Dat's What I'm Talking About
So, as many of you know, I'm a big fan of alternate reality writing. Despite dialogue that grinds my teeth, I grab the new Harry Turtledove book whenever it shows up at the library.
So it's refreshing to have found a book called What If?. Instead of making one coherant story, the book is a collection of essays by military historians, compiled by Robert Cowley, focusing on the history of the world if various battles had gone differently than they did.
The essays focus on major battles between 701 BC and the Cold War. While it's easy to look at major wars, the essays focus on small choices, and what effect these choices have had on the history of humanity.
So far I've read three essays, which are in the book in chronological order:
- What if Sennacherib had conquered Jerusalem instead of leaving when his warriors started getting sick? He came to Jerusalem during the time when the Jewish faith, centered in Jerusalem, was in it's infancy. The sickness and retreat were seen as a sign from God and fortified Judaism's following. Had he not retreated, Jahweh would have been blamed, Judaism doesn't exist, Christianity doesn't exist, Islam doesn't exist.
- What if Themistocles doesn't convince the Greeks to build up their Navy, or doesn't convince Xerxes that he's ready to give up during the Persian invasion of 480 BC? Persians take Greece before they get a chance to become the cultural center of the world. Hilarity ensues.
- What if Cleitus stumbles while trying to save Alexander from the second swing of Spithridates axe? Alexander dies 12 years before he does, never unifies the various empires on the Mediterranean. Athens & Carthage go to war, Romans join Carthage in the battle, consider Greece the enemy, absorb Persian culture instead of Greek, never expand because of that (it's explained in the essay, but its long and complex), the world becomes a much more isolated place.
Other stuff coming up deal with the Lost Orders in the Civil War, Pearl Harbor, and stuff like that. Never anything too detailed, but each essay lets the reader recognize the importance of otherwise minor events.
A great read, can't wait to finish it, and the sequel.
So it's refreshing to have found a book called What If?. Instead of making one coherant story, the book is a collection of essays by military historians, compiled by Robert Cowley, focusing on the history of the world if various battles had gone differently than they did.
The essays focus on major battles between 701 BC and the Cold War. While it's easy to look at major wars, the essays focus on small choices, and what effect these choices have had on the history of humanity.
So far I've read three essays, which are in the book in chronological order:
- What if Sennacherib had conquered Jerusalem instead of leaving when his warriors started getting sick? He came to Jerusalem during the time when the Jewish faith, centered in Jerusalem, was in it's infancy. The sickness and retreat were seen as a sign from God and fortified Judaism's following. Had he not retreated, Jahweh would have been blamed, Judaism doesn't exist, Christianity doesn't exist, Islam doesn't exist.
- What if Themistocles doesn't convince the Greeks to build up their Navy, or doesn't convince Xerxes that he's ready to give up during the Persian invasion of 480 BC? Persians take Greece before they get a chance to become the cultural center of the world. Hilarity ensues.
- What if Cleitus stumbles while trying to save Alexander from the second swing of Spithridates axe? Alexander dies 12 years before he does, never unifies the various empires on the Mediterranean. Athens & Carthage go to war, Romans join Carthage in the battle, consider Greece the enemy, absorb Persian culture instead of Greek, never expand because of that (it's explained in the essay, but its long and complex), the world becomes a much more isolated place.
Other stuff coming up deal with the Lost Orders in the Civil War, Pearl Harbor, and stuff like that. Never anything too detailed, but each essay lets the reader recognize the importance of otherwise minor events.
A great read, can't wait to finish it, and the sequel.
posted by Bill at 1:53 PM
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