32. What if?

March 15, 2021

Description

Counterfactuals are the great what ifs of history. Imagine the Nazis winning World War 2, or the Roman Empire never falling. Is this a valid form of historical enquiry? Or is it simply...
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Books Referenced

Fatherland

Author: Robert Harris

Context:

Mentioned at the opening as a counterfactual novel imagining the Nazis winning World War II, used to introduce the topic of counterfactual history

Altered Pasts

Author: Richard Evans

Context:

Referenced as a book by the Cambridge historian analyzing counterfactuals in history, including analysis of Dominic's own counterfactual essays

The Difference Engine

Author: William Gibson and Bruce Sterling

Context:

Referenced as a science fiction novel imagining a world where Babbage and Ada Lovelace invented the computer, with Victorian England run by computers

The Escape from Rome

Author: Walter Scheidel

Context:

Discussed as a book arguing that the industrial revolution required the collapse of the Roman Empire, using counterfactual reasoning throughout

The Alteration

Author: Kingsley Amis

Context:

Mentioned as a favorite alternative history novel about a Catholic England

SS-GB

Author: Len Deighton

Context:

Referenced as a good alternative history novel, noted as not as well known as Fatherland, was also televised

The Man in the High Castle

Author: Philip K. Dick

Context:

Mentioned as an alternative history work that was realized on screen, referring to the novel about Axis powers winning WWII