Suppose Napoleon had realized his dream of liberating the Land of Israel and giving it to the Jews, 130-odd years earlier than actually happened?
Suppose Benjamin Disraeli had become, not the Prime Minister of Victorian Great Britain, but Prime Minister of the Republic of Israel?
Now suppose that millions of people disappeared, from one end of the British Empire to the other...and Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes were detailed to find out why, where to, and all that good stuff?
And in this version, John H. Watson, MD, would have a much more prominent role. Recall Watson's background: before he met Sherlock Holmes, he did a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Or maybe this time he would do a tour of duty in Egypt...
Actually, this alternate history might be a tiny stretch. Benjamin Disraeli died in 1881 at the age of 77. But had he been in Israel, he might have lived longer. Israel has a much more salubrious climate (except for the "horrible Jerusalem weather" every winter. Not cold; just wet.)
And Eliezer ben-Yehuda, the man who singlehandedly presuaded the Jews to speak Hebrew in everyday conversation again, "flourished" in 1882. In my alternate history, someone other than E. b-Y. would have had to perform the office. Maybe Napoleon would have established Ha'Aqademia LaLashon Ha'Ivrit (Académie Hébraïque) nearly a century before Ben-Yehuda set up its precursor.
How about another alternate history? This one's called "The Difference Engine." Did anybody know that a man named Charles Babbage built the first digital computer--that ran on steam, not electronics? Well, suppose the Difference Engine had taken off? Britain would have been a chilling place, what with the Engines that Scotland Yard would have at its disposal. On the other hand, not only would the South have won, but New York City would have broken off by itself as the Manhattan Commune.
Anybody read Harry Turtledove's alternate history series, that assumes that the South won?
It started with the Battle of Sharpsburg--or Antietam to you Federals ("Yankees") here. The Confederates (Rebels) lost that one because some young buck of a Lieutenant dropped an action dispatch wrapped around three cigars. Now if some observant Rebel soldier had picked it up and handed it back to the officer, Sharpsburg would have gone the other way....
good one
a fav Star Trek episode
Suppose Napoleon had realized his dream of liberating the Land of Israel and giving it to the Jews, 130-odd years earlier than actually happened?
Suppose Benjamin Disraeli had become, not the Prime Minister of Victorian Great Britain, but Prime Minister of the Republic of Israel?
Now suppose that millions of people disappeared, from one end of the British Empire to the other...and Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes were detailed to find out why, where to, and all that good stuff?
thank you!
And in this version, John H. Watson, MD, would have a much more prominent role. Recall Watson's background: before he met Sherlock Holmes, he did a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Or maybe this time he would do a tour of duty in Egypt...
And Eliezer ben-Yehuda, the man who singlehandedly presuaded the Jews to speak Hebrew in everyday conversation again, "flourished" in 1882. In my alternate history, someone other than E. b-Y. would have had to perform the office. Maybe Napoleon would have established Ha'Aqademia LaLashon Ha'Ivrit (Académie Hébraïque) nearly a century before Ben-Yehuda set up its precursor.
It started with the Battle of Sharpsburg--or Antietam to you Federals ("Yankees") here. The Confederates (Rebels) lost that one because some young buck of a Lieutenant dropped an action dispatch wrapped around three cigars. Now if some observant Rebel soldier had picked it up and handed it back to the officer, Sharpsburg would have gone the other way....
not familiar with book or movie