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Alternate History 9/11: A World Diverged and its Industrial Implications
By Dr. Evelyn Reed, PhD in Political Science, specializing in Counterterrorism and International Relations.
Published by The Brookings Institution Press, a leading publisher of research and analysis on policy issues.
Edited by Dr. Thomas Miller, PhD in History, specializing in 20th and 21st-century American history and counterfactual analysis.
Summary: This article explores the ramifications of an "alternate history 9/11," examining various scenarios where the attacks were prevented or significantly altered, and analyzing their potential impact on key industries, such as aviation, security, defense, and global trade. We delve into both the short-term and long-term consequences, highlighting the butterfly effect of such a pivotal historical event.
Introduction: Reimagining a World Without 9/11
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, irrevocably altered the course of history. But what if they hadn't happened? Exploring alternate history 9/11 scenarios offers a fascinating, albeit unsettling, lens through which to analyze the intricate web of global interconnectedness and the fragility of stability. This analysis delves into potential "what-if" scenarios, examining their ramifications for numerous industries and highlighting the profound impact of this single event on the global landscape. We’ll explore possibilities ranging from thwarted attacks to significantly altered attacks, acknowledging that even small changes in the timeline could yield vastly different outcomes.
Scenario 1: The Attacks Are Prevented:
Imagine an "alternate history 9/11" where intelligence agencies successfully thwart the attacks. The immediate impact would be catastrophic for Al-Qaeda, potentially crippling its operational capacity and significantly altering the trajectory of the global jihadist movement. However, this success wouldn't eliminate terrorism entirely. The long-term consequences for the aviation industry would be significantly different. We wouldn't have witnessed the intense security measures now commonplace in airports worldwide. The immense costs associated with airport security upgrades, the growth of the private security sector, and the development of advanced screening technologies would have been drastically reduced. The aviation industry itself might have experienced a different trajectory of growth, potentially avoiding some of the regulatory burdens and security-related expenses that followed 9/11.
Scenario 2: A Modified Attack:
Consider an alternate history 9/11 where the attacks were less devastating, perhaps due to the failure of one or more hijacked planes to reach their intended targets. The immediate casualties would be fewer, but the psychological impact might still be profound. The response from the U.S. government and the global community would likely be less aggressive, potentially resulting in a less drastic shift in foreign policy. This scenario also dramatically alters the defense industry. While defense spending would still likely increase, it would probably be on a smaller scale, with a different emphasis on resource allocation. The global war on terror might have looked significantly different, or perhaps, wouldn't have taken the form it did.
Scenario 3: A Different Target:
An alternative history 9/11 might involve the terrorists targeting different locations. If the World Trade Center had been spared, for instance, the symbolic impact would have been different, possibly triggering a less intense and widespread global response. The financial industry might have experienced different consequences, though the potential for significant disruption remains. This shift in targets would heavily impact the insurance industry, with a different scale of payouts and a different emphasis on risk assessment.
Industrial Impacts: A Ripple Effect
The ripple effect of an alternate history 9/11 extends far beyond the immediate victims. The defense industry, for example, experienced a massive boom following the attacks. The war on terror generated massive government contracts, driving innovation in military technologies and creating new employment opportunities. An alternate history 9/11 would have dramatically reshaped this industry's growth and direction.
The aviation industry faced unprecedented challenges in the aftermath of 9/11, grappling with enhanced security measures, declining passenger numbers, and increased costs. An alternate history 9/11 scenario would have allowed for a more gradual and potentially less disruptive transition, possibly leading to a different technological trajectory in aviation safety and security.
The security industry witnessed explosive growth, with a massive increase in demand for personnel, technologies, and services. An alternate history 9/11 would have significantly altered this industry’s trajectory, potentially leading to a different balance between public and private security.
The Global Trade Implications of Alternate History 9/11
The attacks profoundly impacted global trade, causing immediate disruptions and long-term shifts in supply chains and trade relationships. An alternate history 9/11 would have likely resulted in a different global economic landscape, with potentially different levels of globalization and trade patterns.
Conclusion:
Exploring alternate history 9/11 scenarios illuminates the profound and far-reaching consequences of seemingly singular events. Even a slight alteration in the course of history can trigger a cascade of changes, impacting industries, global politics, and the lives of millions. The exercise of counterfactual history allows us to gain a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of the world and the fragility of the systems that govern it. By contemplating "what ifs," we can gain valuable insights into the past, present, and future, enhancing our capacity for strategic foresight and policymaking.
FAQs:
1. What is the most likely outcome in an alternate history 9/11 scenario? There's no single "most likely" outcome. Many factors could have prevented or altered the attacks, leading to a wide range of possibilities.
2. How would an alternate history 9/11 impact the Middle East? The impact would be profound and varied, depending on the specific scenario. The "war on terror" would likely be significantly different, possibly leading to a different political landscape in the region.
3. What about the rise of Islamophobia? The rise of Islamophobia would likely be significantly diminished or altered in its expression and scale in an alternate history 9/11 scenario.
4. Could an alternate history 9/11 have prevented other terrorist attacks? Possibly. The chain of events leading to subsequent attacks was partially shaped by the response to 9/11. An alternate scenario might have disrupted these chains.
5. How would an alternate history 9/11 affect the political landscape of the US? The US political landscape would be dramatically different, with altered political alliances and priorities.
