NEED HELP - ALT. HIST. EXPERTS!

"Pieces of TL, Pieces of TL" *squak* "Polly want an AH"

"shush polly thar be plenty time for a keel haulin' later"

*ears perk up and hook-hand straightens*

"Keel haulin', ye say? Why, we've got be goin' 'fore Fell finds us an' ejaculates our ears with thar innuendo-blimey! Thar she blows!"
 
If you guys want to prove your credentials to me AND all sign and fax or email me non-disclosure agreements, sure, i'll post my questions here when i'm certain i'm dealing with people who are who they say they are. plus if you go back to the original question, it wasn't so much asking for answers from YOU but for names of people who were quasi-celebrities in the history industry, i.e. david mccullough etc. I'm only being vague because I can't get into project specifics. I could just ask the questions here but how do I know you are people with opinions that I'd consider valuable?

And speaking of which, why do you think all of your anonymity is so precious and valuable anyway? I'm willing to bet, no one cares about your phone numbers or email addresses. NOBODY CARES! Most of its public knowledge anyway. Anyone off the street can get your address from running your license plates online. And in all honesty, I'm not interested in your personal information. I'm giving you a chance to talk about your opinions and perspectives on some alt history topics. Why battle at all?
 
If you guys want to prove your credentials to me AND all sign and fax or email me non-disclosure agreements, sure, i'll post my questions here when i'm certain i'm dealing with people who are who they say they are. plus if you go back to the original question, it wasn't so much asking for answers from YOU but for names of people who were quasi-celebrities in the history industry, i.e. david mccullough etc. I'm only being vague because I can't get into project specifics. I could just ask the questions here but how do I know you are people with opinions that I'd consider valuable?

And speaking of which, why do you think all of your anonymity is so precious and valuable anyway? I'm willing to bet, no one cares about your phone numbers or email addresses. NOBODY CARES! Most of its public knowledge anyway. Anyone off the street can get your address from running your license plates online. And in all honesty, I'm not interested in your personal information. I'm giving you a chance to talk about your opinions and perspectives on some alt history topics. Why battle at all?

*facepalm*

What do you think we're going to do? Run off with your history project?

And besides, if you're not sure we'd be helpful, don't avoid asking questions, but use your own discretion as to whether our opinions are valid or not.

And if you're adamant that we have no information to offer up, why do you need to come here for the names of contactable historians? Go do that yourself.

And I can't even believe your last couple of lines.

I don't want to put my phone number and address here, and I'm sure nobody else wants to.

As for your last sentence, you're acting as if you're offering up a rare opportunity. Unless you haven't noticed, that's what the whole board is about.

It seems as if you're the one refusing to discuss. Just post your questions here if you want them answered. You'll go nowhere by insisting we call or email you.
 
Most of us are dedicated amateurs.

I know a great deal about American political history from 1960 on, for instance, and develop election scenarios for a game; but it's not like I'm some professor somewhere—I'm a political science student in Montreal.


If you want professors who do AH, go look up the various books written about AH (probably the anthology type ones, like What If? are best) and contact those people.

(I was being polite, but AHF above is definitely what my first response would have been)
 
If you guys want to prove your credentials to me AND all sign and fax or email me non-disclosure agreements, sure, i'll post my questions here when i'm certain i'm dealing with people who are who they say they are. plus if you go back to the original question, it wasn't so much asking for answers from YOU but for names of people who were quasi-celebrities in the history industry, i.e. david mccullough etc. I'm only being vague because I can't get into project specifics. I could just ask the questions here but how do I know you are people with opinions that I'd consider valuable?

And speaking of which, why do you think all of your anonymity is so precious and valuable anyway? I'm willing to bet, no one cares about your phone numbers or email addresses. NOBODY CARES! Most of its public knowledge anyway. Anyone off the street can get your address from running your license plates online. And in all honesty, I'm not interested in your personal information. I'm giving you a chance to talk about your opinions and perspectives on some alt history topics. Why battle at all?

Because people like their privacy, and because no-body really sees why you can't do this on here.

But if you're just looking for names of AH-friendly historians....well, someone has already mentioned Niall Ferguson. There's also the people involved in the What if? series: Robert Cowley was the editor, although you'll have to find some copies to see who all the others were, although I think McCullough might have done one chapter. Once you have the names, a wee bit of research will turn up their university email addresses, although good luck getting them to give you their time....
 
Also, of there's some specific question or period you're focusing on, you could search the forum. A very wide range of stuff has been discussed in detail on here, going back four years I think, and you might find some useful info....
 
I don't think the collective responders here are going to give you much in the way of "formal" references than you could not find by researching a library catalog or a set of university history department rosters. The big-name authors are obviously easy to identify and you should be able to find some sort of contact information. Ditto for twentieth century history professors. Count on being required to disclose some additional detail on what you are doing in order to interest them, especially if you feel it necessary to request some sort of NDA.

As for us - hey, this is a hobby, not a profession, and while we like to talk about our interests few if any of us are making any money from alternate history. If you can structure your questions to the point at which you are comfortable posting them, then go for it! If you would prefer a little more structure, you could invite people to contact you singly using the Personal Messages feature of this site. Again, you might have to disclose a little bit about about your direction of research so that you don't waste time with people who have no background in your area of interest.
 
*facepalm*

What do you think we're going to do? Run off with your history project?

And besides, if you're not sure we'd be helpful, don't avoid asking questions, but use your own discretion as to whether our opinions are valid or not.

And if you're adamant that we have no information to offer up, why do you need to come here for the names of contactable historians? Go do that yourself.

And I can't even believe your last couple of lines.

I don't want to put my phone number and address here, and I'm sure nobody else wants to.

As for your last sentence, you're acting as if you're offering up a rare opportunity. Unless you haven't noticed, that's what the whole board is about.

It seems as if you're the one refusing to discuss. Just post your questions here if you want them answered. You'll go nowhere by insisting we call or email you.

I agree:
facepalm.jpg

facepalm.jpg
 
Because people like their privacy, and because no-body really sees why you can't do this on here.

But if you're just looking for names of AH-friendly historians....well, someone has already mentioned Niall Ferguson. There's also the people involved in the What if? series: Robert Cowley was the editor, although you'll have to find some copies to see who all the others were, although I think McCullough might have done one chapter. Once you have the names, a wee bit of research will turn up their university email addresses, although good luck getting them to give you their time....


Thank you. That's all I wanted; a couple of viable names. I appreciate your posting.
 
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