What would the world be like is history had taken a different course? Science fiction literature has long contemplated this question, and this text analyzes alternate history science fiction through a variety of historical models. It raises questions of narrative, writers, temporality and time.

A collection of alternate-history stories that explore the original intentions of major historical fi gures.

Explore fascinating, often chilling “what if” accounts of the world that could have existed—and still might yet . . . Science fiction’s most illustrious and visionary authors hold forth the ultimate alternate history collection. Here you’ll experience mind-bending tales that challenge your views of the past, present, and future, including: • “The Lucky Strike”: When the Lucky Strike is chosen over the Enola Gay to drop the first atomic bomb, fate takes an unexpected turn in Kim Stanley Robinson’s gripping tale. • “Bring the Jubilee”: Ward Moore’s novella masterpiece offers a rebel victory at Gettysburg which changes the course of the Civil War . . . and all of American history. • “Through Road No Wither”: After Hitler’s victory in World War II, two Nazi officers confront their destiny in Greg Bear’s apocalyptic vision of the future. • “All the Myriad Ways”: Murder or suicide, Ambrose Harmon’s death leads the police down an infinite number of pathways in Larry Niven’s brilliant and defining tale of alternatives and consequences. • “Mozart in Mirrorshades”: Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner explore a terrifying era as the future crashes into the past—with disastrous results. . . . as well as “The Winterberry” by Nicholas A. DiChario • “Islands in the Sea” by Harry Turtledove • “Suppose They Gave a Peace” by Susan Shwartz • “Manassas, Again” by Gregory Benford • “Dance Band on the Titanic” by Jack L. Chalker • “Eutopia” by Poul Anderson • “The Undiscovered” by William Sanders • “The Death of Captain Future” by Allen Steele • and “Moon of Ice” by Brad Linaweaver The definitive collection: fourteen seminal alternate history tales drawing readers into a universe of dramatic possibility and endless wonder.

With these dazzling stories, discover just how different things might have been! Alternate History: The What-If? fiction that has finally come into its own! Shedding light on the past by exploring what could have happened, this bold genre tantalizes your imagination and challenges your perceptions with thrilling reinventions of humanity's most climactic events. Enter worlds that are at once fanciful and familiar, where fact and fiction meld in a provocative landscape of infinite possibilities. . . . "An Ink from the New Moon" by A. A. Attanasio "We Could Do Worse" by Gregory Benford "The West Is Red" by Greg Costikyan "The Forest of Time" by Michael F. Flynn "Southpaw" by Bruce McAllister "Over There" by Mike Resnick "An Outpost of the Empire" by Robert Silverberg "Aristotle and the Gun" by L. Sprague de Camp "Must and Shall" by Harry Turtledove "How I Lost the Second World War and Helped Turn Back the German Invasion" by Gene Wolfe

History records that, in the summer of 1864, Confederate President Jefferson Davis relieved General Joe Johnston from command of the Army of Tennessee, putting the aggressive General John Bell Hood in his place. Hood was subsequently defeated at Atlanta, allowing President Abraham Lincoln to secure reelection. The last chance of Confederate victory had been lost.But what if history had unfolded differently?Shattered Nation takes readers into history as it might have been. A single telegram radically alters the course of the war. As armies clash in epic battles outside Atlanta, Jefferson Davis strives to secure an independent Confederacy while Abraham Lincoln struggles desperately to keep his dream of a united America alive. A story of military adventure and political intrigue, Shattered Nation is one of the most spellbinding alternate history novels yet published.

From the author of the best-selling alternate histories Gray Tide in the East and Tidal Effects comes a unique look at the Civil War. If the North Had Won the Civil War is two alternate history novels in one. The modern story follows Stonewall Jackson "Jack" Sawyer, a history professor in the modern day Confederate States of America, and his alternate history "If the North Had Won the Civil War" in a nation where publication of such a book is a criminal offense. The story gives the reader a look at a nightmarish Confederacy where any person with a drop of Black blood in his veins is denied basic human rights and confined to a "Preserve." Interwoven with the adventures of Jack, his fiancee Annabelle Parkins, his friend and fellow history professor Buzz Hanson and his girlfriend, the mulatto escort, Lydia Starkwell is Jack's book. This is an alternate history of the Civil War written with the painstaking historical authenticity, and attention to detail that Mr. Heller's fans have come to expect. The characters in this book-within-a-book are actual figures in the Civil War and the military tactics and strategies are based on those of the historical war. The fiction is followed by a lively and informative factual discussion of the Civil War, and a bibliographic essay. Among the legions of Civil War fans, lovers of military history and alternate history geeks, this book will undoubtedly spark debate and controversy; and for those who know little or nothing about the subject, it will provide a lively and thought-provoking introduction to what is arguably the most important event in American history, one whose echoes continue to effect the shape of this nation today.

This is the ultimate collection of short stories set in a history that never was, inspired by the critically acclaimed Europa Universalis IV computer game by Paradox Development Studio. The Master of Alternate History himself, Harry Turtledove, is joined by twelve other writers, each of them creating their own history of what might have been. The point of divergence of every story in this volume is set in the age of Europa Universalis: 1444 to 1821. Three of these stories are the winning entries in the Paradox Short Story Contest 2014. Authors: Harry Turtledove, Janice Gable Bashman, Lee Battersby, Luke Bean, Raymond Benson, Felix Cook, Aidan Darnell Hailes, Jordan Ellinger, James Erwin, Anders Fager, David Parish-Whittaker, Rod Rees, Aaron Rosenberg.