6. What role does intelligence failure play in alternate history 9/11 scenarios? Intelligence failures are central to many alternate history 9/11 discussions, highlighting the crucial role of preventative measures.
7. How would technological advancements have been affected by an alternate history 9/11? Technological advancements in areas like security, surveillance, and aviation would likely have followed a different path.
8. What are the ethical considerations of exploring alternate history 9/11? Care must be taken to avoid trivializing the suffering of victims and their families. The goal is to learn and understand, not to rewrite history.
9. Can alternate history 9/11 inform current counterterrorism strategies? Yes, by analyzing potential outcomes, we can identify vulnerabilities and improve counterterrorism strategies.
Related Articles:
1. "The Unthinkable: Reimagining 9/11": A comprehensive analysis of different "what-if" scenarios surrounding 9/11.
2. "9/11 and the Transformation of American Foreign Policy": Explores the long-term impacts of 9/11 on American foreign policy.
3. "The Aviation Industry After 9/11: A Decade of Change": Examines the challenges and transformations within the aviation industry post-9/11.
4. "The War on Terror: A Critical Assessment": Provides a critical analysis of the global "war on terror" and its consequences.
5. "Counterfactual History and the Study of Terrorism": Discusses the methodology and value of exploring counterfactual scenarios in the study of terrorism.
6. "The Economic Impact of 9/11": Analyzes the economic consequences of 9/11 on a global scale.
7. "Intelligence Failures and the Road to 9/11": A detailed account of intelligence failures leading up to the attacks.
8. "9/11 and the Rise of Homeland Security": Examines the creation and evolution of the Department of Homeland Security.
9. "The Psychological Impact of 9/11": Explores the long-term psychological consequences of the attacks on individuals and society.
| alternate history 9 11: The South Tower Alex Canna, 2019-08-29 The Martian meets Edge of Tomorrow in the World Trade Center.It's the morning of 9/11. Up in the World Trade Center's South Tower, Nick Sandini is pitching for work when United Airlines Flight 175 smashes into the building, just a few floors below him.As the tower burns, Nick discovers that the way down is blocked by fire and devastation . . . and the doors to the roof are locked. There seems to be no way out. But when the tower's collapse triggers a time loop that resets Nick to the moment of impact, he realises that it's time to improvise.From reader reviews on Amazon.co.uk:Reading the novel is a visceral, sweaty-palms experience. You feel the character's desperation by the terse descriptions, the confused conversations and the charging pace. But just when you find yourself breathless, Canna gives you some relief, inserting moments of reflection, black comedy and even romance that give this story a satisfying emotional balance. And in the end, there's a resolution that'll give you goosebumps. And plenty to ponder. D MartinCouldn't put it down. Best book I have read all year. The book is BLOODY BRILLIANT. I can't gush enough. I genuinely loved it. Miss C.Alex's novel resonated with my creative imagination and I was awestruck by his creative, solution focused mindset. It is respectful of the real life tragic events that occurred and adds a small glimmer of optimism to the truly catastrophic events of 9/11 in the fact that there were survivors of the tragedy. Alex's personal experience of being affected by terrorism penetrates deep into the narrative and Alex uses his experiences to paint a vivid emotional picture of the events within the book. Highly recommended! OliverIt's a wild, wild ride, along the lines of the Tom Cruise & Emily Blunt movie, Edge of Tomorrow/Live, Die, Repeat. Everything - or almost everything - is framed in 56-minute, adrenaline-soaked bursts, which become almost unbearably tense in the last few chapters. ( . . . ) The South Tower leaves plenty of loose ends dangling in the breeze of its final collapse. The format of the book doesn't allow for everything to be carefully wrapped up, but there's a novelist's-perspective afterword that offers some insights on why more people weren't rescued and I found this quite gripping too. But after you finally set the novel aside, I can promise you'll still be left with plenty to think about. Celia Dyer |
| alternate history 9 11: Post-9/11 Historical Fiction and Alternate History Fiction Pei-chen Liao, 2020-10-04 Drawing on theories of historiography, memory, and diaspora, as well as from existing genre studies, this book explores why contemporary writers are so fascinated with history. Pei-chen Liao considers how fiction contributes to the making and remaking of the transnational history of the U.S. by thinking beyond and before 9/11, investigating how the dynamics of memory, as well as the emergent present, influences readers’ reception of historical fiction and alternate history fiction and their interpretation of the past. Set against the historical backdrop of WWII, the Vietnam War, and the War on Terror, the novels under discussion tell Jewish, Japanese, white American, African, Muslim, and Native Americans’ stories of trauma and survival. As a means to transmit memories of past events, these novels demonstrate how multidirectional memory can be not only collective but connective, as exemplified by the echoes that post-9/11 readers hear between different histories of violence that the novels chronicle, as well as between the past and the present. |
