Best Alternate History

Iron Harvest is a visually stunning RTS set in an alternate 1920s Europe following World War I. Players command squads of infantry and powerful mechs in tactical battles, utilizing cover and positioning to gain an advantage. The game features a compelling narrative campaign and a robust multiplayer...

For decades, the Galactic Empire has been locked in an interstellar war with the Free Planets Alliance, a conflict that involves thousands of spaceships and millions of soldiers on both sides. Two new commanders enter the conflict with great hopes: Imperial Admiral Reinhard von Lohengramm and the FP...

Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge is a 2001 expansion pack developed by Westwood Studios for the real-time strategy game Red Alert 2. It introduces Yuri's psychic faction as a playable army alongside the Allied and Soviet forces, with new units like mind controllers and giant squids. The expansion a...

In the year 2010, the Holy Empire of Britannia is establishing itself as a dominant military nation, starting with the conquest of Japan. Renamed to Area 11 after its swift defeat, Japan has seen significant resistance against these tyrants in an attempt to regain independence. Lelouch Lamperouge, a...

The New Order: Last Days of Europe is a Grand Strategy game mod for Hearts of Iron IV. It presents an alternate history scenario where Nazi Germany achieved victory in World War II and continues to rule Europe in 2020. Players control the Reich or resistance factions, navigating a drastically altere...

Command & Conquer: Red Alert is a real-time strategy video game released in 1996 by Westwood Studios. The game presents an alternate history scenario of the United States and Allied Forces battling against the Soviet Union during World War II. Its notable strategic depth and iconic units, like the m...

Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies is a PlayStation 2 game offering a detailed military simulation experience. Players control Mobius 1, a pilot engaged in a complex conflict between Usea and Erusea across a dramatically altered Earth following devastating asteroid impacts. The narrative focuses on stra...

The Yamato was a Japanese battleship constructed during World War II. It represents the largest and most heavily armed warship ever produced, boasting immense guns designed for heavy naval engagements. This vessel is notable for its unprecedented size and firepower within the Imperial Japanese Navy’...

While primarily a romance between Red and Blue, 'This is How You Lose the Time War' subtly incorporates a love polygon through their respective agencies and the complex relationships within those factions. The narrative explores the idea of loyalty, betrayal, and the shifting nature of alliances, cr...

Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu Gaiden is the first of two OVA adaptations of side stories from the Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu novel series. This first adaptation follows the achievements of Reinhard von Müsel and Siegfried Kircheis of the Galactic Empire before the fateful Battle of Astarte. The Silver-White Valley...

Susanna Clarke’s *Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell* explores an alternative British past where magic has faded into legend. The novel meticulously recreates Regency-era England interwoven with a resurgence of practical magic during the Napoleonic Wars. It is notable for its immersive worldbuilding, com...

The second season of the Apple TV+ alternate history drama "For All Mankind" premiered in 2021 and advances the timeline to the year 1983. Created by Ronald D. Moore, the series explores a timeline where the Soviet Union landed on the moon first, leading to an escalated Cold War space race. This sea...

Dragonfall is the definitive cyberpunk-fantasy tactical RPG, set in a gritty alternate-history Berlin. Players lead a crew of shadowrunnersfreelance operatives working in the margins of societyin missions involving magic, technology, and corporate espionage. The turn-based combat is satisfyingly tac...

Ooku: The Inner Chambers is a graphic novel exploring an alternate historical Japan in the 17th century. A mysterious illness compels all men to die, leading to the establishment of a walled city exclusively for women who govern. The narrative centers on a foreigner’s unexpected involvement within t...

Four months before Count von Lohengramm of the Galactic Empire faced Yang Wen-li of the Free Planets Alliance at the Battle of Astarte, he was still just Reinhard von Müsel. The youngest admiral in the Empire's history, Reinhard was disdained and dismissed by his peers as the brother of the Kaiser's...

Declare is a 2001 supernatural spy novel by American author Tim Powers that won the World Fantasy Award. The narrative operates as a secret history of the Cold War, blending espionage activities involving British intelligence and the Soviet Union with supernatural elements derived from Islamic mytho...

The Plot Against America presents an unsettling alternate history of World War II. Philip Roth’s novel explores a reality where Charles Lindbergh ascends to the presidency in 1940 and embraces pro-Nazi policies. Through the eyes of a suburban family, the book examines the insidious spread of anti-Se...

The Plot Against America audiobook is a recorded edition of Philip Roth's 2004 alternate history novel in which aviator Charles Lindbergh defeats Franklin Roosevelt in 1940 and steers the United States toward fascist sympathies.

Yesterday depicts a man transported to a timeline where the Beatles’ music has vanished, leading him to capitalize on this absence by performing their songs and achieving widespread fame. Himesh Patel portrays the musician navigating this altered reality alongside other cast members including Lily J...

Kaiserreich: Legacy of the Weltkrieg is a grand strategy game mod for Hearts of Iron IV that explores an alternate timeline where Germany won World War I. Players navigate a fractured Europe dominated by the German Empire, contending with rising empires and shifting alliances. It’s notable for its c...

*The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August* is a science fiction novel written by Catherine Webb under the pseudonym Claire North, published in 2014. The story centers on a protagonist who possesses a biological anomaly that causes him to relive his own life from birth upon dying, retaining all his me...

Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s *The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. 1* presents an alternate history where iconic Victorian-era literary figures—such as Allan Quatermain, Phileas Fogg, and Dorian Gray—form a secret society to combat threats. This comic explores a fascinating what-if scenario...

Conquistadors of the Useless is a mountaineering memoir by French alpinist Lionel Terray (1921–1965), one of the foremost climbers of the mid-twentieth century. Terray participated in the first ascent of Annapurna in 1950 and the first ascent of Fitz Roy in 1952, among many other notable climbs acro...

The Man in the High Castle presents a dystopian scenario following a world conquered by Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan after World War II. Developed by Frank Spotnitz, the series adapts Philip K. Dick’s novel exploring this alternate historical reality. Production was handled by multiple compa...

The Sidewise Award for Alternate History is an annual literary prize recognizing excellence in alternate history fiction, presented since 1995 in both long-form and short-form categories, named after Murray Leinster's 1934 story.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a 2017 first-person shooter set in an alternate 1961 America where Nazi Germany won World War II. The game centers on William “B.J.” Blazkowicz’s resistance against the established regime, featuring gameplay similar to its predecessor with dual-wielding capabiliti...

“Fatherland” is a historical thriller exploring an alternate Cold War reality. The novel depicts East German Detective Guenter Simm investigates a politically sensitive murder in 1961 Berlin – a city dominated by a victorious Nazi regime. Harris meticulously constructs a believable world where the T...

Watchmen is an HBO television series exploring an alternate history where superheroes exist within a racially segregated America of 1968. The show’s intricate narrative examines themes of vigilantism, race relations, and legacy through a reimagining of the iconic graphic novel. It's notable for its...

Poul Anderson's Time Patrol is a series of stories and novels begun in 1955 following agents of a secret organization who travel through time to protect history from deliberate alteration, blending adventure with rigorous historical research.