alternate history

"Alternate history" explores hypothetical scenarios where key historical events unfold differently, resulting in divergent timelines.

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Definition

(fiction, genre)A genre of fiction that imagines historical events occurring differently, leading to a different timeline.

In an alternate history novel, the South won the American Civil War, leading to a very different United States.

(academic, historical)A form of speculative fiction that explores the consequences of historical events having different outcomes.

Alternate history often poses 'what if' questions about pivotal moments in human history.

Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "alternate history":