I've been avidly searching and searching and I can't find anything or I'm just missing what's in front of my face. I'm looking for alternate history.

When I say alternate history I mean anything from a different outcome of the civil war, WW I and II all the way to Ancient Rome and Egypt or Brazil. Pretty much anything that doesn't follow what actually happened.

I've read one book by Iggulden (I think) where Carthage defeated Rome and exiled them.

I'm just looking for authors or titles that I can either get from the library or from the site.

Thank-you very much

Ruthawen

There is one entitled Fatherland, set in Germany after the Nazis' victory in World War II.  It's by Robert Harris.

Alternate History is a form of Science Fiction.  All of the Alternate History genre books on PBS will come up if you search for the genre of first Science Fiction and Fantasy, then the sub-genre of Science Fiction, and finally Alternate History.

Gillian Bradshaw's book Cleopatra's Heir is about how history would have been different if Cleopatra and Julius Caesar's son hadn't been murdered by Augustus.

Here is the blurb:

The might and power of Julius Caesar, the man who conquered the known world.

The beauty of Cleopatra, the woman who conquered the conqueror.

Together they could have forged an empire whose power had never been seen before. Tragically, it was not meant to be.

But what of the son who was born of their passion?

Gillian Bradshaw gives us a possible answer in Cleopatra's Heir, a riveting historical novel drawn from meticulous research and a unique historical premise. The young son of Julius Caesar and the fabled Cleopatra, Caesarion was seen by some as the hope of the marriage between Rome and Egypt, by others as the folly of a commander's lust for a wanton foreign schemer. For the new Roman ruler, Octavius, Caesarion is the threat that could topple his dreams of a safe and peaceful Roman Empire.

The brutal truth is that Caesarion could not be allowed to live. But what if he somehow managed to survive the inevitable assassination and went underground to hide his identity? How would he find a way to live when he has always chosen and honor, even though his life has been shadowed by forces greater than anyone should have to cope with?

Caesarion will travel the lands that he thinks he knows so well only to discover that he knew his people not at all. And only after that discovery, when he loses it all and is forced to confront his humanity, will Caesarion finally come to know friendship, honesty, and love.

And the essential truth that a man can be noble and true, bereft of land, titles . . . and even a name.

Thank-you. Cleopatra's Heir and Fatherland with be on my wish list very soon.

Doughgirl thanks a bunch for letting me know how to get to alternate history. Never though of it as SciFi. Huh, the things you learn.

Philip Roth's The Plot Against America is an alternate history based on Charles Lindbergh (Nazi sympathizer) being elected president in 1940 instead of FDR.  It's an absolutely frightening premise and Roth makes it seem very real.

Harry Turtledove has an entire series based on Alternative History plotlines.

Newt Gingrich  and William Forstchen co-wrote a Civil War trilogy which are based on an alternate Civil War History"

Gettysburg a Novel of the Civil War

Grant Comes East

Never Call Retreat- Lee and Grant the Final Victory

Pearl Harbor is another alternate history by the same authors

All are great reads and just fascinating

Thanks Carol P

Irene--

You might also look for books which are tagged "Alternate History", which is part of our historical fiction tagging project, such as this one: http://www.paperbackswap.com/book/details/9781416532811-1632

Some authors in alternate history I've enjoyed include:

S. M. Stirling (try Island in the Sea of Time, which changes ancient history)

John Birmingham (Weapons of Choice starts a trilogy)

Kurt R. A. Giambastiani (The Year the Cloud Fell starts his series)

Cheers,

Catt

Kathy W.'s mention of Phillip Roth's The Plot Against America reminded me of It Can't Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis.  It is about how this country became "The Corporate State" when  FDR was NOT re-elected in 1936.  And how civil rights disappeared, how the Fourth Estate was silenced, meetings of citizens were forbidden, etc. etc.   The book isn't one of Sinclair Lewis's  better books, but it is an interesting nightmare vision of what happens when a democracy is taken over by tyrants.                                       

There are a couple of mysteries (at least I consider them mysteries, but they're shelved under SF at my local Borders) by Jo Walton, called Farthing and Ha'penny. They're set in 1949 (at least the first one is), and the preimise is that Britain made peace with Hitler after the Battle of Britain. Churchill was pushed out, of course. Interestingly, she has Lindbergh as the American president in that one - don't know if she decided on that before or after The Plot Against America came out.

And don't forget the classic (if not the original) alternate history, Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle.

Eric Flint has the 1632 Series which features a west Virginia town deposited in 1632 Europe during the 30 year war, and moves forward from there with the Butterfly effect.

Things begibn to change in Europe as these people and the things they brought  back affect all of europe, and maybe they will begin to affect the people in the new world (north America) soon.

Hope this helps.

I also consider the Dan Brown novels alternative history.

I recently read Orwell's 1984 which is kinda like an alternative history novel. It takes place in England and is as if a govt like Russia or Hitler in WWII were successful. it was easy reading and captivating. I'm not sure it's specifically what you are looking for though.