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Almost America: From the Colonists to Clinton: a "What If" History of the U.S. – An Alternate Chronicle of Critical Decisions and Nation-Defining Possibilities
American history is full of difficult choices that could have gone the other way. Now Steve Tally sends you back to the most important moments in our nation's history -- and takes the other fork in the road. Decisions were made. The rules were set. The battles were won. But there was always the possibility of another outcome. Almost America unravels the threads of our nations history -- from the Puritan preachers of the 1970's to the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton -- and takes you to America ( or Americas) that might have been.
402 pages, Paperback
First published November 21, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 17, 2019
The odd thing about Almost America is that Tally is such a good storyteller, his real history is better than his counterfactual history. Each of Tally’s 28 chapters is organized in a similar way: a longish historical background, Tally’s counterfactual scenario, and finally a brief summary of the actual historical outcome.
Several times I caught myself skimming the counterfactual segment. Some of the counterfactuals are plausible, some inconsequential, some overly timid, some amusing (such as the suggestion that if Samuel Morse had not invented the telegraph, no one else would have), and a couple truly bizarre, including the suggestion that a Lincoln vice president might have been executed for his role in attempting to assassinate the president while Lincoln lay in a coma for the better part of a year—a scenario not medically possible during the nineteenth century.
One counterfactual especially interested me: the possibility that Richard Nixon, on the cusp of being removed from office, might have ordered “the marines at the honor guard barracks” to be installed in the White House. Few know that in 1970, during the massive demonstrations that followed the Cambodian incursion and the deaths at Kent State, the White House did in fact introduce armed members of the Honor Guard—U.S. Army, not Marines—into the Executive Office Building in the dead of night. I know because I was one of them.
Several times I caught myself skimming the counterfactual segment. Some of the counterfactuals are plausible, some inconsequential, some overly timid, some amusing (such as the suggestion that if Samuel Morse had not invented the telegraph, no one else would have), and a couple truly bizarre, including the suggestion that a Lincoln vice president might have been executed for his role in attempting to assassinate the president while Lincoln lay in a coma for the better part of a year—a scenario not medically possible during the nineteenth century.
One counterfactual especially interested me: the possibility that Richard Nixon, on the cusp of being removed from office, might have ordered “the marines at the honor guard barracks” to be installed in the White House. Few know that in 1970, during the massive demonstrations that followed the Cambodian incursion and the deaths at Kent State, the White House did in fact introduce armed members of the Honor Guard—U.S. Army, not Marines—into the Executive Office Building in the dead of night. I know because I was one of them.
October 20, 2021
Most of the alternate histories I read are novels, or short stories written in a narrative manner. This one is not like that; it is written in more of an history style with quotes but no conversations, and all people represented are actual historical figures. The style makes for an interesting read if not interesting literature. However, Tally DOES make it very clear where real history leaves off and Alternate history takes over. This is very helpful if one is not familiar with a particular historical event. Events surrounding The Mexican War have always been a bit of a blur to me; Tally's chapter makes it all a lot clearer to me that has been before.
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December 17, 2024""
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2009
Steve Tally presents a collection of counterfactual history essays in this collection spanning United States history from the founding to the Clinton era. The chapters are short and to the point, great reading for when you have a few minutes or want to pass a chapter before bed. Each topic is introduced with a summary of the point of divergence event, an introduction to how actual history unfolded, and a short what if scenario of what might have happened differently. Refreshingly, few topics have to do with twists and turns in warfare as many alternative history novels have quite well charted those waters. Also, few have to do with the Civil War. The one that did speculated on the Booth conspiracy, what would have happened if the Vice President Andrew Johnson was murdered as well, which was a rather fresh angle. I liked the fact that a lot of the topics had to do with relatively mundane facets of American life, such as Teddy Roosevelt wanting to ban college football, or what Bill Gates might have done if IBM took the intellectual property of MS-DOS away from Microsoft.
My only complaint is that as a fan of alternate history novels the “what if” portions of the essays were far too short. Mere sketches really. I love it when a historian takes one of these divergent paths and takes it out years and decades, but Tally was finished with each topic in a page or so. What would have been the long-term consequences of the U2 project cancellation 100 years down the road? In his discussion of the Carnegie-Era Robber Barons and the decision to sell U.S. Steel in particular, he was just getting into the meat of America’s divergent path when he passed on to the next chapter. You could make a whole series of that.
