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Title: What If?: The World's Foremost Military Historians Imagine What Might Have Been (What If... (Simon & Schuster Audio)) by Robert Cowley, John Cunningham, Janet Zarish ISBN: 0-671-04766-3 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio Pub. Date: 01 December, 1999 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 4 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.85 (95 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Enjoyable Yet Uneven Speculation
Comment: Who hasn't wondered about a decision not taken or the string of uninterrupted causation that is required for any single person to exist? Think about your own life: the chain of events which resulted in your parents meeting; how you ended up in your current job; the college you attended; you never attended college; or how you met your current significant other. We are all shaped by historical choices, both ones made by ourselves, and those made on a scale that can alter history.
"What If?" gathers some of the world's foremost military historians to offer hypothetical counterfactuals, including: What If Alexander the Great had died in battle at the age of 21, before he had built an empire? What if the American Revolution had resulted in disaster? What if certain key battles in the American Civil War had changed? This is fun reading as it is always interesting to consider alternative paths not taken or paths unavailable by happenstance.
This book contains a number of excellent examples of counterfactual speculation, with only a few medicore essays. The authors examine how individual actions can have an impact as can the whims of weather.
This is an enjoyable book and, because of the broad area of military history, invites the potential for sequels. For example: One counterfactual I've always wondered about occurred in December of 1814 here in my home town of New Orleans. A prosperous son of Creole planters was awakened by the sound of British troops landing at the back of his plantation. Young Mr. Villere jumped out the window and headed for New Orleans, dodging a shot from a British sentry. Villere arrived in New Orleans and spread the alarm. Gen. Andrew Jackson gathered his forces and launched a surprise attack on the British. The British, unsure of the forces facing them, slowed their advance to give time to consolidate their forces. This gave Jackson time to throw up some defenses on the plains of Chalmette. Within 2 weeks the British had been defeated after suffering enourmous casualties attempting to storm Jackson's fortifications.
But what if the British sentry had not missed young Mr. Villere? Had the British continued their advance it is conceivable that these veterans of the Peninsular campaign could have won the Battle of New Orleans. Today people only remember that the Battle of New Orleans was fought after a peace treaty had been signed. But the treaty had not yet been ratified. Further, in the treaty the British recognized the status of borders prior to the war. But Britain had never recognized the Louisiana purchase, as the Spainish had violated a treaty with Britain when Spain secretly sold Louisiana to France. Britain could have attempted to keep New Orleans. This would have meant a widening of the war. It also begs the following question: Would there have been sufficient British troops to win at Waterloo?
As you can see counterfactual speculation leads to a never ending string of alternative possibilities. But it is enjoyble to speculate, as is "What If?"
Rating: 5
Summary: Makes history both fun and frightening!
Comment: Heard the taped version of WHAT IF?: THE WORLD'S FOREMOST
MILITARY HISTORIANS IMAGINE WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN, edited
by Robert Cowley . . . I often speculate about lots of things, and so do the contributors to this book--including Stephen E. Ambrose, John Keegan, David McCollough, and James M. McPherson (to name just a few).
For example, what if:
George Washington had never made his miraculous escape
from the British on Long Island in the early dawn of August 29, 1776?
a Confederate aide hadn't accidentally lost General Robert E. Lee's plans for invading the North?
the Allied invasion on D Day had failed?
These and a whole host of other questions are considered . . . the resultant answers are often fun, but at the same time, sometimes frightening . . . as in, Hitler's case . . . had he not attacked Russia when he did, he might have moved into the Middle East and secured the oil supplies the Third Reich so badly needed, thus helping it retain its power in Europe . . . can you just imagine the present-day implications for that scenario?
If you're a history buff, this is a MUST read . . . but methinks
that others will enjoy it and become much more interested
in the subject as a result . . . I know that I'm now looking
forward to Coweley's follow-up effort, WHAT IF? 2.
Rating: 3
Summary: Take your time
Comment: I've been a history buff my whole life, and as an adult I became one of those people who naturally looks for different ways to do the same old thing. So I easily assumed that this fun "what if" genre of looking at history would be fascinating to me.
And I was right, at least at first.
But over time, reading this book wore me down. That isn't a criticism of any essay in particular: I think that several -- such as Lewis Lapham's exploration into the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, Thomas Fleming's piece about how the American Revolution Could have been lost, and John Keegan's view on how Hitler's war could have been won -- are particularly strong. But like certain kinds of desert, what started out as a tasty indulgence just became too much to enjoy.
We've all had the experience of sitting next to a know-it-all guest at some dinner party, someone who has an unusual explanation for everything and who won't listen to anything or anyone who doesn't support what he thinks. That mind-numbing feeling is the similar to the one I had after reading a few of these essays in a row.
Does that mean you shouldn't buy this book? No, not necessarily. But if you do buy it, my suggestion would be to take it in stages. Read an essay or two and then switch to something else, and then come back to it. As for me, the purchase What If 2?, which once seemed assured, will have to wait a while.
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Title: What If? 2: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been by Robert Cowley ISBN: 042518613X Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: October, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: What Ifs? of American History: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been by Antony Beevor, Calebert Carr, Robert Dallek, John Lukacs, Jay Winik, Robert Cowley, Caleb Carr ISBN: 0399150919 Publisher: Putnam Pub Group Pub. Date: 16 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century by Harry Turtledove, Martin Harry Greenberg ISBN: 0345439902 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 02 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Almost America : From the Colonists to Clinton: a "What If" History of the U.S. by Steve Tally ISBN: 0380800918 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: 21 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: If The South Had Won The Civil War by Harry Turtledove, Dan Nance, MacKinlay Kantor ISBN: 0312869495 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 03 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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