Alternative history may refer to a number of subjects relating to history, the chronology and study of the past. It may mean:
- Alternate history, a subgenre of speculative fiction dealing with divergences from the world's actual history
- Counterfactual history, a form of historiography which speculates on "what if" counterfactuals to actual history
- Historical revisionism, the reinterpretation of orthodox views on history or historiography
- Secret history, historical events claimed by revisionists to have been deliberately suppressed or forgotten
Famous quotes containing the words alternative and/or history:
“If the alternative is to keep all just men in prison, or give up war and slavery, the State will not hesitate which to choose.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)