Alternative history (fiction)

Alternative history or alternate history is fiction that is set in a world in which history has diverged from history as it is generally known; more simply put, alternate history asks the question, "What If history had developed differently?" Most works that employ this rubric are set in factful historical contexts, yet feature several social, geopolitical or industrial circumstances that developed differently or at a different pace from our own, sometimes as a result of progress in technological or social paradigms that were accomplished via the understanding already present in the given zeitgeist. While to some extent all fiction can be described as alternative history, the genre proper comprises fiction in which a change happens that causes history to diverge from our own. For a variety of reasons, alternate history is generally classified as a subcategory of speculative fiction. Secret history, which gives an account of history at odds with our general understanding, presenting its own account as having been lost or forgotten, is not alternate history.

Alternative history in other media

Several films have been made that exploit the concepts of alternative history, most notably Kevin Brownlow's It Happened Here. Another such film is 2009 Lost Memories, a Korean film supposing that Hirobumi Ito was not assassinated by An Jung-geun in Harbin, China, in 1909. Many movies about alternate pasts, however, focus on individuals rather than historical events and are not considered alternate histories (e.g., Frank Capra’s It's a Wonderful Life, and more recently the films Sliding Doors and The Butterfly Effect).

Related Topics:
Kevin Brownlow - It Happened Here - 2009 Lost Memories - Hirobumi Ito - An Jung-geun - 1909 - Frank Capra - It's a Wonderful Life - Sliding Doors - The Butterfly Effect

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The science fiction television show Sliders presented alternate histories under the science-inspired guise of quantum-navigating the multiverse.

Related Topics:
Science fiction - Television show - Sliders - Multiverse

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The dramatic possibilities of alternate history provide a diverse genre for exploration in role-playing games. Many games use an alternate historical background for their campaigns. In particular, GURPS uses a setting containing multiple different alternate histories as its default campaign setting.

Related Topics:
Role-playing game - Many games - GURPS

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