Table of Contents
Useful Essays On Writing Alternate History
This page is a collection of links to various essays and articles dealing with the possible pitfalls an author of alternate history might experience while working on his scenario/timeline.
Essays from the AH.com Directory and AH.com board
- Colonizing America is Hard - Discussion on plausibility problems with earlier or more easily succesful colonisation efforts in the Americas.
- Guide to Logistics, courtesy of Saphroneth et al
Essays from external alternate history websites
- Problematic Aspects of Alternate History - Some Often Overlooked Considerations by Grey Wolf (under the name “Wolverine”), published at the Infinity Wanderers site (archived via archive.org, an additional link to an AH.com backup is available here)
- The Fractions of Perceptibly Different Alternate Timelines at Tony Jones' sci-fi site (Some sciency thoughts on how many alternate timelines will be the same, from a human perspective.)
Essays from published sources
- Toynbee, A. J. (1969). Three Lives. Some Problems of Greek History (pp. 418–487). Oxford: Oxford University Press - Famous British historian Arnold Toynbee's articles If Ochus and Philip had Lived On and If Alexander the Great had Lived On, from a book of essays entitled Some Problems in Greek History. Recommended by Leo Caesius: “To me, these two essays remain the best models for historical counterfactuals, examined and explained concisely and well…”
Related AH.com discussions
How extensive is the butterfly effect? Speculation...
What are the moral responsibilites of alternate history?
Is there a philosophy of history for alternative history?
The butterfly effect and human culture
How do you like to view timelines?
Alternate Histories written like a non-fiction textbook
OTL as "default TL" in multiverses?
See Also
The Sliding Scale of Alternate History Plausibility
AH.com Specialists 1 & AH.com Specialists 2 - Lists of board members who might be able to help you with various historical questions while you're writing your timeline.