What If? II

by William H. McNeill, James D. Bradley, Alistair Horne, et al.

Book Overview

What if Lincoln didn't abolish slavery? What if an assassin succeeded in killing FDR in 1933? This volume presents 25 intriguing "what if..." scenarios by some of today's greatest historical... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399147950
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: Putnam Adult
• Length: 427 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.4" x 1.5" x 6.4"

Customer Reviews

More What If?

After reading both What If? 1 and What if? 2, I came looking for What If? 3. But instead I found More What If?, which I thought to be a third installment in the series; and thinking so, I placed it in my wish list. I'm glad I did that and did not buy the book because as one of the reviewers here says, it sounds a lot like What If? 2. It sure does - like every one of the reviews that cite an essay in More What If? is citing the same thing that is in WI2. I give this book 5 stars, but I am actually giving WI2 the stars - it is excellent, just as WI1 was. And now I am going into my wish list to delete my most recent wish. Wow, What If? I had bought it, huh? Buyer Beware!

Fascinating read

I read this book in two sittings and since then have been pestering everyone I know with the questions it poses.What if Pontius Pilate hadn't crucified Jesus but set him free? The answer is well thought out, feasible and fascinating.Surprises and "I wish I'd thought of that" moments at every turn make this very hard to put down.If you're planning a party and want to provide some intellectual stimulation for your post-party down time this is the book for you.

Great Book

I think that What If? 2 is a very good book which explores various senarios and speculates what might have been.I definitely reccommend this book to any history lover.

What If in Deed....

Perhaps you have read What If? which limits its attention to hypothetical situations throughout military history. In this sequel, Cowley assembles 25 speculative commentaries on both military and non-military situations. Their authors are either eminent historians or thoughtful non-scholars. They understand far better than most of their readers do what the limitations of such "What if?" speculations are. Heaven knows they are entertaining. Great fun indeed. But they also have substantial educational value because they are relentlessly thought-provoking. The erudition and intelligence of their authors also give them some degree of credibility: If indeed Pontius Pilate had spared Jesus or Adolph Hitler had been brought to trial after World War II ended, it is highly likely (or at least plausible) that what Carlos M.N. Eire and Roger Spiller hypothesize would in fact have happened pretty much as they suggest. Tom Wicker is the author of "If Lincoln Had Not Freed the Slaves" and makes abundant sense when delineating the probable impact on American history. Geoffrey C. Ward takes a somewhat different approach in "The Luck of Franklin Delano Roosevelt" as he exams seven "might-not-have-beens" on FDR's path to the presidency. Crowley provides a superb preface to each of the commentaries, followed by a brief biography of its author. With 25 different commentaries spanning almost 2,500 years, there is literally something for everyone. One word of caution: Do not avoid commentaries on subjects in which you now have little (if any) interest. You may well find them to be the most informative as well as most enjoyable to read...no matter which ones they may be. Congratulations again to Cowley for another commendable achievement.

Clever Counterfactuals

What If? 2 continues the work of What If? 1 by offering interesting looks at alternatives to known history (counterfactuals) written by well known historians. What If? 2 is even better than its predecessor because it does not stick to military issues, but examines a wide range of cultural and biological possibilities. For example, the most intriguing chapter is a look at what would have happened had Jesus not been crucified, but lived to an advanced age. The postulated result is a true Judeo-Christianity imposed on the world by an apparently permanent Roman Empire. Another remarkable chapter describes the probable impact of a Ming Chinese trans-Pacific voyage of discovery in the 15th century. Military affairs are not entirely neglected, as there are discussions of alternate endings for the Battle of Hastings, the Franco-Prussian War, and World War I, among others. Finally, there is a fine examination of the role of the potato in history. I hope there is a What If? 3, 4, etc.