| alternate history 9 11: The Mirage Matt Ruff, 2012-02-07 A mind-bending novel in which an alternate history of 9/11 and its aftermath uncovers startling truths about America and the Middle East 11/9/2001: Christian fundamentalists hijack four jetliners. They fly two into the Tigris & Euphrates World Trade Towers in Baghdad, and a third into the Arab Defense Ministry in Riyadh. The fourth plane, believed to be bound for Mecca, is brought down by its passengers. The United Arab States declares a War on Terror. Arabian and Persian troops invade the Eastern Seaboard and establish a Green Zone in Washington, D.C. . . . Summer, 2009: Arab Homeland Security agent Mustafa al Baghdadi interrogates a captured suicide bomber. The prisoner claims that the world they are living in is a mirage—in the real world, America is a superpower, and the Arab states are just a collection of backward third-world countries. A search of the bomber's apartment turns up a copy of The New York Times, dated September 12, 2001, that appears to support his claim. Other captured terrorists have been telling the same story. The president wants answers, but Mustafa soon discovers he's not the only interested party. The gangster Saddam Hussein is conducting his own investigation. And the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee—a war hero named Osama bin Laden—will stop at nothing to hide the truth. As Mustafa and his colleagues venture deeper into the unsettling world of terrorism, politics, and espionage, they are confronted with questions without any rational answers, and the terrifying possibility that their world is not what it seems. Acclaimed novelist Matt Ruff has created a shadow world that is eerily recognizable but, at the same time, almost unimaginable. Gripping, subversive, and unexpectedly moving, The Mirage probes our deepest convictions and most arresting fears. |
| alternate history 9 11: Through Darkest Europe Harry Turtledove, 2018-09-18 The modern master of alternate history and New York Times–bestselling author envisions a world in which Europe and the Middle East have traded places. io9’s New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books You Need to Put on Your Radar This Fall Senior investigator Khalid al-Zarzisi is a modern man, a product of the unsurpassed educational systems of North Africa and the Middle East. Liberal, tolerant, and above all rich, the countries and cultures of North Africa and the Middle East have dominated the globe for centuries, from the Far East to the young nations of the Sunset Lands. But one region has festered for decades: Europe, whose despots and monarchs can barely contain the simmering anger of their people. From Ireland to Scandinavia, Italy to Spain, European fundamentalists have carried out assassinations, hijackings, and bombings on their own soil and elsewhere. Extremist fundamentalist leaders have begun calling for a “crusade,” an obscure term from the mists of European history. Now Khalid has been sent to Rome, ground zero of backwater discontent. He and his partner Dawud have been tasked with figuring out how to protect the tinpot Grand Duke, the impoverished Pope, and the overall status quo, before European instability starts overflowing into the First World. Then the bombs start to go off. |
| alternate history 9 11: Pentagon 9/11 Alfred Goldberg, 2007-09-05 The most comprehensive account to date of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and aftermath, this volume includes unprecedented details on the impact on the Pentagon building and personnel and the scope of the rescue, recovery, and caregiving effort. It features 32 pages of photographs and more than a dozen diagrams and illustrations not previously available. |
| alternate history 9 11: Redcoats' Revenge David Fitz-Enz, David G. Fitz-Enz, 2011-09 What if, on September 11, 1814, the United States had lost the close-run battle that Winston Churchill called the most decisive of the War of 1812? With a victory at Plattsburgh, would the British have eventually been able to regain control of their former colonies? Only one fleeting moment on Lake Champlain might have been needed to forever alter the young country's history and return it to the grip of King George III. Redcoats' Revenge brings the most successful field commander in history, the Duke of Wellington, to North America in 1814. A coalition of eight European countries has recently defeated Napoleon. With the emperor's threat to England eradicated, Wellington releases the most powerful military juggernaut for service in the Western Hemisphere. His audacious plan sends him and his avenging veteran redcoats plunging straight south from Lake Champlain toward New York City. In Washington, the streets crackle with tension at the news of British ships on the Chesapeake. The White House is promptly evacuated and the capital left undefended when a diversionary force approaches the city and chokes off Baltimore. President James Madison must now decide which of his generals is capable of successfully facing off with the Iron Duke. No friend of the tyrannical Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson, Madison finally agrees that he may be the only commander with any hope of matching Wellington. Redcoats' Revenge is a vivid montage of the personalities and battles--real and quite possible--of the War of 1812. With its clever and compelling premise, this exciting alternate history will enthrall readers and reveal just how close the United States was to becoming a British colony once again. |
| alternate history 9 11: Post-9/11 Historical Fiction and Alternate History Fiction Pei-chen Liao, 2020-09-19 Drawing on theories of historiography, memory, and diaspora, as well as from existing genre studies, this book explores why contemporary writers are so fascinated with history. Pei-chen Liao considers how fiction contributes to the making and remaking of the transnational history of the U.S. by thinking beyond and before 9/11, investigating how the dynamics of memory, as well as the emergent present, influences readers’ reception of historical fiction and alternate history fiction and their interpretation of the past. Set against the historical backdrop of WWII, the Vietnam War, and the War on Terror, the novels under discussion tell Jewish, Japanese, white American, African, Muslim, and Native Americans’ stories of trauma and survival. As a means to transmit memories of past events, these novels demonstrate how multidirectional memory can be not only collective but connective, as exemplified by the echoes that post-9/11 readers hear between different histories of violence that the novels chronicle, as well as between the past and the present. |
| alternate history 9 11: Age of Tolerance Glen Reinsford, 2005-10 Al Gore is President in the aftermath of September 11th, leading the nation into a new Age of Tolerance. A cautionary tale employing actual events to present a picture of what America might look like if present social trends continue. |
