Wha Widna Fecht For Charlie ? That is the question !

[Bugbear]

Well... I looked through the Harry Turtledove books at the library and they didn't have any that appeared to be on this subject. It does look like he has written on Prince Charlie, though...

I'm trying to get the actuall history strait in my mind, so I try to avoid the speculative history.

[Lachlan09]

You are right. There is no future in continuing this discussion if discussion stops and things get personal, though I don’t understand how anyone in 2009 can feel “personal” about someone like Bonnie Prince Charlie. One’s as well feeling personal over something as relevant as Lara Croft. Frankly, I don’t understand people getting het up over something like Jacobitism.

I would disagree however about “what if” not being a valid tool for historical discussion. Whilst it is of dubious purpose if used to re-write or manipulate history to present a more favourable outcome or to recruit present support for some disreputable ‘lost cause’ (eg the Nazis), reputable historians do often consider what might have happened had history rolled the dice differently.

History would be less interesting if limited to reciting facts and dates, without the possibility of considering “near things” such as:-

What if Hitler had not given the Halt Order to his forces besieging British and allied troops before Dunkirk ?

What if Germany had concentrated on Britain’s airfields and knocking out the communications networks, instead of switching to terror raids ?

What if Japan had cancelled any idea to attack Pearl Harbor or other American assets, so as not to push the USA into war ?

What if 1st AB Div had captured and held Arnhem bridge until XXX Corps arrived ?

Without pondering such issues, history risks becoming what drives so many young people away at school stage:- “In Fourteen Hundred and Ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue”, though I can live with that, having a high boredom threshold.

I love history, though after my qualifications, I decided not to follow it as a career. It is my cherished hobby however. ith: