"What If...?" Every Civil War armchair general asks the question. Possibilities unfold. Disappointments vanish. Imaginations soar. More questions arise. Asking "What if..." is often more than an exercise in wishful fantasy. A serious inquiry sparks rigorous exploration, demands critical thinking, and unlocks important insights.
The Great "What Ifs" of the American Civil War: Historians Tackle the Conflict's Most Intriguing Possibilities is a collection of thirteen essays by the historians at Emerging Civil War, including a foreword by acclaimed alternate history writer Peter G. Tsouras.
Each entry focuses on one of the most important events of the war and unpacks the options of the moment. To understand what happened, we must look at what could have happened, with the full multitude of choices before us and a clear and objective eye. "What if" is a tool for illumination.
This is not a collection of alternate histories or counterfactual scenarios. Rather, it is an invitation to ask, to learn, and to wonder, "What if...?"
30 images, 4 maps
About the Author
Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of the online resource Emerging Civil War. A writing professor in the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, NY, Chris is also historian-in-residence at Stevenson Ridge, a historic property on the Spotsylvania battlefield in central Virginia.
The series editor of the award-winning Emerging Civil War Series, he has authored or co-authored a dozen books on the Civil War, and his articles have appeared in major Civil War magazines.
Industry Reviews
"The Great 'What Ifs' of the American Civil War is truly a gift to devoted arm-chair historians. This thought-provoking and entertaining collection of essays explores in-depth questions that have haunted Civil War historiography: What if Stonewall Jackson had lived? What if Lincoln had dodged the assassin's bullet? What if Lee had waged guerrilla warfare in April 1865? We will never know the answers with certainty, but this fascinating volume moves us as close as we will probably ever get. Highly recommended!"--Gordon C. Rhea, author of the 5-volume series on the Overland Campaign
"The Great 'What Ifs' is a lively and engaging examination of those perennial 'second guesses' no student of the war fails to appreciate. No 'pie in the sky' here--each exploration is firmly rooted in fact, with a keen appreciation of context, providing provocative insight without sacrificing history. Readers might be surprised at some of the conclusions, but I think they will also be thoroughly entertained."--David A. Powell, author of the award-winning series 'The Chickamauga Campaign'
