5 Alternate History Books on Civil War

Alternate histories of various events occurring in the past, such as the Civil War, spark the curiosity of readers. Looking at small decisions and events, creative storytellers look to see how different choices could have led to different outcomes and perhaps changed the course of history.

Works range in likelihood from minor events altering the background of a novel’s setting to far-fetched events, such as alien invasions, according to the Historical Novel Society.

One of the most common themes in the alternate history genre looks at what would have occurred had the South won the Civil War, and slavery was permitted to survive, according to Uchronia.

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Here are some novels that make changes to the events of the Civil War.

1. “Dixie Victorious: An Alternate History of the Civil War”
Military historian Peter G. Tsouras takes a look at real battles fought and how small decisions could have left the South as the victors of the Civil War and changed the course of history, according to Amazon.

2. “Britannia’s Fist: From Civil War to World War – An Alternate History”
Also by Tsouras, this book imagines if Great Britain had supported the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, starting a world war between the Union and its parent country, according to Google Books.

3. “Shattered Nation: An Alternate History Novel of the American Civil War”
Focusing on Confederate President Jefferson Davis’s replacement of General Joseph Johnston with John Bell Hood, author Jeffrey Evan Brooks looks at how an obscure decision could change historical events.

“The story brings out the political intrigue surrounding both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, the rivalries among the generals on both sides, and the brutal experiences of the common soldier,” Brooks said, according to Civil War News.

4. “The Guns of the South”
Author Harry Turtledove combines modern technology with wars from the past. A character with a strange accent introduces Confederate General Robert E. Lee to a brand new weapon with major manpower. The stranger calls it an AK-47. Turtledove investigates how access to this contemporary weaponry would change the course of the war, according to Goodreads.

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5. “Stars and Stripes”
This trilogy from Harry Harrison imagines that the Trent Affair resulted in a crisis between the United States and Great Britain, a relationship permanently ruined when Prince Albert is killed. Soon British troops in Canada and American forces meet on the border as fighting breaks loose, and history changes from there, according to Alternate History Weekly Update.

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