An Unofficial 'The Rest Is History' Reading List

32. What if?

March 15, 2021

Description

Counterfactuals are the great what ifs of history. Imagine the Nazis winning World War 2, or the Roman Empire never falling. Is this a valid form of historical enquiry? Or is it simply...
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Books Referenced

Fatherland

Author: Robert Harris

Context:

Mentioned at the opening as a counterfactual novel imagining the Nazis winning World War II, used to introduce the topic of counterfactual history

Altered Pasts

Author: Richard Evans

Context:

Referenced as a book by the Cambridge historian analyzing counterfactuals in history, including analysis of Dominic's own counterfactual essays

The Difference Engine

Author: William Gibson and Bruce Sterling

Context:

Referenced as a science fiction novel imagining a world where Babbage and Ada Lovelace invented the computer, with Victorian England run by computers

The Escape from Rome

Author: Walter Scheidel

Context:

Discussed as a book arguing that the industrial revolution required the collapse of the Roman Empire, using counterfactual reasoning throughout

The Alteration

Author: Kingsley Amis

Context:

Mentioned as a favorite alternative history novel about a Catholic England

SS-GB

Author: Len Deighton

Context:

Referenced as a good alternative history novel, noted as not as well known as Fatherland, was also televised

The Man in the High Castle

Author: Philip K. Dick

Context:

Mentioned as an alternative history work that was realized on screen, referring to the novel about Axis powers winning WWII