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.

Elements of Alternate History

There are certain elements which are common to all alternate histories, whether they deal with history on the micro-level (personal alternate histories) or the macro-level (world-changing events). These elements include

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• A point of change from the history of our world prior to the time at which the author is writing
• A change which would alter history as it is known
• An examination of the ramifications of that change

Alternate histories do not

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• Need to be set in the past
• Need to show the point of divergence
• Need to deal with world changing events
• Need to include famous people

This leads to readers encountering stories which read as though they were alternate history, but which are not. An example would be Robert Heinlein's The Man Who Sold the Moon. Written in the 1940's, it posits that the first moon launch is run by a private organization rather than a government agency in the 1960's. New readers encountering the book may well presume that this is alternative history since it is clearly a counter-factual depiction of the first moon lauch, now almost 40 years in the past. However, when written the first moon launch was nearly 30 years in the future. Thus, The Man Who Sold the Moon is Science fiction, not alternative history. The point of divergance happened after the time at which the author was writing.

Related Topics:
Robert Heinlein - The Man Who Sold the Moon - Science fiction

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The boundary, like many in literature, is a broad line with grey edges. Would a 2005 author writing a story set in 1970 in Heinlein's universe, or Jules Verne's Captain Nemo universe be writing SF or AH? Opinions differ.

Related Topics:
Jules Verne - Captain Nemo

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