Abstract
This reply to the critiques by Daniel Woolf, Cass R. Sunstein and Daniel Nolan of my book Altered Pasts: Counterfactuals in History (Brandeis University Press, 2013), takes each of their contributions in turn, and reasserts the centrality to counterfactual history of positing definite, long term alternative timelines rather than a vague claim that things might have turned out differently to the way they actually did (for example, if the Confederacy had won the Civil War, slavery might still exist in the usa). Such alternate timelines have no claim to either truth or utility since they ignore the many possible contingencies that would most likely have taken place following the initial deviation from the real timeline of history.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
