Recent content by Vaude

Great update! I've heard hunter-gardener used before in certain Amerindian cultures, and it is applicable, especially concerning South American horticulturists.

... mammoth-riding pyramid-builders? Yeah, a native American civilization would be awesome. I can just imagine our bronze age Homeric hero being tossed into a Colosseum to face off against giant sloths. :D Can we introduce some dark religious background? Maybe the natives have some kind of...

Hey, seeing as Puritan World and Gurkani Alam have PODs only five years separate from one another... anyone want to try their hand at a fusion of the two? :D

You should read The Lords of Creation series by S. M. Stirling. The Sky People is about a habitable jungle Venus, In the Courts of the Crimson Kings is about a habitable desert-highlands Mars. The POD would actually be before the 1960s, such as when microwave tests are used to determine if...

I doubt he would be successful. Suslov had enough power for a long enough time... why didn't he give the go ahead for economic reforms? Furthermore, the guy is a hawk who pushed for confrontation with the West, so I don't think military expenditures (and the related heavy industries) would be...

Haha, uh, thanks for that prediction, Constantinople... :confused::D I really think making Suslov die that early would constitute a double POD. I hate to be a downer, but well, that's not the kind of elegance I'd prefer. Maybe the successful assassination of Brezhnev inspires a copycat attempt...

Interesting discussion. I honestly have no idea at this point whether Bmao, Faeelin, or tallwingedgoat is right or not, everyone keeps on bringing up such convincing points! :)

On the subject of 'not enough Mormons to control the US Southwest', what about having them abandon their racist doctrines and polygamy? Might that give them more converts? It would definitely help if there was no Mexican-American War and if the California Gold Rush is delayed as much as...

Wow, that is a fantastic piece! Thoroughly entertaining! I really don't know if its plausible... not being too educated in the history of airships, but like I said, very fun althistory piece. Enjoyed it quite a bit. Thanks for writing it!

Look at Eastern Europe. The Soviets kept control for a good while there. Why couldn't they do the same to Manchuria? Why is it inevitable that the Manchurian Communists would strike out on their own to seize the rest of China? EDIT: Ah, I see you've answered that question before I could ask it.

Ah, so you've seen that scenario before. The argument is a good one. But what if Chiang didn't press for Soviet withdrawal, and the Soviets decided to disappear Mao in favor for a more loyal puppet to control Manchuria and Manchuria alone?

You guys should check out China Without Tears: If Chiang Kai-shek Hadn't Gambled in 1946 by Arthur Waldron in What If? edited by Robert Cowley. Easy POD for Nationalist China... while keeping a Red Manchuria. Things would definitely had been better. Nationalist China is a one-party state and...

Well, if Suslov wanted to remain in the shadows, so to speak, then no doubt either Andropov or Pelshe, both his proteges, would probably be made the head of the Soviet Union... I would think Pelshe would be the better choice for Suslov, as he was higher in de jure rank than Andropov as of 1969...

Well, that completely depends on who becomes the next General Secretary. I'm thinking Mikhail Suslov the man you are looking for... but I might be wrong. The guy actually put together a plan for triggering a nuclear war between the USA and the PRC, by shooting off a nuclear missile from Chinese...

Alexander's Empire did not keep the world in the bronze age, it clearly says several times in the book that the Europeans have a late medieval technological base, even the printing press and other more advanced know-how, they just never got enough of a navigational package to discover the...