Gain Access What If? 2: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been (What If #2) Engineered By Robert Cowley Compiled As Softcover

book had two or three decent essays, but almost all of them devoted far too much space to describing the actual history of the events under examination, followed by a page or two of vague and noncommittal musings like, “But might things have gone differently Suppose that X hadnt happened.
While it is impossible to know how events would have unfolded, our world today could be very different indeed, ” Very little imagination or speculation, Disappointing. An interesting and thought provoking collection of counter factual history essays that ask the question what if historical events did not happen the way they did.
What if one little thing changes My favorite entries are:

VE Day November,
NBomb: No End
What If Pizarro Had Not Found Potatoes in Peru

All the essays pretty much have the same conclusion.
The world would be a very different place for better or worse if one little thing changes, As with the first volume in the set indeed, perhaps even more so this is a mixed bag, Most of the essays contain at least some interesting historical insight, but this time around several entries are almost completely devoid of counterfactual speculation which, at least in theory, is the books raison detre.
For example, “No Finland Station” by George Feifer says nothing more profound about Russian history than the observation that Lenin wasnt a very nice person.
True or at the very least copiously argued, but how might history have been different without him On the opposite end of the spectrum, one or two of these things demonstrate how quickly counterfactuals can collapse under their own weight such as John Lukacss bizarre tale of Teddy Roosevelts alternative career.
Overall my review of the original applies to this set as well: if nothing else, this is an interesting way to learn a little history.
I received the first What If volume along with Virtual History as a gift in high school, a wellintentioned gift as the giftgiver knew I liked to study and read history.
I didn't particularly care for them, but upon receiving them and upon completing them I thanked the giftgiver for their generous and thoughtful gifts, When asked if I enjoyed them, to spare their feelings I said that I did,

Receiving this book as a gift a few years later, I feel, is a strong argument against the telling of white lies, Little counterfactuals involving single decisions in single lives that would probably have had vast effects on the present world, Needed this book because, at my school, the big historical cliches Hastings were divorced from their effects, Had Socrates died before meeting Plato, two thousand years of persuasive antidemocratic thought might have been prevented had Zheng He just kept going, a Confucian America without a divine mandate to convert and subjugate, and an overwhelmed, boxedin and thus united precolonial Europe might have resulted.

It may be coincidental, but it is suggestive nonetheless that the interest among serious historians in counterfactual analysis basically corresponds with the rise of a dramatically new way of looking at the physics of complex systems, known popularly as chaos theory.

They are also just great stories, cf, Adam Gopnik's

It is the aim of all academic historians in our time to drain as much drama from history as is consistent with the facts and it is the goal of popular historians to add as much drama to history as is consistent with the facts, or can be made to seem so.

This is the former people doing the latter work, Damn good fun, and maybe valuable in the absence of proper modelling,

I was expecting better, It's a fantastic premise, but I found the vast majority of the chapters uninteresting and too inclined to focus on small effects, rather than the wider consequences of the changes.
A fun collection of short essays of alternate history, The path untrodden, counterfactual reality, or simply alternate history, Twentyfive of theth Centurys eminent historians look at what might have been in the essay anthology What If edited by contributor Robert Cowley.


The twentyfive essays range fromB, C. in Ancient Greece to theElections in the United States covering a variety of topics though for roughlyof thepages covered the time betweenand.
Unlike the previous volume, many of the essays focused on the actual event than going into an alternative scenario or would briefly speculate about things happening differently in the last two paragraphs.
The essays that focused on the assignment that were good were Thomas K, Rabbs essay on Charles I dying inof the plague and adverting the English Civil War, Alistair Hornes fanciful piece on Napoleon III not taking Otto von Bismarks bait to advert the FrancoPrussian war, George Feifers essay on Lenin on influencing the Russian Revolution, and Richard B.
Franks essay on if the United States hadnt dropped the atomic bombs,

What If: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been is an interesting set of essays, a lot are knowledgeable for someone who doesnt know specific points talked about however the “alternate” aspect was lacking compared to the previous collection.
Really interesting, just as good as the first volume, It was verythcentury heavy I would have preferred to see more ancient and medieval chapters, Other than that, my main criticism is that there was too much focus on what did actually happen, rather than on what might have happened, which is supposed to be the whole point of the book! If I am to be perfectly honest, this collection didnt really meet my expectations, neither in regard of selection of topics nor depth of analysis.
Vast majority of the tweaks discussed in this book are, in my opinion at least, too vast in scope for anyone to even be able to speculate about their effects.
The first essay in this book is a perfect example if Jesus of Nazareth managed to live to an old age, is it even possible to provide a credible speculation about how it would affect what today is one of major religions of the world

Other essays in this collection gave me a distinct impression of not being “counterfactual history” at all, but rather arguments for or criticisms of actual historical decisions the essay arguing against Eisenhowers “broad approach” strategy in lateand one arguing for use of atomic weapons against Japan inare probably best examples of this type of essays in this book.


And finally there was a couple of essays about topics which I personally question deserve to be analyzed from counterfactual perspective, For example, battle of Hastings was regardless of what the author claims a local event and I fail to see how Harold Godwinsons victory would have affected the big picture.
And while I found the essay about effect of introduction of potatoes to European society to be one of the most interesting in this collection, it was because it mostly discussed those effects who would have thought history of potato was so fascinating.
But the premise of that particular essay that Pizarro failed to find potatoes to be begin with how was that supposed to happen It was the major crop of the area after all!

In my opinion, counterfactual history discussions are historians equivalent of kids arguing who would win in a fight between Superman and Batman.
They are universally pointless. They have serious potential to ruffle some feathers, But if the point of contention is selected wisely and argued cleverly, they can also be a lot of fun, Essays in this collection completely validated my first point, confirmed to certain degree the second one, but failed to entertain me in the way that I expect from this type of book.

