears. Ambrose suggests that Allied defeat on D-Day would have meant nuclear devastation for Germany in the summer of 1945. Arthur Waldron presents a China, and a world, that might have been far different had Chiang Kai-shek not taken the risk of invading Manchuria in 1946. Consistently well drawn, these scenarios open intellectual as well as imaginative doors for anyone willing to walk through them. Maps and photos not seen by PW. Audio rights to Simon & Schuster; foreign rights sold in the U.K. and Germany. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 395 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult (September 13, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399145761
• ISBN-13: 978-0399145766
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (113 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #467,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "What If" you bought this book?, February 6, 2001

By 

R. Sheffield "rsheffield" (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: What If?: The World's Foremost Military Historians Imagine What Might Have Been (Mass Market Paperback)

As you already know after considering the book, this is a series of counterfactuals - the "What Ifs" of historical events. The focus is on military events and run from 480 BC to the Chinese Communist revolution of the late 1940s. Roughly one-third of the writings focus on world history prior to 1830 (Greek warfare, Napoleon wins at Waterloo), one-third on American history (Revolution - Civil War) and one third 1900 World History (WWI - Cold War). Each counterfactual is authored by respected historians including Stephen Ambrose (whose contribution is surprisingly weak), James McPherson, Cecelia Holland and Stephen Sears. There is also a series of interesting, smaller, one to two page articles spread out through the book.

The authors take various approaches to the challenge. Some launch into intriguing 'what ifs' and their consequences. These include the impact of Alexander the Great's pre-mature death, ways the American Revolution could have easily failed and what if the Battle of Midway had been won by Japan. Other authors take a different approach of only reviewing how events could have been different or how variants were avoided, but they never discuss the impact of the alternative event. This is the only weakness of the book in my opinion. Most articles joyfully carry through on the full description of how events could have differed and how the world would be different if they had turned out this way. For example, would Lincoln have negotiated peace with the Confederacy if Lee's orders for Sharpsburg had not fallen into McClellan's hands allowing the South to win this battle?

Finally, the scenarios are relatively realistic. There are no discussions of 'what would have happened if the Americans had automatic weapons in 1776...' The articles are very interesting for historians and those interested in military history. The broad discussions and topics also make the reading captivating and easy to read. Each article is less than 15-20 pages long, so you won't have to read "war & peace" to cover the topic. Enjoy!

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars yes, it could have been better, but it's awfully stimulating, February 20, 2000

By 

g.h. (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What if...? (Hardcover)

There have been some accusations that this book is "light" history, and I can see why the charge is made. But as a university professor, I in no way felt that the volume was too lowbrow.

It is true that at times the authors spend far more time summarizing the real-life events than exploring their alternate scenarios in sufficient detail. Although this was probably necessary for a general audience that may not already be aware of the details of Poitiers or the Golden Horde, it did often leave a hungry feeling in the pit of my stomach. In many cases, I wished there had been a much lengthier version of the scenario available.

I also agree that more consideration of "second-order counterfactuals" would have helped, but the general point of this work is well-taken, and should jolt the reader out of the lazy sense of historical determinacy into which we all tend to drift when we're not thinking very hard about the past. As must have happened with many readers, the book also caused me to run through the past 15 years of my own life in search of equally intriguing near-miss counterfactuals-- "what if I had moved to Rhode Island in 1996?", "what if I had married Ms. X after all?" I mention this anecdote because it is good evidence that the book can work its magic on the reader's mind despite the flaws that have been mentioned.

The bottom line is that I found this book hard to put down _despite_ reading it for the most part in a loud and seedy neighborhood bar.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars counterfactual history at its best, November 2, 1999

By 

L. G. Velez (Colombia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: What if...? (Hardcover)

History, like everything else, has fads that come and go. It seems that now counterfactual history is the fad of the day. Nevertheless, the exercise presented in What if? is, to say the least, very interesting. But is it useful? I believe it is, but not from the point of view of the historian, because history, no matter how you want to put it, is about things that happened not about things that didn't happen. What if? is useful from the point of view of the decision maker, and to be more specific, from the point of view of the decision making process. Some essays contained in the book base their assumptions on circumstance, or a chance, like the famous "lost orders" that influence the outcome of the US Civil War. Others essays, the ones that are really useful, explore the decisions behind the historical events. Only these essays serve a wider purpose, not only of entertainment, but of greater insight into things that truly could have been different.