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Title: What If? 2: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been (What If... (Simon & Schuster Audio)) by Robert Cowley, Josiah Ober, Theodore K. Rabb, Cecelia Holland, Geoffrey Parker, James McPherson, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Caleb Carr, Richard Rhodes, Murphy Guyer ISBN: 0-7435-0933-1 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio Pub. Date: 01 October, 2001 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 4 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.35 (23 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Okay, but very disappointing.
Comment: After the huge success of the 1999's "What If?", a superb foray into the speculation of hardly inevitable military events, there comes this book. It does not focus completely on military history, like it's predecessor...
The main problem of the book is this: the bad essays (and there are many) are way too long, and many potentially good ones (Cecilia Holland's on the Battle of Hastings, which does not explore the possibilities of a victory by Harold at all) are too short. The opening chapter on the possible death of Socrates in battle is very heady and not rewarding. The next scenario, on a possible victory by Antony and Cleopatra, is more intriguing; but the chapter on the survival of Jesus Christ is (in my opinion) surprisingly vague about the worldwide aspects of this event.
And so on and so on. Only a few essays even approach those in the original: "Napoleon Invades America" (which has the interesting mix of fascinating facts and equally interesting counterfactual speculations that made the original so worthwhile), "The Fuhrer In The Dock", "The Great War Torpedoed", "No Bomb, No End", and "The Luck of Franklin Roosevelt" are the best. The rest are at best mediocre, and don't come close to those essays' precedents.
The worst essay, perhaps, is the one by Alistair Horne (who wrote arguably the best essay in the original, "Ruler of the World") on what would've happened if the Franco-Prussian War had never happened. So far, so good. But when we get into the explanation, WHY is it avoided? Because Napoleon III visits a medium, and the spirits of Napoleon and Minister De Talleyrand advise him. What the **bleep** kinda garbage is that? The essays on Socrates, Theodore Roosevelt's presidency, and Lenin not being sent to Finland Station are close.
Bottom line: "What If? 2" is readable, but not even close to the superb original...
Rating: 4
Summary: Counterfactuals, if they are credible, blow me away.
Comment: If you love history, you probably have one. These two volumes are worth your time. It helps to know about what really happen & the various historian/authors usually supply background. Of course, unless you enjoy history, you're probably not reading this.
It's simple. Take a historical event & create a plausible alternate outcome. Three examples stood out for me. What if the Allies had lost on D-Day? The Germans throw the invasion back into the sea? It could have happened. Does the U.S. give up & turn it's attention to Japan? Does FDR get reelected? Mushroom clouds over Europe in 1945?
Pontius Pilate pardons Jesus instead of condeming him to death. Chtistainity is changed. No salvation through Christ's death on the cross. No cross, the ultimate symbol of the faith. Jesus dies of old age, confused, a great prophet maybe, but not the savior.
The French win the Franco-Prussian War or even if that stupid little war nevers occurs, history could have been profoundly changed. The unification of Germany could have been slowed down. The German Empire might not ever existed. Without that, a little skirmish in 1914 Europe would never have become World WarI. Without World War I, no World WarII, no Communism, no cold war.
Create your own scenario. Some of the histrians realy get into the aftermaths of their stories. Others not so much so, leaving you clamoring for more. But the reader or listener, can fill in the blanks. There are no right or wrong answers because it never happened.
Rating: 2
Summary: Be careful what you wish for
Comment: After reading WHAT IF, Volume 1, I stated that I eagerly awaited another collection of a non-military nature. Well, that's what I got and the result is a huge disappointment. As another reviewer noted, the bad ones were too long and the good ones were too short.
My number one objection was the lack of an alternative story. IN many of these, 80% of the writing was a review of what actually happened. So, in the one about Socrates, we get a lot of Plato, Aristotle, Archimedes, Perfect Forms, battles, but almost no philosophical suppositions of a world without Socrates. In the one in which Jesus is not executed, the author could not help but keep referring to "actual" history and apologizing for even discussing the subject.
The list goes on - the Chinese exploration tale centered on what happened with the Ming dynasty rather than an alternate tale. The Cleopatra tale involves a lengthy review of past history. The people who read these stories already KNOW the history - they want a brief forward followed by the story, not another rehash of World Events 101. Where is the imagination, where is the spark? Very poor execution.
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