Best Alternate History Stories Of The 20Th Century [Hardcover]

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.
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What if? Harry Turtledove, renowned alt-historian and the editor of this anthology, calls that question "those two mournful little words." But little though they might be, they inspired some of the previous century's most brilliant speculative fiction, including the 14 short stories collected here.
And with contributors like Poul Anderson, Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, Larry Niven, Kim Stanley Robinson, Bruce Sterling, and Turtledove himself, there's truly not a clunker in the bunch. All of these stories revolve around Turtledove's central beard-tugging question, but they vary wildly in style, mood, and approach. Many toy with how the future might be altered had some particular event turned out differently (what if the Confederates had won at Gettysburg, or the Enola Gay had crashed before making its fateful flight?), while others follow dimension-hoppers traveling through tangled branches of our timeline (as in Sterling's "Mozart in Mirrorshades," Anderson's "Eutopia," and Jack L. Chalker's surreal ferry ride through "Dance Band on the Titanic").

All but four of these stories were written in the last two decades of the century--before then, Turtledove suggests in part, we weren't scientifically certain about whether Martians and "oceans on Venus full of reptilian monsters" might exist, so we were satisfied by more conventional, planet-faring SF. But the ideas that the contributors wrestle with here, and that irresistible human urge to speculate about the implications of our actions (and whether our decisions matter at all), prove timeless. --Paul Hughes

[From Publishers Weekly]: A ghostly ferry makes passages between coexisting "different Earths"; a 20th-century man describes his impact on the Civil War, brought about by time-machine tricks; and Mozart, Thomas Jefferson and Marie Antoinette end up as employees at an oil refinery in The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century, edited by Harry Turtledove with Martin H. Greenberg. Contributors include Poul Anderson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Ward Moore and Susan Shwartz. ---Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

[From School Library Journal]: Adult/High School-Several of the subgenre's best-known writers are represented in this collection of 12 short stories and two novellas originally published between 1952 and 2000. Some pieces are concerned with time travel or alternate realities, while others are straightforward short stories set during historical times (including our own altered present). Selections range from Ward Moore's classic "Bring the Jubilee," a picaresque tale set in a defeated post-Civil War North, to Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner's "Mozart in Mirrorshades," a cheeky clashing of myriad futures. Themes often reflect a concern with ethics, individual responsibility, and the consequences of decisions-and, of course, the nature of history. Few readers are likely to enjoy all stories equally well, but most should discover something that is to their taste; for many libraries, Kim Stanley Robinson's stunning "The Lucky Strike," a soldier's story of the atom bomb and Hiroshima, would, on its own, justify the price of the book. Also notable are William Sanders's "The Undiscovered," a funny and touching tale of Shakespeare lost in the New World; Jack Chalker's "Dance Band on the Titanic," a ghost story about the ethics of suicide; and Turtledove's "Islands in the Sea," in which Islam wins a crucial eighth-century debate with Christianity. Other writers included are Poul Anderson, Greg Bear, Susan Shwartz, and more. For imaginative readers, these stories can open new vistas on the past and inspire a new sense of the possibilities of present and future.
Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA ---Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

[From Booklist]: It isn't any wonder to find Harry Turtledove editing an anthology of alternate history tales, nor to find none of the 14 stories in it less than superb. Turtledove and veteran anthologist Greenberg have balanced literary and historiographic excellence very well, leaving as the only possible complaint to lodge the fact that selecting only 14 stories doesn't do justice to a genre that includes more than twice as many outstanding novels. Ranging in length from Ward Moore's short novel "Bring the Jubilee" to Greg Bear's five-page "Through Road No Whither," the selections represent most of the living authors who have tackled alternate history, including Turtledove, and they happily include Allen Steele's "The Death of Captain Future" and William Sanders' "The Unexpected," which haven't been put in a book nearly as often as they ought to be. As an introduction to alternate history at its best, this collection perhaps cannot be bettered--lengthened, yes, but not bettered. Roland Green ---Copyright © American Library Association.

[From the Back Cover]:
"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 works by Poul Anderson - Gregory Benford - Jack L. Chalker - Nicholas A. DiChario - Brad Linaweaver - William Sanders - Susan Shwartz - Allen Steele - and Harry Turtledove himself!
The definitive collection: fourteen seminal alternate history tales drawing readers into a universe of dramatic possibility and endless wonder.

Aventura / Contos / Distopia / Drama / Ficção científica / História / Literatura Estrangeira / Política / Suspense e Mistério