Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Not Your Typical History Lesson


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is a Back to School/Learning freebie.  I've always been a history buff - it was one of my majors in college, and for a few years I worked as a historian.  When I saw that this week's topic was all about school, learning, required reading, etc., I thought it would be fun to put together a list of books that put a unique spin on the historical events and people we've all learned about in school.  While they are all based somewhat in reality, these alternate history books take a look at all the "what ifs..."

  

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith: What if the 16th President of the United States led a secret double life as a vampire hunter?

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland: Zombies rise during the Civil War.
 
 

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead: What if the Underground Railroad was an actual working railroad?

The Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove: The outcome of the Civil War is changed by time travelers from the future who bring modern weapons to the Confederate Army.

 

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick: How the United States would be changed had the Axis powers won World War II.

11/22/63 by Stephen King: A man goes back in time to stop the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

   

Making History by Stephen Fry: What if Hitler had never been born? 

Deck Z: The Titanic. Unsinkable. Undead. by Chris Pauls and Matt Solomon: A zombie virus is unleashed on the doomed ocean liner.

 

The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson: An epic imagining of what it would have been like if the Black Plague had killed 99% of the population of Europe.

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows: A fun and light-hearted spin on the 9-day reign of Lady Jane Grey in England.

What are some of your favorite alternate history books?

40 comments:

  1. Ohh, I love this list! Such a great topic! The Underground Railroad is on my TBR too.

    Ronnie @ Paradise Found

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  2. I like your spin on the topic this week. I haven't read any of these but there are some on my TBR - Underground Railroad, My Lady Jane, 11/22/63.

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    1. Thanks, Grace! My Lady Jane and 11/22/63 are really good!

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  3. Great list! Dread Nation and The Underground Railroad are both on my TBR - I'm hoping to read Dread Nation close to Halloween - and The Years of Rice and Salt sounds really interesting.

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    1. I thought The Years of Rice and Salt sounded really cool, like nothing I've ever read before!

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  4. I love how you did this weeks topic! I haven't read any of these yet, even though I also love alternate history books, so I will definitely be adding some of them to my TBR :)
    My TTT

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  5. What a fun topic! I have read a couple of these, but definitely looking forward to others!

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  6. This is the coolest post idea! I love history. From this post, I’ve only read Dread Nation. Some of the others are on my TBR list. I think The Long Walk by Stephen King is alternate history, but the historical stuff is in the background. It mentions Nazis invading the US during WWII.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. Thanks, Aj! I've never heard of that Stephen King book!

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  7. Great idea for a post! I love your list, too.

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  8. I love your take on the TTT topic this week. My Lady Jane is on my TBR. I'm not sure if these exactly count, but they're the closest I can think of to alternate history books, though they have some fantasy elements: The Ring and the Crown by Melissa de la Cruz is about what if Merlin were real and lived for centuries as the English monarch's advisor? And, one of my favorite books, Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine is based on the idea that the printing press was never invented. Here's my TTT.

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    1. Thanks, Kasey! Those sound like alternate history to me! I did enjoy Ink and Bone, although I only read the first book.

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  9. What a fun theme! I've read and enjoyed My Lady Jane and Dread Nation. Other alternate history stories I've enjoyed have been Margot by Jillian Cantor and The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye.

    My TTT: https://bookworm716.blogspot.com/2018/08/top-ten-tuesday-nonfiction-i-want-to.html

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    1. Thanks, Emma! I'll have to check those out!

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  10. Love your take on this week's topic. My Lady Jane was so much fun. I haven't read Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter yet but I'd like to. Here is our Top Ten Tuesday

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  11. I love a good "what if" story! I've heard dread Nation is really good, and the premise of Guns of the South is a fascinating one. I've never thought about time travelers affecting the Civil War. Wow, what an idea.

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  12. What a great idea for this topic! I also went in a history direction, but not like this! Dread Nation is one I've heard a lot about, and 11/22/63 is also really well-loved and I've been meaning to read it for ages. The Years of Rice and Salt and Making History sound really interesting.

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  13. Great list! :)
    I've had The Man in the High Castle on my Kindle for ages, so I'll hopefully get to that soon as it looks interesting, and I've had it recommended to me a few times. Dread Nation also looks interesting!

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  14. A few of the books in your post are on my reading wishlist!

    Here's a link to my TTT post this week: https://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2018/08/top-ten-tuesday-back-to-schoollearning.html

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  15. I LOVE alternate history! I love My Lady Jane and Deck Z has been on my TBR for years.

    Here are my Top Ten!

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  16. I love your spin on this week's topic and would have loved to read ALL of these in high school. :)

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  17. Well done. My sister is an AP history teacher and would love this list.

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  18. Alternative history is such a joy to read - I admit I'm a sucker for those as well. Dread Nation is on my TBR and I'm hoping to get to it soon.

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  19. Such a fun take on this week's topic! I just got My Lady Jane this past month and I've been dying to read it since! It looks like a fun and satirical retelling :D

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  20. I love your idea to feature historical books! I have heard so many great things about My Lady Jane and I should really get to reading it one of these days.

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I'm so glad you stopped by, and I would love to hear your thoughts! Comments are always greatly appreciated!