What Ifs? of American History: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been

by Robert Cowley

Book Overview

An all-American collection of essays on the pivotal moments in our nation's history by award-winning historians, the third in the bestselling series. The "what if" concept is one of the most original and engaging on the current history bookshelf. The essays are chock-full of provocative ideas; they are as accessible to the general reader as they are to the scholar; and they are the perfect gift for the dedicated history buff on anyone's list. In this...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399150919
• ISBN13: 9780399150913
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
• Length: 298 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

What Ifs? never cease to amaze me.

Finally! A What Ifs? book focused on American History. The other books in the series were descriptive and concise, answering many questions I myself have wondered about the events that have shaped the world as it is today, so it was no surprise that this one followed through. Reading this truly makes one realize the immense impact every single event in history has on our world today. Five stars, without a doubt.

Amazing Grace. History often hangs on a shoestring ???

A very interesting book. The premise is some of the `etched in stone' understandings of today oftentimes rely on some very tentative shoestrings. For instance; the Mayflower was bound for the Hudson River but was blown off course by a storm. Would the independent streak/ `religious tolerance' nurtured by the Puritans have gone Episcopalian if they were in closer proximity to the main body of English settlers in Virginia? Historian Theodore Rabb considers the possibilities. What about the battle of Long Island? If Washington had been caught in the pincer movement the British were about to spring on him, but didn't thanks to a very thick fog...would the Union Jack be flying over America today? David McCollough wonders... Oh, the probabilities do mount up. What if the Confederacy had more competent generals in Kentucky? Would Cincinnati and Louisville have fallen to the CSA? Would we still be one nation indivisible or Balkans West? The suppositions go on. This is an interesting book, one that perhaps should have markers in the margin...>. The final story reminds us that if a security guard had not noticed a door taped open, Watergate may never have been discovered. Could that have hastened in the Reagan Bush years or is there an inevitability to history dependent more on the characters involved-- so that while history may have its `shoestring' moments-- nevertheless a `preordained course' will more or less be followed... I wonder...

American History that Might Have Been

This is the third collection in the superb "What If" series, and the first to focus exclusively on American History. The first caveat I would give to anyone thinking of making a purchase is that two of these essays (by David McCullough and James McPherson) are repeats from the first volume in the series. I would secondly note that the quality of the essays included here vary wildy.Some, like the speculation on John Tyler's ascendency from Vice-President to President upon the death of William Henry Harrison, and the possible outcome of a third U.S. war with Britain (circa 1896) are quite informative. At least one, a telling of the Cuban Missle Crisis as if it precipated World War III, is quite chilling. Others, however, are less engaging. Anthony Beevor's recounting of Eisenhower's decision at the end of World War II not to march on Berlin, for example, adds little to the controversy that wasn't already there.Overall, a worthwhile collection for those who love counterfactual historical speculation, with the above reservations.

Very Intresting Thoughts On American History

I have to say that this edition of "What If?" does make you think, especially about what could have happened regarding the history of the U.S. had things gone a diffrent way.I've found a lot of the senarios presented in this book(particularly the ones on Pearl Harbor, Joe McCarthy and JFK) to be fasciniting and it really does make you think and look back.I would definitely recommend this book to any fan of history.

The Road Not Taken

History is often written as if outcomes were inevitable, as if the colonies were ordained to win the American Revolution or the Union to prevail in the Civil War. But history is contingent, and the only way to fully appreciate the significance of a given event is to think about what might have happened if things had turned out differently.At first, I was a little put off by the "What If?" series of books, thinking the essays were probably more like works of science fiction than reliable articles about history. For the most part, I was mistaken, and I recommend this book and its prequels ("What If?" and "What If2?") to anyone seeking a better understanding of some of history's conspicuous turning points.The essays generally fall into three categories. The first, which I enjoy the most, explain the historical context of a given occurrence and then engage in limited (but very illuminating) speculation about what might have happened if that event hadn't turned out the way it did. Examples of this type include Theodore Rabb's "Might the Mayflower Not Have Sailed" and John Lukac's "No Pearl Harbor?: FDR Delays the War."Other essays also offer up the historical context but move on to engage in much bolder speculation. An example is Caleb Carr's "William Pitt the Elder and the Avoidance of the American Revolution," which explores a cascade of assumptions about how the 19th and 20th Century would have been different if Britain had kept the 13 colonies (the intriguing conclusion being that the world might have been better off). The problem with this approach is that it assumes that events in the rest of the world would have stayed on more or less the same path notwithstanding a dramatic change in the outcome of the American revolution. This enables Carr to speculate, for example, on a 19th century summit between Disraeli and Bismarck, but I wonder if either of those two persons would have played the same role in history had the events of the late 18th century been dramatically different than what they actually were.The final type of essay dives right into the counterfactual world without clearly setting out the historical context. Examples are Andrew Roberts "The Whale and the Wolf, " which immediately launches into a history of a hypothetical Anglo-American War of 1896 and Ted Morgan's "Joe McCarthy's Secret Life," a tongue-in-cheek speculation that McCarthy was really a Soviet spy. For my tastes, the problem with these essays is that they spend very little time distinguishing between what did and didn't actually happen, which means that the reader is less likely to learn about history than about the author's speculations.On the whole, "What Ifs? of American History" is a very entertaining and readable book. If you enjoy it, consider getting the other two "What If" books, as well as Victor David Hanson's "Ripples of Battle" (which shares many features with the "What If?" series).