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Altered Pasts

Counterfactuals in History

By: Richard J. Evans

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Paperback | 11 March 2014 | Edition Number 1

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The question 'what if?' has always fascinated historians. Richard J. Evans imagines what could have been, and how alternate pasts could have shaped alternate futures.

What would have happened had Britain not entered the First World War but stood aside as a neutral non-belligerent? What might the result have been had Britain concluded a separate peace with Nazi Germany in 1940 or 1941? How would the British have behaved had they lost the Battle of Britain and been conquered and occupied by the armed forces of Hitler's Third Reich?

Altered Pasts is a fascinating discussion of the historical and cultural significance of imagining the road not taken. From its beginnings as an Enlightenment parlour game to its relationship with modern-day conspiracy theories, Richard Evans charts the social and political implications of counterfactual history and its capacity for being a mirror on the present.

About the Author

Sir Richard J. Evans is Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University. His previous books include In Defence of History, Telling Lies about Hitler, The Coming of the Third Reich, The Third Reich at War and The Third Reich in Power.

Industry Reviews

Unfailingly interesting -- Andrew Holgate * Sunday Times *
A stimulating, thought-provoking and in places quite humorous book that will be of interest to professional and lay readers alike * Times Higher Education Supplement *
His critique is eloquent and lively, without rancour or cruelty -- Felipe Fernandez-Armesto * The Times *
Characteristically pugnacious -- Jonathan Derbyshire * Prospect *
Evans is at his best when dissecting the motives of right-wing thinkers * SFX *
Wide-ranging polemic . . . Evans is at his best on questions of historical causation . . . Altered Pasts brings an impressive historical intelligence to bear on what are too often dismissed as parlour games * Sunday Telegraph *
Evans is ruthless, forensic and totally convincing in demolishing this pretext, finding instead an even greater determinism, where the autonomous actions of a handful of great men set in motion enormous, immutable forces * Guardian *
The place of Richard Evans in modern historiography - a distinguished place - is assured * Times Literary Supplement *
One of the most important and prolific historians of our time . . . Altered Pasts provides much food for thought, not only for professional historians but also for general readers interested in how and why history is written in certain ways. Intelligent, lucid and engaging * Irish Times *
A good read, which stimulates further reflection about the nature of history * Financial Times *

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