The stories we encounter as we explore history are captivating. However, one irresistible question we are often left with is, “What if it happened differently?” In this new volume of What if… Book of Alternative History, experts examine defining moments throughout the 20th Century and paint a picture of how things could have gone. We will ask, “What if John F Kennedy had survived?” We will explore an alternate reality where Russia stepped onto the moon first. We’ll explore if The Beatles would have reformed with an alive-and-well John Lennon. All this and more can be found right here!
Welcome to What if… • Book of Alternative
What if… THE TITANIC HAD NOT SUNK? • She was the largest, most luxurious and supposedly safest ship afloat, but her loss was to change the course of history
THE PAST
THE POSSIBILITY
What if… BRITAIN & RUSSIA HAD GONE TO WAR OVER AFGHANISTAN? • A Russian defeat in the Middle East could have set Afghanistan up for success
HOW WOULD IT BE DIFFERENT?
What if… THE ASSASSINATION OF RASPUTIN HAD FAILED? • Could the survival of “Russia’s greatest love machine” have altered the course of World War I?
THE PAST
THE POSSIBILITY
What if… COMMUNISM HAD FAILED? • Without Russia as a standard bearer for communism, the rest of the world would have rejected the philosophy
HOW WOULD IT BE DIFFERENT?
What if… GERMANY HAD WON WWI? • A German victory in the First World War would set them up as the de facto dominant force in Europe
HOW WOULD IT BE DIFFERENT?
What if… THE US HAD INVADED CANADA? • By provoking the British in North America, would the United States have gained a 46th state?
HOW WOULD IT BE DIFFERENT?
What if… THE 1929 WALL STREET CRASH HAD BEEN AVERTED? • A seismic financial shock wave ruins the hopes and dreams of millions and turns boom to bust
THE PAST
THE POSSIBILITY
What if… THE CAMBRIDGE SPY RING WAS CAUGHT SOONER? • A Soviet spy cabal recruited at university wrought havoc on the UK for decades. But what if they were apprehended before the damage was done?
The Cambridge 50?
What if… NEWLY ELECTED ROOSEVELT WAS ASSASSINATED? • Would the United States have delayed entering World War II if the president-elect was murdered?
Who was John Garner?
THE NAZIS HAD NEVER GAINED POWER? • During the interwar years, Germany faced numerous crises but it was defined by progressive leadership and Hitler’s rise was not guaranteed
HOW WOULD IT BE DIFFERENT?
EDWARD VIII HELD ONTO THE THRONE? • How the reign of the ‘playboy’ king would have tackled a constitutional crisis, and beyond
Divorce and the line of succession
What if… REPUBLICANS WON THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR? • A Republic victory for Spain was a tall order without British and French aid, but without Franco, Spain would be spared a fascist dictatorship
Who was Francisco Franco?
What if… INDIA HAD NOT BEEN PARTITIONED? • A unified India would have likely become a more dominant economic and military superpower
THE PAST
THE POSSIBILITY
What if… THE USSR HAD INVENTED THE ATOMIC BOMB FIRST? • A Soviet victory in the race for the atomic bomb could have meant a very different Cold War…
THE PAST
THE POSSIBILITY
What if… JAPAN REFUSED TO SURRENDER? • Massive invasions by the Americans and the Soviets planned after first-ever atomic bomb attacks fail to dent Japan’s resolve
THE PAST
THE POSSIBILITY
What if… THE ALLIES HAD LOST WWII? • Imagine if Hitler succeeded with his dream of turning Europe into a single Nazi superpower…
THE PAST
THE...