Talk:If It Had Happened Otherwise

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Alternate History (inactive)

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If Lee Had Not Won the Battle of Gettysburg[edit]

I don't understand this title. Surely the "not" is not supposed to be there (or perhaps "won" ought to be "lost"). After all, Lee didn't win the Battle of Gettysburg. Digestible (talk) 10:40, 2 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

But this essay is written from the viewpoint of a historian in a world where the Confederacy won the Battle of Gettysburg and the Civil War. --mervyn (talk) 12:26, 2 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

That's what I'm saying. Digestible (talk) 12:43, 2 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure I understand you ... the essay is set in a counterfactual world where Lee does win, and speculates from that viewpoint what would have happened if he had not, coming to a different outcome from the real world outcome in which he did not. Clear?? --mervyn (talk) 15:44, 2 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I understand that we're dealing in a "counterfactual world were Lee does win." Now read the title again carefully: "If Lee Had Not Won the Battle of Gettysburg." That's not the counterfactual premise, that's the factual premise! Digestible (talk) 15:59, 2 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Not from the POV of someone from that alternate history. If two people from that TL were going to discuss alternate history they would ask "What if Lee had not won the Battle of Gettysburg", just like in our world we ask the opposite. Its essentially a double-blind what if, the author is speculating about what the world would be like if the CSA had lost and how would the world be different from the world created by the English Speaking Association that prevented WWI. Even if I am still missing the point of your comment, its still the correct title so I'm not sure what we are arguing about. Zombie Hunter Smurf (talk) 17:33, 2 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

link to the If Lee Had Not Won the Battle of Gettysburg story[edit]

The reference link to the text of the "If Lee Had Not Won the Battle of Gettysburg" story does not work, and browsing around the linked site shows that the actual text has been blocked for copyright reasons anyway. — Preceding unsigned comment added by KingAlanI (talk • contribs) 10:39, 10 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]