What Ifs? of American History: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been (What If Essays)

If your spouse likes history this is the perfect gift! My husband really enjoyed the book!

The introduction to one of the selections in this book suggests that it can be thought of as an "American Baedeker of roads that could have been, or almost were, taken." That's as good a description of any of this third volume in the "What If?" series of historical speculations. Once more, editor Robert Cowley has assembled a panel of noted historians and novelists, who offer all sorts of intriguing possibilities--an America without a revolution; what might have happened if the plot to assassinate Lincoln had also succeeded in killing Vice President Johnson; what might have been the consequences if the US and Britain had actually gone to war over a South American boundary dispute in 1896; and what might have happened had John F. Kennedy not been murdered. The tone of the pieces varies from the tongue in cheek (speculation on what the true motives behind Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-Communist crusade might have been) to the truly frightening (a picture of the world in 1972, ten years after the Cuban Missile Crisis leads to a widespread launch of nuclear weaponry). Playing "What If?" can be an interesting parlor game, but it can also help to illuminate the importance of real-life decisions. In the scenario of a world where both Lincoln and Johnson are killed, the resulting chaos triggers a decision by Robert E. Lee to endorse the wish of Jefferson Davis and many others in the Confederate military--not to lay down arms at that point, but to continue the fight as a guerrilla war, one that might have ended up costing countless more lives and prevented the nation's sectional breach from ever healing. With contributions from writers of the caliber of Caleb Carr, Robert Dallek, Tom Wicker and Jay Winick, the reader can be assured of an entertaining as well as a thought-provoking read. My one complaint is about the decision to include two pieces from the first book in the series, published in 1999. The jacket copy says these are pieces any American history collection would not be complete without. That strikes me as a rather thin excuse for the recycling. A big part of this book's audience will obviously be readers who have purchased the first two volumes, which are still easily available. If the publishers wanted to include some reprinted material, they could have easily mined the rich archives of the alternate history genre.--William C. Hall

Unlike many alternate history publications, this book series contains essays written by trained historians creating fascinating narratives based on logic and facts. Every book in the series has been a great read. The experience was made even better by a seller who delivered the book promptly and at a good price.

This is an interesting book and a good companion to the other What IF? books I would have given it another star if not for editing and factual (non-counterfactual) errors: McCullough writes "ships-of-the-time" instead of "ships-of-the-line" and puts Cornwallis' surrender in 1783 Fleming's "Northwest Conspiracy" is a little long, and at one point promotes Carrington from Colonel to General, then back to Colonel again Winik puts Richmond's fall on April 13th, not the 3rd. Eisenhower's heart attack was in September 1955, not 1956 (Morgan) Khrushchev banged his shoe on the desk at the UN, not Paris He also could not have sent condolences to Powers' family after the latter died in 1977 because he himself died in 1971. The whole idea that US-Soviet relations would have taken a turn for the better seems far-fetched with the Eisenhower Adminstration having only 8 months left in office, especially as the author takes pains to stress some personal connection between Eisenhow and Khrushchev (Feifer). A Soviet sub is counterfactually sunk "south of Cuba" in the text, but south of the Bahamian island of Andros on the accompanying map And how can a sub be "55 miles WEST of Virginia Beach"? Or even northwest (up the James River?) (O'Connell) After listing the Watergate burglars as McCord, Liddy, and Hunt, Malkin says that, other than McCord, "all the other burglars were anti-Castro exiles" Anti-Castro, yes, but not even Hispanic. And, on the subject of Nixon's career without a Watergate scandal (and none of his other crimes like the Ellsberg break-in coming to light during his time in office), what about the effect of Agnew's disgrace and resignation? (Malkin, Stacks) That should have been addressed, in my opinion.

If I had a pic to add, it would be my nose in this book!! I absolutely love the What-If series, because it puts a spin on history that we NEVER get in school, which stirs the imagination encouraging more exploring of more history.

Finally! A What Ifs? book focused on American History. The other books in the series were descriptive and concise, answering many questions I myself have wondered about the events that have shaped the world as it is today, so it was no surprise that this one followed through. Reading this truly makes one realize the immense impact every single event in history has on our world today. Five stars, without a doubt.

... because contrafactual history involves not just one's intellect but one's fantasy as well. Actually it's not Cowley who does all that but altogether 17 historians he persuaded to write the various chapters of his book. Which deal with questions like "Which circumstances might have impeded the main contribution the Mayflower made to the formation of (later) American society; the Maylflower compact"? To "What were some of Nixon's positive plans for American society, which the Watergate cover-up and its outcome managed to foil and condemn to the "maybe" literature. What I like about this particular book is (a) that it covers very interesting moments in American history and examines some intriguing "What If" speculations about them. And (b) that Crowley's approach to the task keeps the overall text full of suspense and maintains the reader's attention this way. By assigning only one such event to each author, and giving him limited space to detail his speculations. Not every author does an equally good job, IMHO, hence only four stars rather than the five many chapters by themselves would have earned.