10 Great What-Ifs of American History

De: Adam Jortner, The Great Courses

Narrado por: Adam Jortner

History may appear logical and even inevitable: Things happened because they had to. But when you go back to examine the great turning points of the past, you quickly discover how choices, chances, and accidents played a huge rule in making the world we know today. Politicians, writers, explorers, and ordinary people all make choices that shape history. But examining the moments that define our history raises an important question: What if things had gone differently?

Historians have a term for this type of speculation. A “counterfactual” history imagines a different person, a different decision, different luck in a critical moment—and the way a small change could have transformed history as we know it. What if Christopher Columbus never got the money to sail in 1492? What if the Union lost the Battle of Gettysburg? Or President John F. Kennedy escaped assassination?

As you’ll learn, a well-constructed counterfactual is about more than flipping a switch or taking a guess. Historians look for moments of “contingency”—times when something unlikely happened or when events turned on a moment that could have gone either way. What happens when you take away favorable weather conditions or delay an event by 15 minutes?

Accompanied by a selection of guests, Professor Jortner takes you through a mind-bending exploration of the history that could have been. Captivating storytellers and imaginative thinkers, these experts show how history is contingent on split-second decisions, near misses, and sheer dumb luck. By reflecting on what didn’t happen, 10 Great What-Ifs of American History gives you new insights on what did happen—and the impact on our world today.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

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Wonderful

This book looks like it is just a clever thought exercise of the "what if Hitler had died during WWI and never came to rule Germany" type. But it is actually quite a bit more than that because after laying out the "alternate future history", Jortner goes back and shows just how fragile the real history was.

For example: What if Louis and Clark had never returned from their voyage of discovery? Not only does Jortner plausibly construct the negative impact on the expansion of the United States, he takes the time to point out just how plausible the expedition failing really was. After all, three other expeditions into the Louisiana Territory never returned. And Clark (I think it was Clark) was almost killed by a grizzly bear on two different occasions. And let's face it, most of us know that the entire expedition would have monumentally failed without the extraordinary help they received from Sacagawea who was only fifteen years old at the time. By the end of the chapter, you'll be convinced that there might have been a very different United States than Louis and Clark showed us.

All of the chapters are like that—opening up a question and then getting into the nitty gritty details that help to understand how easily things really could have gone a different way. Jortner continually reminds us that we tend to think of history as inevitable, but often it is just a little bit of luck (good or bad) that made it unfold the way it did.

This is a wonderful Great Courses text. I hope he follows up with another volume.

Overacting and Multiple Narrators Distracting

The overacting of the main narrator was way over the top and very annoying to me. Almost like an audio version of the National Enquirer. I felt it was condescending, as if he assumed I was bored or too dumb to understand the consequences of the “what if.”

There were three other narrators who read small passages. Why? I kept losing my focus, because I was used to the rhythm and inflections of one narrator. During one passage, the female narrator sounded as if she was cut off before finishing a sentence.

I couldn’t finish the book.

Disappointingly shallow

Quickly becomes apparent that this is about as deep as any pop history YouTube video. Calling these essays as also factually incorrect as the majority hand wave away trends and forces to suit the authors desired outcome. Very little if no exploration or explanation into even the primary knock off effects of these counter factuals. As a fan of alternative history these just seem like extended theorycrafting by a well meaning but largely careless Turtledove fan.