Almost America: From the Colonists to Clinton: a "What If" History of the U.S. by Steve Tally

Very good despite a few little factual errors.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)

Some of these are really thought-provoking and well thought out. I especially enjoyed the one concerning Teddy Roosevelt following through with his plan to ban college football unless they did something to curb the extreme violence (23 young men died in the 1905 season). The consequences were interesting and I thought very plausible.

The book is marred by a few factual errors. They really are not terribly important to the outcome of the author's alternate histories but show a sloppiness in editing. Some examples are placing the Revolutionary War fort of Kaskaskia in present-day Kentucky when it is actually in Illinois and saying that people blamed Lincoln's assassination on people who were wanting to revive the Union cause (obviously the Union cause was in great shape by the point of the war - I assume his editors did not catch it and he meant to say Confederate).

Despite the errors, the book is still a fun read.

I rated this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Almost America: From the Colonists to Clinton: a "What If" History of the U.S. by Steve Tally.

Reviewed on July 1, 2004.