The follow up of What if, All of those counterfactuals are plasuible and its not Turtledove reptilians in wwstuff, From ancient Greece toa turning point for JFK, LBJ and Richard Nixon, Famous historians like John Lukas , Williamson Murray, and Thomas Flemming, One essay shows that if Chamberlain and Daladier had stood up to Nazi Germany infor Checkslovakia Hitler would have ltoppled and he woudn,t have conquered continental europe between.


A must have book for counterfactuals fans, Some of these "eminent historians" are nothing of the kind several aren't even historians, but novelists or journalists,

The essays dealing with the modern eraroughly half the booktend to be Cold Warriorish and/or fanatically deterministic, No matter what any historical figure might have done, things come out more or less the same as they did in real life, This not only undermines the purpose of the book, it suggests rigidity of the imagination and a belief that the individual has no power to shape the course of events, so we'd might as well all stay home and let the authorities do as they please.


The essays dealing with earlier events are somewhat better, I enjoyed the piece in which the French don't go to war in, while recognizing its fancifulness, The same goes for an equally pleasant but extravagant fantasy in which Mark Antony defeats Octavian and a hypothetical Cleopatra IX goes on to become pope !.
More sensible, and fairly stimulating, are essays in which Luther is executed before the Reformation gets fully underway, and there is war instead of a Munich agreement in.
But the writer who argues that the Nazis would have collapsed like a house of cards had Pius XII spoken sternly to them is perhaps a little too imaginative.
A great collection of some of the best historians and their take on past events and people, Another proof that historians are not writers, the questions are interesting but the conservative outcome of the answers is disappointing, to say the least, Pretty dry and some of the speculation was either banal or over the top, More What If is a collection of essays, which generally follow the same formula, In each, a factual account is given of a major historical event, The author then deviates from what actually was to what might have been and discusses how history may have unfolded had events taken a different turn.
For instance, what if Pilate had pardoned Jesus or Theodore Roosevelt had won the US Presidential Election ofor Lenin had not returned to Russia shortly after the last Czar's removal.
Each history/hypothetical is by a different author and their quality varies from well written and fascinating to too long and tedious, For students of history, the collection, as a whole, should prove quite interesting, Those not well versed in this discipline may have far less appreciation for this work, This book was pretty painful to read, from start to finish, It consists of essays about notable important events, and what would happen if they had not occurred, Or at least that is what the title would lead you to believe, Rather, they ended up being essays about great historical events, followed by a tiny bit of conjecture, And typically, this conjecture was not that interesting, For example, what would have happened had Socrates been killed when he was younger Philosophy would not have been the same, Really It takes an eminent historian to come to that conclusion I think I could have come to the same conclusion pretty easily, One essay even stated that since we can never be certain, we should not conjecture, Had I wanted to read a book of historical essays I would have been pleased with this book, because the writing was good and the historical facts interesting.
But I felt that I had been cheated and tricked by the title, so I was not happy with it, Even more alternate timeline historical essays raising the question "How different would our world be if, . . " again, some of the essays might seem a little dry for the casual reader, but history buffs will definitely find plenty to enjoy, What if Lincoln didn't abolish slavery What if an assassin succeeded in killing FDR inThis volume presentsintriguing "what if, . . " scenarios by some of today's greatest historical minds, A second volume of historical speculation by experts in the field wonders what if Socrates had died on the battlefield at Delium or Eisenhower had finished off the Nazis in, among other intriguing scenarios.


Contents:
Socrates dies at Delium,B, C. / Victor Davis Hanson
Not by a nose : the triumph of Antony and Cleopatra at Actium,B, C. / Josiah Ober
Pontius Pilate spares Jesus / Carlos M, N. Eire
Repulse at Hastings,

October,/ Cecelia Holland
The Chinese discovery of the New World,th century / Theodore F, Cook, Jr.
Martin Luther burns at the stake,/ Geoffrey Parker
If Charles I had not left Whitehall, August/ Theodore K, Rabb
Napoleon's invasion of North America / Thomas Fleming
If Lincoln had not freed the slaves / Tom Wicker
France turns the other cheek, July/ Alistair Horne
The election of Theodore Roosevelt,/ John Lukacs
The Great War torpedoed / Robert L.
O'Connell
No Finland Station / George Feifer
The luck of Franklin Delano Roosevelt / Geoffrey C, Ward
The War of/ Williamson Murray
Prime Minister Halifax : Great Britain makes peace with Germany,/ Andrew Roberts
The boys who saved Australia,/ James Bradley
Enigma uncracked / David Kahn
Pius XII protests the Holocaust / Robert Katz
VE DayNovember,/ Caleb Carr
The Fuhrer in the dock / Roger Spiller
No bombno end : the Operation Olympic disaster, Japan/ Richard B.
Frank
The presidency of Henry Wallace / James Chace
A tale of three congressmen,: America without Nixon, Johnson, and Kennedy / Lance Morrow
What if Pizarro had not found potatoes in Peru / William H.
McNeill. Overall a reasonable and interesting read, One major problem with the book is that the contributors often “chicken out” when discussing their particular alternative historical scenario, They will provide all the background concerning the scenario but there will just be a couple of paragraphs on what could have happened differently, There are however, a couple of authors who are brave and give almost their whole piece to the alternative happenings for example what if Jesus hadnt been crucified Christianity still results but in a different form closer to Judaism and if Anthony and Cleopatra had won the war against Augustus a bipolar Mediterranean a powerful Egypt instead of just Rome Definitely better than the first volume less military focused.
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