What If...? Vol 3, Robert Cowley
What If...? Vol 3, Robert Cowley
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What If...? Vol 3
The World's Foremost Military Historians Imagine What Might Have Been

Author: Robert Cowley, Robert Cowley

Narrator: Murphy Guyer

Abridged: 4 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/01/2000


Synopsis

Historians and inquisitive laymen alike love to ponder the dramatic what-ifs of history. In these never-before-published essays, some of the keenest minds of our time ask the big, tantalizing questions: Where might we be if history had not unfolded the way it did? Why, how, and when was our fortune made real? The answers are surprising, sometimes frightening, and always entertaining.

This provocative collection of essays features today's foremost historians speculating on these "what ifs", providing a fascinating new perspective on history's most pivotal events. The essays include:

* Infectious Alternatives: The Plague that Saved Jerusalem

by William H. McNeil

* No Glory That Was Greece: The Persians Win at Salamis

by Victor Davis Hanson

* Conquest Denied: Alexander the Great's Premature Death

by Josiah Ober

* Furor Teutonicus: The Teutoburg

by Lewis Lapham

* The Dark Ages Made Lighter: The Consequences of Two Defeats

by Barry S. Strauss

* The Death that Saved Europe: The Mongols Turn Back

by Cecilia Holland

* If Only It Had Not Been Such a Wet Summer

by Theodore K. Rabb

* The Immolation of Hernán Cortés

by Ross Hassig

About The Author

Robert Cowley is the founding editor of the award-winning MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, whose tenth-anniversary issue inspired this audiobook. He has held several senior positions in book and magazine publishing, and lives in New York City and Connecticut.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lee on November 17, 2020

This book really didn't live up to my expectations... I stopped reading 2/3 through. I loved the premise very much, that's why I bought it. But the editor, who has written a lot about military history, ended up soliciting essays that mostly focused on military history. Which is fine if this book was......more

Goodreads review by Steve on February 01, 2019

I recently read and liked "What If," about military battles that could have gone otherwise and the consequences to world history that would have probably occurred. The followup book, "What If 2," is about world, not military, events that could have gone otherwise. Too many of the scenarios (some of w......more

Goodreads review by Teddy on January 26, 2021

If I had more time I'd write a shorter review. Apologies. Overall a much better collection in my opinion than the first volume, with better editing, a slightly more interesting curation of essays (too much focus on WW2 for my taste but that's understandable) and the quality of writing massively impr......more

Goodreads review by Christopher on April 12, 2010

Overall a reasonable and interesting read. One major problem with the book is that the contributors often “chicken out” when discussing their particular alternative historical scenario. They will provide all the background concerning the scenario but there will just be a couple of paragraphs on what......more

Goodreads review by Trevar on July 12, 2013

A good history read, but every essayist has their own styles - which means they do not particularly mesh well together. Some are really interesting, some start out interesting and then lose momentum.... others are uninteresting from the start. But the book still has a subject matter worth paying att......more