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Niall Ferguson, ed., "Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals"

Speculative history at its best, in which a talented team of historians, led by Niall Ferguson, explore what might have happened if nine momentous events had turned out differently.

What if there had been no American War of Independence? What if Hitler had invaded Britain? What if Kennedy had lived? What if Russia had won the Cold War? Niall Ferguson, author of the highly acclaimed The Pity of War, leads the charge in this historically rigorous series of separate voyages into "imaginary time" and provides far-reaching answers to these intriguing questions.

Ferguson's brilliant 90-page introduction doubles as a manifesto on the methodology of counter-factual history. His equally masterful afterword traces the likely historical ripples that would have proceeded from the maintenance of Stuart rule in England. This breathtaking narrative gives us a convincing, detailed "alternative history" of the West-from the accession of "James III" in 1701, to a Nazi-occupied England, to a U.S. Prime Minister Kennedy who lives to complete his term.

Amazon.com Review

This meaty, scholarly collection of essays by gifted historian Niall Ferguson tackles the controversial topic of counterfactual questions: What if Hitler had invaded Britain in WWII? What if JFK had survived his assassination? What if there had been no Gorbachev to usher in the collapse of Communism? What if there had been no American Revolution? Ferguson points out that while questions such as these are a vital part of how we learn as individuals ("What if I had observed the speed limit, or refused that last drink?"), there remains a great deal of resistance—even hostility—to such musings among professional historians. "In the dismissive phrase of E.H. Carr, 'counterfactual' history is a mere 'parlour game,' a 'red herring.'" E.P. Thompson is less charitable, calling counterfactual histories "'Geschichtswissenschlopff', unhistorical shit."

But Ferguson and his distinguished collaborators (many of whom are also Oxford fellows) lodge some convincing counterfactuals of their own to counter this arguably blinkered notion, this "idea that events are in some way preprogrammed, so that what was, had to be." In addition to the what-ifs above, Ferguson and his comrades tackle eight questions in all, including "What if Charles I had avoided the Civil War?", "What if Home Rule had been enacted [in Ireland] in 1912?", and "What if Britain had 'stood aside' in August 1914?" Virtual History makes for a stimulating and intellectually rigorous trip, with Ferguson's own delightful afterword as the collection's crowning jewel, a brilliant—and often bitingly clever—timeline tying together all the threads from 1646 to 1996.

Contents

& 8220;Introduction – Virtual History: Towards a 'chaotic' theory of the past – Niall Ferguson

1 England Without Cromwell: What if Charles I had avoided the Civil War? – John Adamson

2 British America: What if there had been no American Revolution? – J. C. D. Clark

3 British Ireland: What if Home Rule had been enacted in 1912? – Alvin Jackson

4 The Kaiser's European Union: What if Britain had 'stood aside' in August 1914? – Niall Ferguson

5 Hitler's England: What if Germany had invaded Britain in May 1940? – Andrew Roberts and Niall Ferguson

6 Nazi Europe: What if Nazi Germany had defeated the Soviet Union? – Michael Burleigh

7 Stalin's War Or Peace: What if the Cold War had been avoided? – Jonathan Haslam

8 Camelot Continued: What if John F. Kennedy had lived? – Diane Kunz

9 1989 Without Gorbachev: What if Communism had not collapsed? – Mark Almond

Afterword: A Virtual History, 1646–1996 – Niall Ferguson

Notes

Index& 8221;

Tags: History, Counterfactuals, Philosophy, WorldPolitics

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See Also:

Niall Ferguson, "The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World"

James M. McPherson, "Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States)"

Allan Bloom, "The Closing of the American Mind"

Francis Fukuyama, "The End of History and the Last Man"

Paul Johnson, "Modern Times: The World from the Twenties to the Nineties (Revised Edition)"

J. M. Roberts, "The New History of the World, 4e"

Michio Kaku, "Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel"

Tony Judt, "Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945"

J. M. Roberts, "Twentieth Century: The History of the World, 1901 to 2000"

Daniel Walker Howe, "What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (Oxford History of the United States)"

excellent. thanks!

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