| alternate history 9 11: The First Atomic Bomb Jim Mangi, 2022-06-20 While German and Japanese scientists also labored unsuccessfully to create an atomic bomb, by the summer of 1945, the American-led team was ready to test its first weapon. As the clock ticked down to the detonation time of 05.30 hours on 16 July 1945, the nervous team of technicians and scientists waited ten miles away from ‘Ground Zero’ deep in the New Mexico desert. No one knew how powerful the explosion would be or whether even at such a distance they would be safe from the blast. Even so, some chose to observe the detonation from a point four miles nearer at the control bunker; but then no one was even sure that the bomb would work. What if that is actually what happened? Under schedule pressure from the White House, the scientists assembled the device in part with tape and tissue paper, knowing some components were flawed. These are verifiable facts. It means that, as many of those who gathered in the New Mexico desert feared at the time, the bomb might not have worked during that first test. In The First Atomic Bomb, Jim Mangi explores what might happened in the event that the world’s first atomic bomb had not been ready for use when it was. How would this have affected the end of the war in the Pacific, and indeed the Second World War as a whole? Would Emperor Hirohito’s armed forces have battled on? When might Colonel Paul W. Tibbets, at the controls of his Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay have then made his historic flight over Hiroshima – and would that city even have remained the target? How would Stalin and the Soviets have reacted to such developments, and how would this have played out in the post-war world? |
| alternate history 9 11: The Towers Still Stand Daniel Rosenberg, 2016-12 What if the Sept. 11 attacks had failed, and Americans remained ignorant of the hijackers' ultimate goals? In this alternate history, several hijackers and their leaders survive and escape a botched Sept. 11 plot and plan a second attempt on the towers. Only one man in the government and an aggressive journalist suspect what might be afoot, but how can they convince a skeptical nation that the World Trade Center is in danger? These two find themselves in a deadly battle against time and the complacent nature of the US government. If they fail, the World Trade Center towers could fall. The Towers Still Stand is a chilling alternate history thriller. |
| alternate history 9 11: If Kennedy Lived Jeff Greenfield, 2013-10-22 What if Kennedy were not killed that fateful day? What would the 1964 campaign have looked like? Would changes have been made to the ticket? How would Kennedy, in his second term, have approached Vietnam, civil rights, the Cold War? With Hoover as an enemy, would his indiscreet private life finally have become public? Would his health issues have become so severe as to literally cripple his presidency? And what small turns of fate in the days and years before Dallas might have kept him from ever reaching the White House in the first place? The answers Greenfield provides and the scenarios he develops are startlingly realistic, rich in detail, shocking in their projections, but always deeply, remarkably plausible. If Kennedy Lived is a tour de force of American history from one of the country’s most brilliant and illuminating political commentators. |
| alternate history 9 11: Sideways in Time Glyn Morgan, C. Palmer-Patel, 2019 This important collection of essays acknowledges the long and distinctive history of the alternate history genre whilst also revelling in its vitality, adaptability, and contemporary relevance, with many of the chapters discussing late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century texts which have previously received little or no sustained critical analysis. |
| alternate history 9 11: Shadows of Annihilation S. M. Stirling, 2020-03-10 The third novel in a World War I alternate history series where America's greatest weapon against Germany is Black Chamber secret agent Luz O'Malley and technical genius Ciara Whelan. Only they can protect America's best hope of winning the war. The Great War is at a stalemate, and the only thing stopping Germany from striking America is the threat of the United States using their own Annihilation Gas against them. But America's supply is quickly decaying and the Central Powers know it. A plant is under construction in the remote highlands of Mexico so that America can make their own supply. President Teddy Roosevelt assigns crack agent Luz O'Malley and her technical genius Ciara Whelan to watch over the plant operating under cover identities. But German agent Horst von Duckler has escaped from the POW camp in El Paso, and he's heading in the same direction--bent on revenge against Luz, and sabotage that will deprive America of its deterrent and kill tens of thousands. |
| alternate history 9 11: Faultline 49 David Danson, 2012-08-02 FAULTLINE 49 is the harrowing account of American reporter David Danson's Gonzo-style trip through US-occupied Canada in search of the principal provocateur in the Canadian-American War: terrorist mastermind Bruce Kalnychuk. As Danson draws closer to the truth about the 2001 World Trade Center Bombing in Edmonton, Alberta, and the criminal war it propagated, his journalistic distance to the story collapses, rendering him not only a brutalized participant, but an enemy of the state. David's findings are as daunting as the personal price he's paid to make them available to the North American public. |
| alternate history 9 11: Rodham Curtis Sittenfeld, 2021-06-01 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of American Wife and Eligible . . . He proposed. She said no. And it changed her life forever. “A deviously clever what if.”—O: The Oprah Magazine “Immersive, escapist.”—Good Morning America “Ingenious.”—The New York Times NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New Yorker • NPR • The Washington Post • Marie Claire • Cosmopolitan (UK) • Town & Country • New York Post In 1971, Hillary Rodham is a young woman full of promise: Life magazine has covered her Wellesley commencement speech, she’s attending Yale Law School, and she’s on the forefront of student activism and the women’s rights movement. And then she meets Bill Clinton. A handsome, charismatic southerner and fellow law student, Bill is already planning his political career. In each other, the two find a profound intellectual, emotional, and physical connection that neither has previously experienced. In the real world, Hillary followed Bill back to Arkansas, and he proposed several times; although she said no more than once, as we all know, she eventually accepted and became Hillary Clinton. But in Curtis Sittenfeld’s powerfully imagined tour-de-force of fiction, Hillary takes a different road. Feeling doubt about the prospective marriage, she endures their devastating breakup and leaves Arkansas. Over the next four decades, she blazes her own trail—one that unfolds in public as well as in private, that involves crossing paths again (and again) with Bill Clinton, that raises questions about the tradeoffs all of us must make in building a life. Brilliantly weaving a riveting fictional tale into actual historical events, Curtis Sittenfeld delivers an uncannily astute and witty story for our times. In exploring the loneliness, moral ambivalence, and iron determination that characterize the quest for political power, as well as both the exhilaration and painful compromises demanded of female ambition in a world still run mostly by men, Rodham is a singular and unforgettable novel. |
