What If?: Military Historians Imagine What Might Have Been

This book is fascinating.I had never thought about the impact of tiny changes from the Ancient world....a random outbreak of a disease or the death of one person can change so much.The section on the Mongols was a bit scary because they were such a brutal fighting force and could have easily changed Europe into a barbaric tribal area with no great cities.The book lost my interest a bit in the middle when there was a huge section about the American war of Independence, although maybe American history buffs would find it interesting!You get a brief history lesson along with each counter-factual and it can help you discover periods of history to look into in more detail.It's a shame there wasn't more about Medieval England, as that's my favourite era of history

well, i just think this is a superbly interesting book, perfect for dipping in to and re-visiting. If more people were to read this sort of book on trains etc. it would represent a considerable intellectual advance over puzzles and glossly magazines. its NOT a university text book, and to criticise it from that point of view is to mis-understand the aim of the book.Also, to complain that the consequences of various alternatives are not fully fleshed out is a dire mistake. The book allows a lot of room for the reader to fill in the blanks- for instance, the wonderfully written little segment on the mongols and the death of Ogadai that saved Europe perfectly explains how our continent could have been culturally decimated without trying to piant that particular picture in full.Another interesting element to that particular story is the destruction of the Caliph of Baghdad by the Mongols. The supreme head of Islam was put in a sack and "trampled to paste" by wild horses. the caliphate has never been restored...how would christians have coped had the pope suffered the same fate?anyway, questions like that are left to your imagination, which is a pleasant and pleasing thing to get from a book.the last few chapters are slightly below power, and the over-emphasis on america is slightly grating. But the book clearly believes that the various cultural traits of people can be traced back to historical events- for instance, Russian xenophobia comes from the attacks of the Mongols centuries ago, whilst German aggression is put down to that nation never having experienced Roman rule etc etc. its a highly debatable thought, but to go with it a minute only a young, historically naive nation like America would have the temerity to revise history and re-present it in such an interesting fashion.

I just love books like this - having tried to write alternate history stories myself, I know how difficult it is - miss one tiny detail and the whole premise can fall apart. So books like "What If..." written by people who know a little bit more about their chosen subjects than myself (ie: proper Historians) are indispensable for anyone who wants to consider how different the world would be if, for example, the US hadn't fluked a win at the Battle of Midway or even if the UK and US hadn't entered the First World War. Would it have even BEEN a "World" War? Probably not as it happens. Food for thought.I also recommend "The Hinge Factor" by Erik Durschmied and "The Hitler Options" and "Invasion" edited and written by Kenneth Macksey respectively, the latter being an in-depth look at the alternate history of the German Invasion of England in July 1940.

From reading this book previously myself, I decided to order it as a gift for somebody. The quality of the book when I recieved it was in a good condition and something which I would be happy to give to someone else. Upon recieving the gift they were very pleased with it. All in all it is a good read and I would suggest anyone who is the slightest bit interested in history to give it a go.

Great read.

Good service and item

Again a birthday gift to an American friend who had borrowed my husbands copy and was very reluctant to return it

good book