Neill Ferguson, one of todays top historians and social observers pulled together several noted historians (John Adamson, J.C.D. Clark, etc.) to create alternative views of history. Unlike most counterfactuals, each section requires the reader to have a better than average understanding of the period being discussed. The first time I read this book I knew that I would have to read it three of four times to really grasp some of its arguments.
Separate discussions include:
- A lengthy introduction, Virtual History: Towards a ‘chaotic’ theory of the past by Ferguson
- England without Cromwell: What if Charles I had avoided the Civil War?
- British America: What if there had been no American Revolution?
- British Ireland: What if Home Rule had been enacted in 1912?
- The Kaiser’s European Union: What if Britain had ‘stood aside’ in August 1914?
- Hitler’s England: What is Germany had invaded Britain in May 1940?
- Nazi Europe: What if Nazi Germany had defeated the Soviet Union?
- Stalin’s War or Peace: What if the Cold War had been avoided?
- Camelot Continued: What if John F. Kennedy had lived?
- 1989 without Gorbachev: What if Communism had not collapsed?
Each section is an in-depth look at the politics, personalities, economic, military and social factors which impacted the specific topic. A general knowledge of each area is a starting point, but when the personalities involved during the period of Cromwell, the Irish Question, etc. are discussed (not only their politics but their personalities), this single book will make the reader better understand the forces which impacted those times and give us a better understanding of the various factors that are faced today.
I have never read one of Ferguson’s books without realizing that I shall pick it up again in three or four years and each time, if I find that the topic is a bit clearer, it is a gauge on my progress in my own personal knowledge. Not a light read but one which will test the reader in an interesting way.
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