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This work of alternative history looks at sixty of the most famous 'what if?' scenarios of the Second World War, from the possibility of war breaking out in 1938, through the controversies that surround Pearl Harbor and the war on the Eastern Front, to the final days of the war in Europe and in the Pacific.
The nature of the articles varies quite wildly. Some barely resemble alternative history at all, instead analysing why a particular scenario didn't happen. Some of these articles are very interesting, but others are a little too sure of the inevitability of the actual course of events, especially when examining the war on the Eastern Front (perhaps a slight hangover of the old Soviet belief in the inevitable triumph of the Socialist System?).
Other articles take a completely different approach and are written as if the alternative scenario is what actually took place, treating it as accepted fact. These articles are rather more entertaining, if inevitably less historical, but the switch does come as something of a shock, and some sort of warnings as to the type of article to expect might have been of use!
The resulting mix gives this book more historical value than might have been the case if the second style had been adopted throughout, successfully dismissing a large number of popular theories about missed chances or alternative courses for the war as well as providing entertaining looks at some possible alternatives worlds.
Chapters
1 - Dress Rehearsal Crisis 1938
2 - August-September 1939
3 - Phony and Hot War 1939-1940
4 - Hitler's Attack on Russia
5 - Germany versus the Soviet Union
6 - Pearl Harbor and its Consequences
7 - The Pacific War
8 - The Mediterranean
9 - The June 1944 Invasion
10 - 20 July 1944
11 - The Final Stages of the War in Europe
12 - The Ultra Secret
13 - Hitler's Role
14 - The Conclusion of the Pacific War
15 - The War at Sea
16 - The Air War
17 - What if Hitler had won the war?
Editors: Dennis Showalter and Harold Deutch
Edition: Hardcover
Pages: 336
Publisher: Frontline
Year: 2010