I pulled my copy, and the section that focuses on Russia is set in 1972, with the royal family morphed into a parody of the British monarchy. Issac Asimov shows up doing Uri Geller’s act, Harlan Ellison is the American cultural ambassador, and probably a spy.
Nicholas II was forced to agree to the constitution, and the current Tzar, Nicholas III is trying to regain some lost power. A quick skim doesn’t indicate much about the line of succession, except that Anastasia is still alive and giving interviews.
So there had not been all that much time involved. Nicholas III could have been the son of Alexis. Alexis was born within a month of my grandmother, so if he had lived to have kids they could very well be alive in 1972.
Which reminds me of another one I should have mentioned earlier, The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson.
The ‘alt’ is that the Black Death wipes out 99% of Europeans instead of 30-40%, so Europe is essentially empty and the rest of the world carries history and the story. Without spoilering it too much, the RotW devolves into two main camps, and North America remains independent.
Highly recommended!
“California Bones” by Greg Van Eekhout
Not sure if it wholly counts- it’s urban fantasy but uses real history as pieces of its setting. I can’t think of any examples of “In our world X happened, in this world Y happened.” It’s more “In our world X happened, in this world X happened but because of magic.”
Ex. Disneyland isn’t just popular because of pop culture saturation, design and nostalgia…Disneyland is popular because it’s literaly overflowing with magic and Walt was a real wizard.
I really enjoyed the book but that might be because I’m a huge LA history/location fan and this was right in my sweet spot.
Another one I remember liking is more fantasy than AH but it is technically AH: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. It’s an alternate World War I where the Allies use a Victorian era type Genetic engineering to make biological technology and the Central Powers use more traditional Steampunk type mechs made of metal. It’s also the book that taught me Boffin is an alternate name for Scientist.
I’ll second that!!
It goes from right around the time of the Black Death, to some time in the 21st century. One “twist” is that various characters are reincarnated; their personality tends to be quite similar from one vignette to another (you can tell by the first letter of their name).