Any suggestions for alternative/speculative history fiction books (excluding all Turtledove).

[Capt. America]

[Democracyinkind]

1. I always liked Fatherland by Robert Harris....

Can't think of any other fiction books in this category that I know of right now, which kind of surprises me. I'm interested in reading the coming replies....

[Capt. America]

8. Thanks, read this.

[raccoon]

2. Resurrection Day by Brendan DuBois. The Cuban Missile Crisis became a nuclear war.

Book is set in 1970's, I believe.

[Capt. America]

9. Thanks! I'll look into this.

[bbrady42]

3. The Plot Against America, Phillip Roth

The Plot Against America, Phillip Roth

[Staph]

6. And welcome to DU, bbrady42!

As you can see, we are much more than just politics!

[abluelady]

4. This One's About the Civil War

"All Other Nights" by Dara Horn.

[Capt. America]

10. Thank you. I'll look into this.

[Staph]

5. 1632 by Eric Flint

and the dozens of sequels.

1632 involves a small town in West Virginia in 2000 that is scooped up and deposited in the middle of Germany, in the middle of the Thirty Years War. The townsfolk decide to start the American Revolution 150 years early. There are lots of historical persons in the books, including Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Cardinal Richelieu, Galileo, Cromwell, etc.

Check out the Baen Free Library (http://www.baen.com/library/defaultTitles.htm) for no-strings-attached downloads of the first two books, 1632 and 1633.

[Forkboy]

7. The Years of Rice and Salt.

The book is set between about A.D. 1405 (783 solar years since the Hegira, by the Islamic calendar used in the book), and A.D. 2002 (1423 after Hegira). In the eighth Islamic century, almost 99% of the population of Medieval Europe is wiped out by the Black Death (rather than the approximately 30-60% that died in reality). This sets the stage for a world without Christianity as a major influence.

The novel follows a jāti of three to seven main characters and their reincarnation through the centuries in very different cultural and religious settings. The book features Muslim, Chinese (Buddhist, Daoist, Confucianist), American Indian, and Hindu culture, philosophy and everyday life. It mixes sophisticated knowledge about these cultures in the real world with their imagined global development in a world without Western Christendom.

The main characters, marked by identical first letters throughout their reincarnations, but changing in gender, culture-nationality and so on, struggle for progress in each life. Each chapter has a narrative style which reflects its setting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Years_of_Rice_and_Salt

[Capt. America]

11. Thank you. I have read this one already.

[bain_sidhe]

12. J. Gregory Keyes "Age of Unreason" series

Newton's Cannon
A Calculus of Angels
Empire of Unreason
The Shadows of God

Features Ben Franklin, Isaac Newton and others... but with magic.

Also, Vonda McIntyre's The Moon and the Sun, set in the court of Louis XIV.

[krispos42]

13. "The Cross-Time Engineer" series

Although it's a bit more sci-fi.

Engineer from 1980's Poland is accidently transported in time to 13th Century Poland, nine years before the Mongols invade. Now he had to modernize medival Poland and field an army.

[InternalDialogue]

15. That's a very cool premise.

I'm going to go Google it, but just in case I come up with less than stellar results, is the series translated from Polish?

[krispos42]

16. No, it's written by an American of Polish descent. Leo Frankowski

He's dead now... I didn't realize that, but he died last Christmas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_Stargard

In fact, the main character went to engineering school in America, which helps him enormously in spreading capitalism throughout the duchy. A good part of his wealth comes from his invention of a Hooters-like club... :evilgrin:

[raccoon]

14. BRING THE JUBILEE by Ward Moore -1952.

Takes place in the 1920's. Confederates had won the Civil War.

I wasn't carried away with this book--I got it on ILL and don't remember much of it. Others may find it more interesting than I did.

[pit]

17. Lost Years : The Presidency of Al Gore

http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Years-Presidency-Al-Gore/dp/1448675634/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259248871&sr=8-1