| alternate history 9 11: Disaster at Stalingrad Peter Tsouras, 2013-03-19 A fascinating “what if” history of one of World War II’s most iconic battles. It is early September 1942 and the German commander of the Sixth Army, General Paulus, assisted by the Fourth Panzer Army, is poised to advance on the Russian city of Stalingrad. His primary mission was to take the city, crushing this crucial center of communication and manufacturing, and to secure the valuable oil fields in the Caucasus. What happens next is well known to any student of modern history: a brutal war of attrition, characterized by fierce hand-to-hand combat, that lasted for nearly two years, and the eventual victory by a resolute Soviet Red Army. A ravaged German Army was pushed into full retreat. This was the first defeat of Hitler’s territorial ambitions in Europe and a critical turning point of World War II. But the outcome could have been very different, as Peter Tsouras demonstrates in this fascinating alternate history of this fateful battle. By introducing minor—and realistic— adjustments, Tsouras presents a scenario in which the course of the battle runs quite differently, which in turn throws up disturbing possibilities regarding the outcome of the whole war. |
| alternate history 9 11: The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln Stephen L. Carter, 2012-07-10 From the best-selling author of The Emperor of Ocean Park and New England White, a daring reimagining of one of the most tumultuous moments in our nation’s past Stephen L. Carter’s thrilling new novel takes as its starting point an alternate history: President Abraham Lincoln survives the assassination attempt at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865. Two years later he is charged with overstepping his constitutional authority, both during and after the Civil War, and faces an impeachment trial . . . Twenty-one-year-old Abigail Canner is a young black woman with a degree from Oberlin, a letter of employment from the law firm that has undertaken Lincoln’s defense, and the iron-strong conviction, learned from her late mother, that “whatever limitations society might place on ordinary negroes, they would never apply to her.” And so Abigail embarks on a life that defies the norms of every stratum of Washington society: working side by side with a white clerk, meeting the great and powerful of the nation, including the president himself. But when Lincoln’s lead counsel is found brutally murdered on the eve of the trial, Abigail is plunged into a treacherous web of intrigue and conspiracy reaching the highest levels of the divided government. Here is a vividly imagined work of historical fiction that captures the emotional tenor of post–Civil War America, a brilliantly realized courtroom drama that explores the always contentious question of the nature of presidential authority, and a galvanizing story of political suspense. This eBook edition includes a Reading Group Guide. |
| alternate history 9 11: The Mammoth Book of Alternate Histories Ian Watson, Ian Whates, 2010-02-25 Every short story in this wonderfully varied collection has one thing in common: each features some alteration in history, some divergence from historical reality, which results in a world very different from the one we know today. As well as original stories specially commissioned from bestselling writers such as James Morrow, Stephen Baxter and Ken MacLeod, there are genre classics such as Kim Stanley Robinson's story of how World War II atomic bomber the Enola Gay, having crashed on a training flight, is replaced by the Lucky Strike with profoundly different consequences. Praise for the editors: 'Mr Watson wreaks havoc with what is accepted - and acceptable.' The Times 'One of Britain's consistently finest science fiction writers.' New Scientist |
| alternate history 9 11: Alternate Generals Harry Turtledove, 1998-07-01 Alternate Generals |
| alternate history 9 11: Battle of the Bulge Peter G. Tsouras, 2011-10-19 Based on a series of fascinating 'What ifs' posed by leading military historians, this compelling new alternate history recontructs the moments during the Battle of the Bulge which could conceivably have altered the entire course of the Second World War and led to a German victory. Based on real battles, actions and characters, each scenario has been carefully constructed to reveal how at points of decision a different choice or minor incident could have set in motion an entirely new train of events altering history for ever. What if the Germans successfully prevented Patton from riding to the rescue at Bastogne? Or if the Allies had suffered a major setback at the Battle of the Bulge which allowed the Red Army to overrun Berlin and drive on to the Rhine? What if Hitler had not launched his massive gambit and, instead, the Allies had progressed with the operations plan they had prior to the Bulge? These are some of the intriguing scenarios played out by leading authors. |
| alternate history 9 11: A Nation Interrupted: An Alternate History Novel Kevin McDonald, 2020-03-09 World War II was the defining event of the 20th century. Follow several characters who become swept into the greatest struggle the world has ever known. The war in which they find themselves is largely the same conflict recorded in history books-until destiny (a destiny that was altered on a Civil War battlefield in 1862) takes a dramatic turn. |
| alternate history 9 11: The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick, 2011 Slavery is back. America, 1962. Having lost a war, America finds itself under Nazi Germany and Japan occupation. A few Jews still live under assumed names. The 'I Ching' is prevalent in San Francisco. Science fiction meets serious ideas in this take on a possible alternate history. |