What made reading this book really enjoyable was that I read it in the waning moths of 2008 and so many of the essays have to do with presidential elections and succession. It was fun to dive into the really juicy election years such as 1824 and the corruption surrounding the electoral counts, and Dewey Defeats Truman, a cautionary tale of why you shouldn’t call a campaign successful until election night. Certainly it was a timely read.
I feel that he takes a far more scholarly path than most anthologies of this sort (the background reading certainly taught me a lot about history that had been glossed over in school) but in trying to please both the historians and the alt-history fiction fans he produces a book that only kind of satisfies both tastes. It is certainly worth reading and I give points for the treading of new ground, but it only whet my appitite.
My only complaint is that as a fan of alternate history novels the “what if” portions of the essays were far too short. Mere sketches really. I love it when a historian takes one of these divergent paths and takes it out years and decades, but Tally was finished with each topic in a page or so. What would have been the long-term consequences of the U2 project cancellation 100 years down the road? In his discussion of the Carnegie-Era Robber Barons and the decision to sell U.S. Steel in particular, he was just getting into the meat of America’s divergent path when he passed on to the next chapter. You could make a whole series of that.
What made reading this book really enjoyable was that I read it in the waning moths of 2008 and so many of the essays have to do with presidential elections and succession. It was fun to dive into the really juicy election years such as 1824 and the corruption surrounding the electoral counts, and Dewey Defeats Truman, a cautionary tale of why you shouldn’t call a campaign successful until election night. Certainly it was a timely read.
I feel that he takes a far more scholarly path than most anthologies of this sort (the background reading certainly taught me a lot about history that had been glossed over in school) but in trying to please both the historians and the alt-history fiction fans he produces a book that only kind of satisfies both tastes. It is certainly worth reading and I give points for the treading of new ground, but it only whet my appitite.
September 17, 2015
This book consists of a number of brief alternate history essays. It falls into the usual trap of non-fiction counterfactuals - they don't generally extrapolate what happens very far after the divergence, usually stopping after a few decades. Nevertheless, there were several interesting scenarios that make this worth reading.
The standouts include:
- Morse never invents the telegraph, leading to a more fragmented U.S.
- Robert E. Lee becomes the commander of the Union army, which keeps Virginia and other southern states in the Union, but doesn't end well for Lee himself
- Lee's Confederate forces are captured soon after Gettysburg
- Both Lincoln and vice president Johnson are assassinated, allowing the Radical Republicans free rein with the defeated South
- FDR takes various actions to discourage Japanese aggression ahead of World War II
- The U-2 spy plane never enters service, resulting in a less-informed and overly cautious U.S. during the Cold War
- Republicans decline to impeach Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky scandal, leaving Clinton vulnerable to other controversies
The standouts include:
- Morse never invents the telegraph, leading to a more fragmented U.S.
- Robert E. Lee becomes the commander of the Union army, which keeps Virginia and other southern states in the Union, but doesn't end well for Lee himself
- Lee's Confederate forces are captured soon after Gettysburg
- Both Lincoln and vice president Johnson are assassinated, allowing the Radical Republicans free rein with the defeated South
- FDR takes various actions to discourage Japanese aggression ahead of World War II
- The U-2 spy plane never enters service, resulting in a less-informed and overly cautious U.S. during the Cold War
- Republicans decline to impeach Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky scandal, leaving Clinton vulnerable to other controversies
December 9, 2014
Very good despite a few little factual errors.
Some of these are really thought-provoking and well thought out. I especially enjoyed the one concerning Teddy Roosevelt following through with his plan to ban college football unless they did something to curb the extreme violence (23 young men died in the 1905 season). The consequences were interesting and I thought very plausible.
The book is marred by a few factual errors. They really are not terribly important to the outcome of the author's alternate histories but show a sloppiness in editing. Some examples are placing the Revolutionary War fort of Kaskaskia in present-day Kentucky when it is actually in Illinois and saying that people blamed Lincoln's assassination on people who were wanting to revive the Union cause (obviously the Union cause was in great shape by the point of the war - I assume his editors did not catch it and he meant to say Confederate).
