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From http://www.uchronia.net/intro.html
Simply stated, an alternate history is the description and/or discussion of an historical "what if" and its possible consequences.
Other names which may apply to the form include alternative histories, allohistories, counterfactuals, counterfeit worlds, if worlds, negative histories, uchronias, etc. Whatever it is called, alternate history somehow involves one or more past events which "happened otherwise" and includes some amount of description of the subsequent effects on history. Perhaps the most common themes in alternate history are "What if the Nazis won World War II?" and "What if the Confederacy won the Civil War?", but alternate Napoleons, Romes and Kennedys are also popular subjects.
Alternate history may appear in novels, short stories, scholarly essays, comic books, movies, television shows, plays and elsewhere, but this bibliography limits its attention to alternative history in printed form.
The extent to which an alternate history may be developed varies radically and might comprise the entire plotline of a novel (e.g., Robert Sobel's For Want of a Nail... or Peter G. Tsouras's Gettysburg: An Alternate History) or perhaps just provide a single paragraph background to a short story or essay.
The majority of alternate history is written as deliberate fiction. As such, it is most often classified as science fiction, or at least that's where you're most likely to find it at your local bookstore. Nevertheless, you will find examples in other genres, including horror, mystery, historical non-fiction, historical fiction, children's and young-adult fiction, and "mainstream" fiction. When marketed as mainstream fiction or thriller/suspense fiction, alternate histories have been known to crack the bestseller lists (e.g., Len Deighton's SS-GB) and even get made into movies (Robert Harris's Fatherland).
Other names which may apply to the form include alternative histories, allohistories, counterfactuals, counterfeit worlds, if worlds, negative histories, uchronias, etc. Whatever it is called, alternate history somehow involves one or more past events which "happened otherwise" and includes some amount of description of the subsequent effects on history. Perhaps the most common themes in alternate history are "What if the Nazis won World War II?" and "What if the Confederacy won the Civil War?", but alternate Napoleons, Romes and Kennedys are also popular subjects.
Alternate history may appear in novels, short stories, scholarly essays, comic books, movies, television shows, plays and elsewhere, but this bibliography limits its attention to alternative history in printed form.
The extent to which an alternate history may be developed varies radically and might comprise the entire plotline of a novel (e.g., Robert Sobel's For Want of a Nail... or Peter G. Tsouras's Gettysburg: An Alternate History) or perhaps just provide a single paragraph background to a short story or essay.
The majority of alternate history is written as deliberate fiction. As such, it is most often classified as science fiction, or at least that's where you're most likely to find it at your local bookstore. Nevertheless, you will find examples in other genres, including horror, mystery, historical non-fiction, historical fiction, children's and young-adult fiction, and "mainstream" fiction. When marketed as mainstream fiction or thriller/suspense fiction, alternate histories have been known to crack the bestseller lists (e.g., Len Deighton's SS-GB) and even get made into movies (Robert Harris's Fatherland).
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