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"The book of the year for any history lover." (Kirkus Reviews on What If?)
There is no surer way to make history come alive than to contemplate those moments when the world's future-the government and wealth of nations, the faith and culture of generations-hung in the balance. In this volume, many of our brightest historians speculate about some of history's intriguing crossroads and the ways in which our lives may have been changed for the better-or the worse. The twenty-seven original essays range across the full span of history. Victor Davis Hanson imagines a drastically altered development of Western philosophy if Socrates had died on the battlefield at Delium. Writing about the Reformation and an early death of Martin Luther, Geoffrey Parker describes a world without the Protestant Church. John Lukacs proposes that Theodore Roosevelt might have ended the First World War-if he had been renominated for president in 1912. Geoffrey Ward reminds us of Franklin D. Roosevelt's good fortune in both his choice of a wife and in his narrow escape from an assassin's bullet in 1933. James Bradley describes the defense by a band of soldiers that may have saved Australia in 1942 and had a dramatic effect on the eventual Japanese defeat in the Pacific. And Caleb Carr argues that we could have been spared the horrific last six months of World War II had Eisenhower seized his chance to destroy the Nazis in the fall of 1944.
The list of illustrious contributors includes Lance Morrow, Theodore K. Rabb, Alistair Horne, James Chace, Tom Wicker, Andrew Roberts, Josiah Ober, and others.
Edited by Robert Cowley.
- Sales Rank: #1414229 in Books
- Published on: 2001-10-15
- Released on: 2001-10-15
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.36" h x 1.52" w x 6.38" l,
- Binding: Hardcover
- 427 pages
Amazon.com Review
Many armchair historians have spent hours daydreaming of what might have been if some turning point in history had gone another way. The appeal of the What If? books is that editor Robert Cowley gets professional historians to concentrate on these imaginative questions. The first volume focused entirely on military matters; What If? 2 leans heavily but not exclusively in that direction. Victor Davis Hanson wonders about the consequences for Western philosophy if Socrates had died in battle, Thomas Fleming ponders a Napoleonic invasion of North America, and Caleb Carr argues the Second World War lasted longer than it should have because George Patton's superiors restrained their energetic general. More than two dozen contributors offer bold speculation: If the Chinese had committed themselves to ocean exploration, asks Theodore F. Cook Jr., might they have discovered the New World and even prevented "the worst horrors of the Atlantic Slave Trade [by halting] Portuguese expansion along the African coast at this early date?" Other times they are pleasantly modest: In one of the book's best sections, John Lukacs describes the fantasy of Teddy Roosevelt defeating Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 election--and decides the long- term effects would not have been great. Like its predecessor, What If? 2 is delicious mind candy for readers willing to believe there's nothing inevitable about what has come before us. --John Miller
From Publishers Weekly
Like its predecessor (also edited by Cowley), this is an engrossing collection of essays on counterfactual history. Each contributor examines a pivotal event, then considers the ramifications had the event come out differently. In some cases the ramifications are so monumental that their effects are more obvious than intriguing. For example, if Socrates had died in battle during the Peloponnesian War, Victor Davis Hanson suggests, democracy, Christianity and Western thought as a whole would be radically different. Similarly, had Pontius Pilate pardoned Jesus the book's most fascinating premise Christianity would have developed in entirely new directions, according to Carlos M.N. Eire. Other essays depend, to diminished effect, on nonevents, such as Theodore F. Cook Jr. explaining what the incredible Chinese navy would have accomplished in the Atlantic and the New World had the Ming emperors not turned inwards. Most authors, however, have teased out some incredibly tiny detail in history and demonstrated how that one stitch holds the whole fabric together. Most notably, Robert L. O'Connell explains how one bureaucrat may have kept Germany from winning WWI by hindering a program of unrestricted submarine warfare. James Bradley writes about a ragtag group of Australian soldiers during WWII who held back thousands of well-trained Japanese forces on the Kokoda Trail in New Guinea and by this Thermopylae-like action prevented the enemy from taking Port Moresby and, thus, Australia; had the defenders failed, "the entire calculus of the Pacific War" would have changed. And Robert Katz explores what would have happened had Pius XII protested the Holocaust, which he twice had a chance to do. Cowley has put together another fun book, although his introductions to each essay give away too much of the game. Illus.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Review
'Marvellously entertaining as well as thought-provoking - the finest intellectual parlour-game around.' Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph
Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Counterfactuals, if they are credible, blow me away.
