First published 2000
History hangs on countless crucial moments. Twenty distinguished historians tackle the biggest alternate scenarios that keep scholars awake at night. They explore where civilization might have headed if key events had taken different turns. These writers examine the forces that shaped our world and ask what would have happened if fortune had smiled elsewhere. Each essay takes one pivotal moment and follows the threads of possibility. The questions are enormous and the potential answers shift everything we think we know. Some scenarios offer hope while others reveal how close we came to disaster. The collection shows how fragile our path through time really is and demonstrates that the world we inhabit was never inevitable.
Genres: history, non-fiction, alternate-history, academic
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: counterfactual, what-if
395 pages · Paperback · Berkley Books