Despite the errors, the book is still a fun read.
Some of these are really thought-provoking and well thought out. I especially enjoyed the one concerning Teddy Roosevelt following through with his plan to ban college football unless they did something to curb the extreme violence (23 young men died in the 1905 season). The consequences were interesting and I thought very plausible.
The book is marred by a few factual errors. They really are not terribly important to the outcome of the author's alternate histories but show a sloppiness in editing. Some examples are placing the Revolutionary War fort of Kaskaskia in present-day Kentucky when it is actually in Illinois and saying that people blamed Lincoln's assassination on people who were wanting to revive the Union cause (obviously the Union cause was in great shape by the point of the war - I assume his editors did not catch it and he meant to say Confederate).
Despite the errors, the book is still a fun read.
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July 3, 2010Interesting Counterfactual Scenarios: The sense I got when I read the "might have beens" in this book was that God seemed to be watching over the development of America--the securing of our independence in the eighteenth century and that we didn't self-destruct or fragment in the nineteenth. That thirteen colonies on the Eastern Seaboard could break from Britain was deemed highly improbable, and it took a lot of providence to bring it about.
The one scenario that I thought was WAY off base was the 1992 election--there is no way that Bush would have beaten Clinton if he had dropped Dan Quayle from the ticket in favor of Colin Powell.
All in all, an enjoyable read, and a reason to be thankful that things didn't turn out as badly for America as they might have.
The one scenario that I thought was WAY off base was the 1992 election--there is no way that Bush would have beaten Clinton if he had dropped Dan Quayle from the ticket in favor of Colin Powell.
All in all, an enjoyable read, and a reason to be thankful that things didn't turn out as badly for America as they might have.
July 9, 2011
Like most "what if?" books about history, this one leaves a bit to be desired. Each chapter has several pages of background material that leads up to the conflict in question (ex. should Washington cross the Delaware River or should George Bush dump Dan Quayle as his VP). After that is has several pages of speculation, complete with made-up conversations between the major players. The final section of each chapter contains what actually happened.
The book is amusing and thought-provoking in many places, but it contains a bit more speculation (not based on evidence) than I would like to see.
The book is amusing and thought-provoking in many places, but it contains a bit more speculation (not based on evidence) than I would like to see.
September 17, 2015
This book was a very interesting look at some events in the history of the US that could have turned out very differently. The author goes into a bit more detail than I, a low-key history buff, would have liked. It took me awhile to get through this one because a) I'm in grad school and b) it wasn't gripping. Excellent book for history buffs and brings out a couple of interesting points in history I don't remember learning about before. Towards the end the author seems a little bit partisan, but that doesn't come through until the last couple of chapters.
September 20, 2015
2.5 stars. some of the "what if" scenarios seemed a stretch. I think if they were fleshed out a bit more I'd be able to follow the train of thought of the author better.
that being said, some other scenarios were fascinating to me, especially the u-2, the jungle by Upton Sinclair (yuck!), Lee joining the union army, Microsoft, and the Apollo 11 mission.
definitely a book for history buffs and speculators.
that being said, some other scenarios were fascinating to me, especially the u-2, the jungle by Upton Sinclair (yuck!), Lee joining the union army, Microsoft, and the Apollo 11 mission.
definitely a book for history buffs and speculators.
February 22, 2013
Interesting and informative read. But some mistakes this author makes are ludicrous. For example, he says Bill Gates invented the Fortran computer language. (According to Wikipedia, Fortran was developed by IBM in the 50's, about the time Gates was born.) Such glaring errors make me skeptical about the author's fact-checking due diligence.
January 5, 2010
A really fun, thought-provoking introduction to studying American history. Some scenarios are a little more plausible than others, but that is the nature of the writing. Every page is filled with imagination, blurring the lines between fact and fiction.
February 25, 2014
didn't care too much about the what-if scenarios so I skipped them. I was too worried about remembering the fake history as real and making a fool of myself in conversation.
March 5, 2016
Very interesting what if scenarios. My favorite being Robert E Lee joins the Union and Teddy Roosevelt outlaws football.
March 29, 2021
A total mess. Short fictonial story not based on real historial research like FDR declaring war to the USSR in 1939, California secedding in the early 1860's.
July 9, 2015
Great book for fans of revisionist history.
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