A Tad Bit ‘Bout Life

Recently, I finished the book What If?, which is made up of a series of essays on what could of happened in certain military campaigns. It describes how a single death, a split-second decision, or an action can affect the outcome of history. It is written by some of the most famous military historians, such as Stephen E. Ambrose, John Keegan, David McCullough, and James M. McPherson, among others. It mentions very interesting points, such as what the outcome would have been if the Romans had successfully repelled the ambush at Teutonberg Forest, where the Romans lost 18,000 men to the barbarian Germanic tribes, as well as questioning what would have happened if D-Day had failed.

 In the matter of Teutonberg Forest, it goes on to describe how one battle could change the history of the English and German-speaking world. It states that had the battle been favorable to the Romans, they would have continued to advance into Germany, bringing with them culture, amphitheatres, public baths, and libraries. The author of this essay believes that had Germany (the tribes at the time called the Furor Teutonics) not defeated the Romans, conflicts such as WWI and WWII, would most likely not have occurred. The explanation is complicated but logical. The Romans would have had all of Europe under their command, and when/ or if the empire collapsed, all the lands would have a relatively constant culture, that of the Romans. This would leave fewer things to argue and quarrel about.  

What If? is a brilliant and scholarly book, yet fit for general reading. It is extremely interesting (otherwise, I, as a 14-year-old, I wouldn’t have read it). It answers many (20) questions, all related to diplomatic and military “what ifs.” A must-read for any avid history reader.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 23rd, 2008 at 4:55 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.