By JOHN GODFREY
If you love history, you probably have one. These two volumes are worth your time. It helps to know about what really happen & the various historian/authors usually supply background. Of course, unless you enjoy history, you're probably not reading this.
It's simple. Take a historical event & create a plausible alternate outcome. Three examples stood out for me. What if the Allies had lost on D-Day? The Germans throw the invasion back into the sea? It could have happened. Does the U.S. give up & turn it's attention to Japan? Does FDR get reelected? Mushroom clouds over Europe in 1945?
Pontius Pilate pardons Jesus instead of condeming him to death. Chtistainity is changed. No salvation through Christ's death on the cross. No cross, the ultimate symbol of the faith. Jesus dies of old age, confused, a great prophet maybe, but not the savior.
The French win the Franco-Prussian War or even if that stupid little war nevers occurs, history could have been profoundly changed. The unification of Germany could have been slowed down. The German Empire might not ever existed. Without that, a little skirmish in 1914 Europe would never have become World WarI. Without World War I, no World WarII, no Communism, no cold war.
Create your own scenario. Some of the histrians realy get into the aftermaths of their stories. Others not so much so, leaving you clamoring for more. But the reader or listener, can fill in the blanks. There are no right or wrong answers because it never happened.
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful.
Clever Counterfactuals
By John D. Cofield
What If? 2 continues the work of What If? 1 by offering interesting looks at alternatives to known history (counterfactuals) written by well known historians. What If? 2 is even better than its predecessor because it does not stick to military issues, but examines a wide range of cultural and biological possibilities. For example, the most intriguing chapter is a look at what would have happened had Jesus not been crucified, but lived to an advanced age. The postulated result is a true Judeo-Christianity imposed on the world by an apparently permanent Roman Empire. Another remarkable chapter describes the probable impact of a Ming Chinese trans-Pacific voyage of discovery in the 15th century. Military affairs are not entirely neglected, as there are discussions of alternate endings for the Battle of Hastings, the Franco-Prussian War, and World War I, among others. Finally, there is a fine examination of the role of the potato in history. I hope there is a What If? 3, 4, etc.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
What If in Deed....
By Robert Morris
Perhaps you have read What If? which limits its attention to hypothetical situations throughout military history. In this sequel, Cowley assembles 25 speculative commentaries on both military and non-military situations. Their authors are either eminent historians or thoughtful non-scholars. They understand far better than most of their readers do what the limitations of such "What if?" speculations are. Heaven knows they are entertaining. Great fun indeed. But they also have substantial educational value because they are relentlessly thought-provoking. The erudition and intelligence of their authors also give them some degree of credibility: If indeed Pontius Pilate had spared Jesus or Adolph Hitler had been brought to trial after World War II ended, it is highly likely (or at least plausible) that what Carlos M.N. Eire and Roger Spiller hypothesize would in fact have happened pretty much as they suggest. Tom Wicker is the author of "If Lincoln Had Not Freed the Slaves" and makes abundant sense when delineating the probable impact on American history. Geoffrey C. Ward takes a somewhat different approach in "The Luck of Franklin Delano Roosevelt" as he exams seven "might-not-have-beens" on FDR's path to the presidency. Crowley provides a superb preface to each of the commentaries, followed by a brief biography of its author. With 25 different commentaries spanning almost 2,500 years, there is literally something for everyone. One word of caution: Do not avoid commentaries on subjects in which you now have little (if any) interest. You may well find them to be the most informative as well as most enjoyable to read...no matter which ones they may be. Congratulations again to Cowley for another commendable achievement.
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