OT: any good "what if" historical books?

[gravyface_]

Looking for some "deep dives" into the subject. I've seen a couple of Google, but interested in scholarly/historian theoretical books, or a good novel, but prefer the latter.

Like, what if Hitler didn't invade USSR? Or Japan didn't bomb Pearl Harbor, from a political/strategic perspective, and from an operational perspective, what if Germany bypassed Stalingrad or kept pushing for Moscow in '41 like Guderian wanted... etc. etc.

[Hairog]

How about the World War Three 1946 series by... me [:'(]

[Hairog]

Book Two

[Hairog]

And Book Three

[gravyface_]

Ha amazing. I'll have to check that out. Do you play SC?

[Leadwieght]

Hi Gravyface,

For some reason, I have Sealion in my mind. Back in the 1950s, C.S. Forrester, of AFRICAN QUEEN and HORATIO HORNBLOWER fame, wrote a longish short story on Sealion, I'll let you guess how he has it turn out. [;)].

There was also a serious alternative history of Sealion, called OPERATION SEALION that came out in the 1970s. Sorry I can't remember the author, dammit! It was interesting because it was written like a Cornelius Ryan WW2 history, complete with fake first-hand accounts and documentation. I read it a long time ago and am trying to find it again.

Not a novel, but extremely interesting is British historian Niall Fergusson's discussion of the "What-ifs of the First World War and how they could have changed what happened afterwards--see the last chapter of THE PITY OF WAR.

There's also the alt-history "What-If" series, which is global in scope, but has some interesting articles about WW2

[BillRunacre]

ORIGINAL: gravyface_

Ha amazing. I'll have to check that out. Do you play SC?

Harry not only plays SC, but he's also been working on a mod too:

tm.asp?m=4184302

[sPzAbt653]

Not part of your description, but this one might be interesting:
https://hitlertriumphant.wordpress.com/ ... on-sphinx/

[Hairog]

ORIGINAL: Bill Runacre

ORIGINAL: gravyface_

Ha amazing. I'll have to check that out. Do you play SC?

Harry not only plays SC, but he's also been working on a mod too:

tm.asp?m=4184302

I do play SC and Bill is is currently kicking my butt while testing PBEM.

[gwgardner]

You might try the Worldwar series of books by Harrry Turtledove. Definitely alternate WW2, with an alien invasion thrown in. Don't laugh! It's actually pretty good, but the author has the very annoying habit of providing a long synopsis of each previous book in the series.

Newt Gingrich has co-authored some really good alternate histories of the Civil War and The Pacific Theater in WW2, notably
Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th

[zombiewarrior07]

It is Sci-Fi, but The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick is a very interesting read:

https://www.amazon.com/Man-High-Castle- ... igh+castle

[gravyface_]

Thanks fellas. Lots to dig into here.

[Rand6897]

I have a book by Showalter and Deutsch (1997): If The Allies Had Fallen, Sixty Alternate Scenarios of WW2.

Released previous as "What If? Strategic Alternatives of WW2".

[jakemon]

Also not part of your description, but entertaining and informative: Alan Furst's series of early war novels (e.g. Dark Voyage).

[Leadwieght]

Richard Cox OPERATION SEALION