| alternate history 9 11: The Plot Against America Philip Roth, 2004-10-05 Philip Roth's bestselling alternate history—the chilling story of what happens to one family when America elects a charismatic, isolationist president—is soon to be an HBO limited series. In an extraordinary feat of narrative invention, Philip Roth imagines an alternate history where Franklin D. Roosevelt loses the 1940 presidential election to heroic aviator and rabid isolationist Charles A. Lindbergh. Shortly thereafter, Lindbergh negotiates a cordial “understanding” with Adolf Hitler, while the new government embarks on a program of folksy anti-Semitism. For one boy growing up in Newark, Lindbergh’s election is the first in a series of ruptures that threaten to destroy his small, safe corner of America–and with it, his mother, his father, and his older brother. A terrific political novel . . . Sinister, vivid, dreamlike . . . creepily plausible. . . You turn the pages, astonished and frightened.” — The New York Times Book Review |
| alternate history 9 11: Farthing Jo Walton, 2006-08-08 An influential family’s weekend party is the stage for murder in this alternative history trilogy opener set in a post-WWII England where the Nazis won. Eight years have passed since the upper-crust “Farthing Set” overthrew Winston Churchill and led Britain into a separate peace with Hitler. Now those families have gathered for a weekend retreat. Among them is estranged scion Lucy Kahn, who can’t understand why she and her husband, David, were so enthusiastically invited. But all becomes clear when the eminent Sir James Thirkie is found murdered—with a yellow Star of David pinned to his chest. Lucy realizes that her Jewish husband is about to be framed for the crime, an outcome that would be altogether too politically convenient, given the machinations underway in Parliament in the coming week. The Farthing Set are determined to pass laws further restricting the right to vote, and a new outcry against Jews and foreigners would suit them fine. But whoever’s behind the murder and the frame-up didn’t count on the principal investigator from Scotland Yard being so prone to look beyond the obvious—or his being a man with his own private reasons for sympathizing with outcasts and underdogs . . . Praise for Farthing “If le Carré scares you, try Jo Walton. Of course her brilliant story of a democracy selling itself out to fascism sixty years ago is just a mystery, just a thriller, just a fantasy—of course we know nothing like that could happen now. Don’t we?” —Ursula K. Le Guin “Walton . . . crosses genres without missing a beat with this stunningly powerful alternative history set in 1949. . . . While the whodunit plot is compelling, it’s the convincing portrait of a country’s incremental slide into fascism that makes this novel a standout. Mainstream readers should be enthralled as well.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) |
| alternate history 9 11: Alternate History Kathleen Singles, 2013-10-14 While, strictly speaking, Alternate Histories are not Future Narratives, their analysis can shed a clear light on why Future Narratives are so different from past narratives. Trying to have it both ways, most Alternate Histories subscribe to a conflicting set of beliefs concerning determinism and freedom of choice, contingency and necessity. For the very first time, Alternate Histories are here discussed against the backdrop of their Other, Future Narratives. The volume contains in-depth analyses of the classics of the genre,such as Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle and Philip Roth's The Plot against America, as well as less widely-discussed manifestations of the genre, such as Dieter Kühn's N, Christian Kracht's Ich werde hier sein im Sonnenschein und im Schatten, and Quentin Tarantino's film Inglourious Basterds. |
| alternate history 9 11: Alternate Histories of the World Matthew Buchholz, 2013-10-01 This remarkable collection of maps, photographs, engravings and paintings from the early ages to modern day provides a stunning new look at the world as defined by our struggles and alliances with the monsters and supernatural creatures that have defined our existence. Learn how a mechanical man helped write America’s Declaration of Independence. Track the course of the Living Dead virus from Africa to Europe and on to the New World. View artifacts from our uneasy alliance with the Martian race, or simply delight in the vibrant colors and illustrations from a bygone age. More than 100 full-color images and insightful essays make this book an essential addition to the libraries of dedicated historians as well as casual fans of monsters and mayhem. |
| alternate history 9 11: Alternate Tyrants Mike Resnick, 1997 Twenty offbeat stories celebrate despots that never were, including a holy war-declaring Pope John XXIII, an assassinated president Reagan's successor Alexander Haig, and a Parliament-dissolving new king of England. Original. |
| alternate history 9 11: To Climates Unknown Arturo Serrano, 2021-11-02 On September 11, the United States were destroyed. That is, September 11 of the Year of Our Lord 1620. In this alternate history, the Mayflower was lost at sea, and the English Separatists were disheartened from further colonization of North America. The United States were never born. The centuries that follow will see the emergence of rival empires that will split up the world between them. One will become the terror of the seas. One will rampage with carriages of steam. One will take to the skies. And the people caught in the middle will fight against the colonial system to bring an end to all empires. |
| alternate history 9 11: FASHODA - ALTERNATE HISTORY TALES , |
