What Might Have Been Series by Gregory Benford

In the tradition of John Cowley's bestselling "What If?" and "What If?, Vol. 2" comes a tantalizing collection of alternate historical events for lovers of Robert Harris ("Fatherland") and Harry Turtledove ("American Empire").

Second in a series of anthologies featuring alternate histories. What would have happened if history had been different: if the major events that shaped our times had occurred in a different way, or not at all? From a Confederacy that won the Civil War to a Europe converted to Viking paganism, these bold excursions in time depict bizarre new worlds, oddly familiar, disturbingly different, a glimpse of WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN... moreSecond in a series of anthologies featuring alternate histories. What would have happened if history had been different: if the major events that shaped our times had occurred in a different way, or not at all? From a Confederacy that won the Civil War to a Europe converted to Viking paganism, these bold excursions in time depict bizarre new worlds, oddly familiar, disturbingly different, a glimpse of WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.Contents: Introduction (Alternate Heroes) (1990) • essay by Gregory Benford A Sleep and a Forgetting (1989) / short story by Robert Silverberg The Old Man and C (1989) / short story by Sheila Finch The Last Article (1988) / novelette by Harry Turtledove Mules in Horses' Harness (1990) / novelette by Michael Cassutt Lenin in Odessa (1990) / short story by George Zebrowski Abe Lincoln in McDonald's (1989) / short story by James Morrow Another Goddamned Showboat (1990) / short story by Barry N. Malzberg Loose Cannon (1990) / novelette by Susan Shwartz A Letter from the Pope (1990) / novelette by Harry Harrison and Tom Shippey Roncesvalles (1990) / novelette by Judith Tarr His Powder'd Wig, His Crown of Thornes (1989) / short story by Marc Laidlaw Departures (1989) / short story by Harry Turtledove Instability (1988) / short story by Paul Di Filippo and Rudy Rucker No Spot of Ground (1989) / novella by Walter Jon Williams. less

What would have happened if history had been different: if the major events that shaped our times had occurred in a different way-or not at all? From a Trojan War in which Helen surrenders to a Civil War fought with robots, from a World War I in which Teddy Roosevelt tries to recapture the glory of San Juan Hill to a World War II in which the race is not for atomic weapons but for orbital rockets, these bold excursions in time depict bizarre new worlds-oddly familiar, disturbingly different... moreWhat would have happened if history had been different: if the major events that shaped our times had occurred in a different way-or not at all? From a Trojan War in which Helen surrenders to a Civil War fought with robots, from a World War I in which Teddy Roosevelt tries to recapture the glory of San Juan Hill to a World War II in which the race is not for atomic weapons but for orbital rockets, these bold excursions in time depict bizarre new worlds-oddly familiar, disturbingly different.Summary: Poul Anderson's "When Free Men Shall Stand"Gregory Benford's "Manassas, Again"F.M. Busby's "Tundra Moss"Winston S. Churchill's "If Lee had not Won the Battle of Gettysburg"Nancy Kress's "And Wild for to Hold"Barry N. Malzberg's "Turpentine"Jack McDevitt's "The Tomb"James Morrow's "Arms and the Woman"Mike Resnick's "Over There"Allen Steele's "Goddard's People"Harry Turtledove's "Ready for the Fatherland"George Zebrowski's "The Number of the Sand". less