"What If... ?" Every Civil War armchair general asks the question. Possibilities unfold. Disappointments vanish. Imaginations soar. More questions arise. Asking "What if..." is often more than an exercise in wishful fantasy. A serious inquiry sparks rigorous exploration, demands critical thinking, and unlocks important insights.

The Great "What Ifs" of the American Civil War: Historians Tackle the Conflict's Most Intriguing Possibilities is a collection of thirteen essays by the historians at Emerging Civil War, including a foreword by acclaimed alternate history writer Peter G. Tsouras.

Each entry focuses on one of the most important events of the war and unpacks the options of the moment. To understand what happened, we must look at what could have happened, with the full multitude of choices before us and a clear and objective eye. "What if" is a tool for illumination.

This is not a collection of alternate histories or counterfactual scenarios. Rather, it is an invitation to ask, to learn, and to wonder, "What if... ?"

About the Author
Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., is the editor in chief and a co-founder of Emerging Civil War, and he's the managing editor of the Emerging Civil War Series published by Savas Beatie. Chris is a writing professor in the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University, where he also serves as the associate dean for undergraduate programs, and is the historian-in-residence at Stevenson Ridge, a historic property on the Spotsylvania Court House battlefield. Brian Matthew Jordan is associate professor of Civil War history and chair of the History Department at Sam Houston State University. He lives in southeast Texas. He is the author of Unholy Sabbath: The Battle of South Mountain in History and Memory (Savas Beatie, 2011). His book Marching Home: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War (Liveright, 2015) was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Most recently, his book A Thousand May Fall: Life, Death, and Survival in the Union Army (Liveright, 2021) was one of the top-selling Civil War titles of the year.


Book Information
ISBN 9781611215731
Author Chris Mackowski
Format Hardback
Page Count 264
Imprint Savas Beatie
Publisher Savas Beatie