| alternate history 9 11: The Years of Rice and Salt Kim Stanley Robinson, 2003-06-03 With the same unique vision that brought his now classic Mars trilogy to vivid life, bestselling author Kim Stanley Robinson boldly imagines an alternate history of the last seven hundred years. In his grandest work yet, the acclaimed storyteller constructs a world vastly different from the one we know. . . . “A thoughtful, magisterial alternate history from one of science fiction’s most important writers.”—The New York Times Book Review It is the fourteenth century and one of the most apocalyptic events in human history is set to occur—the coming of the Black Death. History teaches us that a third of Europe’s population was destroyed. But what if the plague had killed 99 percent of the population instead? How would the world have changed? This is a look at the history that could have been—one that stretches across centuries, sees dynasties and nations rise and crumble, and spans horrible famine and magnificent innovation. Through the eyes of soldiers and kings, explorers and philosophers, slaves and scholars, Robinson navigates a world where Buddhism and Islam are the most influential and practiced religions, while Christianity is merely a historical footnote. Probing the most profound questions as only he can, Robinson shines his extraordinary light on the place of religion, culture, power—and even love—in this bold New World. “Exceptional and engrossing.”—New York Post “Ambitious . . . ingenious.”—Newsday |
| alternate history 9 11: Relativism, Alternate History, and the Forgetful Reader Derek Thiess, 2014-11-25 The writer of alternate history asks “what if?” What if one historical event were different, what would the world look like today? In a similar way, the postmodern philosopher of history suggests that history is literature, or that if we read certain historical details differently we would get a distinctly different interpretation of past events. While the science fiction alternate history means to illuminate the past, to increase our understanding of past events, however, the postmodern approach to history typically suggests that such understanding is impossible. To the postmodern philosopher, history is like literature in that it does not offer the reader access to the past, but only an interesting story. Building on criticism that suggests personal psychological reasons for this obscuring the past, and using a literary theory of readership, this book challenges the postmodern approach to history. It channels the speculative power of science fiction to read the works of postmodern philosophy of history as alternate histories themselves, and to map the limits and pathology of their forgetful reading of the past. |
| alternate history 9 11: What If Cole Roberts, 2015-11-24 What if Christianity is simple? When Jesus gave his first public address, he said, I have come to fulfill the law and the prophets and to set the captives free. When a contract is fulfilled, it is completed and is no longer in effect. Religion is a form of bondage that enslaves its adherents to a set of rules that constitute sin. It portrays the image of a God who acts as a judge. In one hand he has a legal pad and pen and in the other a club. When sufficient sins have been committed, the club is used on the sinner. Jesus died on the cross to fulfill the need for justice and came to earth to show that God is not the ogre with a club but a loving father with outstretched arms wanting to hug his children He sent to us the Holy Spirit so we might have the heart and mind of Christ and be empowered to live a life free from the bondage of sin and religion. This book shows the reader how to do that and points out the stumbling blocks that may interfere. It enables the reader to see the simplicity of Christianity and understand why it should surpass religion in our lives. |
| alternate history 9 11: Pocket Book of Hospital Care for Children World Health Organization, 2013 The Pocket Book is for use by doctors nurses and other health workers who are responsible for the care of young children at the first level referral hospitals. This second edition is based on evidence from several WHO updated and published clinical guidelines. It is for use in both inpatient and outpatient care in small hospitals with basic laboratory facilities and essential medicines. In some settings these guidelines can be used in any facilities where sick children are admitted for inpatient care. The Pocket Book is one of a series of documents and tools that support the Integrated Managem. |
| alternate history 9 11: In the Shadow of No Towers Art Spiegelman, 2020-07-21 |
| alternate history 9 11: The Alternate History Karen Hellekson, 2001 What would the world be like is history had taken a different course? Science fiction literature has long contemplated this question, and this text analyzes alternate history science fiction through a variety of historical models. It raises questions of narrative, writers, temporality and time. |
| alternate history 9 11: The Killing of Osama Bin Laden Seymour M Hersh, 2016-04-01 Electrifying investigation of White House lies about the assassination of Osama bin Laden In 2011, an elite group of US Navy SEALS stormed an enclosure in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad and killed Osama bin Laden, the man the United States had begun chasing before the devastating attacks of 9/11. The news did much to boost President Obama’s first term and played a major part in his reelection victory of the following year. But much of the story of that night, as presented to the world, was incomplete, or a lie. The evidence of what actually went on remains hidden. At the same time, the full story of the United States’ involvement in the Syrian civil war has been kept behind a diplomatic curtain, concealed by doublespeak. It is a policy of obfuscation that has compelled the White House to turn a blind eye to Turkey’s involvement in supporting ISIS and its predecessors in Syria. This investigation, which began as a series of essays in the London Review of Books, has ignited a firestorm of controversy in the world media. In his introduction, Hersh asks what will be the legacy of Obama’s time in office. Was it an era of “change we can believe in” or a season of lies and compromises that continued George W. Bush’s misconceived War on Terror? How did he lose the confidence of the general in charge of America’s forces who acted in direct contradiction to the White House? What else do we not know?. |
