The Collected What If? Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been

Historians and philosophers alike have pondered the crucial turning points of history--the events that forever altered the course of civilization and set the stage for the world in which we live today. In these essays, some of the most respected minds of our time as the question "What if..."•Pontius Pilate hadn't ordered Jesus Christ's crucifixion?•Abraham Lincoln hadn't abolished slavery?•A Confederate aide hadn't accidentally lost General Robert E. Lee's plans for invading the North?•The Allied invasion of D Day had failed?•Pope Pius XII had spoken out against the Holocaust?•The Mongols had succeeded in conquering Europe?Both fascinating and frightening, The Collected What If? offers in-depth reflections on the monumental events of the past and amazing speculations as to what our world might be like had things gone differently in a singular moment in time.