What Ifs? of American History - Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been (Hardcover)

The "what if" concept is one of the most original and engaging on the current history bookshelf. The essays are chock-full of provocative ideas; they are as accessible to the general reader as they are to the scholar; and they are the perfect gift for the dedicated history buff on anyone's list In this new collection of never-before-published essays, our brightest historians speculate about some of America's more intriguing crossroads. Some irresistible highlights include: Caleb Carr The Alienist on America had there been no Revolution; Tom Wicker on the first time a vice president, John Tyler, succeeded a deceased president and its surprising ramifications; Jay Winik April 1865 on the havoc that might have resulted if Booth had succeeded in his plan to assassinate Johnson and Seward as well as Lincoln; Antony Beevor The Fall of Berlin 1945 on the possibility of Eisenhower's capture of Berlin before the Soviets' arrival there in 1945; and Robert Dallek An Unfinished Life about John F. Kennedy on one of the most agonizing American "what if"s of all: what might have happened if JFK hadn't been assassinated.