| alternate history 9 11: The Ancient World in Alternative History and Counterfactual Fictions Alberto J. Quiroga Puertas, Leire Olabarria, 2024-08-22 Focusing in turn on history, powerful individuals, under-represented voices and the arts, the essays in this collection cover a wide variety of modern and contemporary narrative fiction from Jo Walton and L. Sprague De Camp to T. S. Chaudhry and Catherynne M. Valente. Chapters look into the question of chance versus determinism in the unfolding of historical events, the role individuals play in shaping a society or occasion, and the way art and literature symbolise important messages in counterfactual histories. They also show how uchronic narratives can take advantage of modern literary techniques to reveal new and relevant aspects of the past, giving voices to marginalised minorities and suppressed individuals of the ancient world. Counterfactual fiction and uchronic narratives have been largely up until now the domain of literary critics. However, these modes of literature are here analysed by scholars of Ancient History, Egyptology and Classics, shedding important new light on how cultures of the ancient world have been (and still are) perceived, and to what extent our conceptions of the past are used to explore alternate presents and futures. Alternate history entices the imagination of the public by suggesting hypothetical scenarios that never occurred, underlining a latent tension between reality and imagination, and between determinism and contingency. This interest has resulted in a growing number of publications that gauge the impact of what-if narratives, and this one is the first to give scholars of the ancient world centre-stage. |
| alternate history 9 11: The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History Jack Dann, 2023-07-13 A comprehensive guide to the speculative sub-genre of alternate history fiction, this book maps the unique terrain of this vibrant mode of storytelling and then explains how to write it. First giving a concise conceptual overview and the critical tools to differentiate the different forms of counterfactual fiction, Jack Dann lays out the 'tricks of the trade' such 'Heinleining', how to create recognizable 'divergent points' and how to employ paratextual elements and 'layering' to overcome readers' unfamiliarity with invented counterfactual events and cultures. Alongside this, Dann takes you step-by-step through a complete short story to demonstrate, line-by-line, how alternative history fiction works. As well as Dann's exacting methodology for writing professional quality alternate history stories, this book also features a live-on-the-page Q&A with some of the most esteemed alternate history writers working today, including Kim Stanley Robinson, John Birmingham and Lisa Goldstein among many others, who will detail their own particular hacks, theories, processes, methods and strategies. Combining extensive and deep knowledge of the field with accessible writing advice, this is the ultimate guidebook to the broad and complex sub-genre of counterfactual and alterative history fiction. |
| alternate history 9 11: The Yiddish Policemen's Union Michael Chabon, 2012-01-24 For sixty years Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the Federal District of Sitka, a temporary safe haven created in the wake of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. The Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. But now the District is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end. Homicide detective Meyer Landsman of the District Police has enough problems without worrying about the upcoming Reversion. His life is a shambles, his marriage a wreck, his career a disaster. And in the cheap hotel where Landsman has washed up, someone has just committed a murder—right under his nose. When he begins to investigate the killing of his neighbor, a former chess prodigy, word comes down from on high that the case is to be dropped immediately, and Landsman finds himself contending with all the powerful forces of faith, obsession, evil, and salvation that are his heritage. At once a gripping whodunit, a love story, and an exploration of the mysteries of exile and redemption, The Yiddish Policemen's Union is a novel only Michael Chabon could have written. |
| alternate history 9 11: The Dawn of Everything David Graeber, David Wengrow, 2021-11-09 INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A dramatically new understanding of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution—from the development of agriculture and cities to the origins of the state, democracy, and inequality—and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation. For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike—either free and equal innocents, or thuggish and warlike. Civilization, we are told, could be achieved only by sacrificing those original freedoms or, alternatively, by taming our baser instincts. David Graeber and David Wengrow show how such theories first emerged in the eighteenth century as a conservative reaction to powerful critiques of European society posed by Indigenous observers and intellectuals. Revisiting this encounter has startling implications for how we make sense of human history today, including the origins of farming, property, cities, democracy, slavery, and civilization itself. Drawing on pathbreaking research in archaeology and anthropology, the authors show how history becomes a far more interesting place once we learn to throw off our conceptual shackles and perceive what’s really there. If humans did not spend 95 percent of their evolutionary past in tiny bands of hunter-gatherers, what were they doing all that time? If agriculture, and cities, did not mean a plunge into hierarchy and domination, then what kinds of social and economic organization did they lead to? The answers are often unexpected, and suggest that the course of human history may be less set in stone, and more full of playful, hopeful possibilities, than we tend to assume. The Dawn of Everything fundamentally transforms our understanding of the human past and offers a path toward imagining new forms of freedom, new ways of organizing society. This is a monumental book of formidable intellectual range, animated by curiosity, moral vision, and a faith in the power of direct action. Includes Black-and-White Illustrations |
Feedback and Suggestions (Path of Exile 1) - Can we have …
4 days ago · Path of Exile is a free online-only action RPG under development by Grinding Gear Games in New Zealand.
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If you think you've lost your weapons, you've probably swapped to the alternate weapon tabs by pressing X. Please try toggling back with the X key before posting a bug report about it. For …
Feedback and Suggestions (Path of Exile 1) - Can we have …
4 days ago · Path of Exile is a free online-only action RPG under development by Grinding Gear Games in New Zealand.
Support - Path of Exile
If you think you've lost your weapons, you've probably swapped to the alternate weapon tabs by pressing X. Please try toggling back with the X key before posting a bug report about it. For …
