by Paul Hynes
The Look to the West series begins with the story of Frederick and the very different America that results from his exile, but it is a tale that encompasses the whole world. Every action we take has unforeseen impacts: a revolutionary South America, a defeated Prussia, a divided India, a European Enlightenment transformed by phlogiston theory, Cugnot steam engines and Linnaeus’ Theory of Evolution. Diverge and Conquer covers the history of this world from the time of Frederick to the era when Europe is torn apart by a French Revolution very different to the one we know—and hints at a mysterious future to come…
Available now.
The Fiery Crucible Ed Thomas
In "The Bloody Man", Ed Thomas explored what might have happened had a young Oliver Cromwell emigrated to the New World before he had a chance to make a mark in England. Now, the trilogy continues...
It is 1647, and England is slipping back into Civil War. The King has escaped; London is burning; mad Prophets roam the streets and the Army has mutinied. There are many Bloody Men abroad. As the world's history increasingly diverges from our own and the British Revolution gathers pace, Oliver Cromwell consolidates his own power in New England, and casts his eyes over a new prize...
Available now.
President Ashdown Is Retiring Tom Black and Jack Tindale
“Welcome to the BBC's coverage of the 2015 UK Presidential Election...”
In President Ashdown Is Retiring, the authors of Shuffling the Deck team up once again to explore the aftermath of a thoroughly modern and fundamentally Blairite republican revolution.
Now, join David Dimbleby and many familiar faces on Election Night 2015, including Business Secretary Peter Mandelson MP, Green Party Lord Senator Robert Llewellyn, a blonde-haired eccentric Mayor of London, backbench troublemaker Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, Alan Partridge, and a great many more. Told (almost) in real time, our increasingly tired journalists and their guests reveal more and more about the world in which they find themselves. It's an election night quite unlike any other, and a must-read for any political geeks who stay up late whenever there's an election on.
Available now.
With Iron And Fire David Wostyn
The year is 1912, and the history of China takes a different turn.
The president of the newly-founded Republic of China dies suddenly, before the fledgling regime has had time to take root. As a compromise between the militarist and republican factions, a former reformist leader is chosen to replace him. But he has his own agenda…
What if the Republic of China had died in infancy? With Iron and Fire is the tale of a China that might have been—one in which a new imperial dynasty takes over after a short interregnum, and the descent into warlordism and civil war that wracked the country for decades in history as we know it is pre-empted.
A stable government allows China to become a regional power once again. When the Russian revolution comes, it joins the foreign intervention on the side of the Whites—and once the dust has settled, finds itself with a client state in Eastern Siberia. But China’s very resurgence puts it on a collision course with another rising Asian power: the Empire of Japan. Their rivalry is bound to engulf Asia in flames.
Available now.
The Blue Lotus (a 'Fight And Be Right' story) Ed Thomas
In Fight and Be Right and The World of Fight and Be Right, Ed Thomas explored the strange parallel history that resulted from the unlikely political success of Winston Churchill's father. There are many stories to be told in this world. This is one of them.
It's 1934, and as war rages across the globe the city of Shanghai preserves an uneasy neutrality between the rival alliances- until a young journalist is brutally murdered. Can the killer be brought to justice, or is the truth about his death too dangerous to be exposed?
Available now.
The Loud Blast That Tears The Skies Chris Nash
1908. The United Kingdom stands upon the cusp of a tumultuous century; a century of far-reaching political, social, and economic change. That change will accelerate rapidly within a few short years, as Liberals found the welfare state and reform the British constitution, and as a Sarajevo gunman plunges the world into total war.
But what if the meteor that harmlessly crashed into remote Siberian forest in the summer of 1908, had instead brought death and destruction to Edwardian London? What if the British Empire, at the height of her confidence and hubris, lost both her capital and her government? What kind of world would have emerged?
In The Loud Blast That Tears The Skies, Chris Nash explores a world where First World War generals rebuilt a shattered Britain, where blood is shed not in the fields of Flanders, but in the streets of London and Glasgow. A world where German engineering put a man on the Moon, and threatens mankind with annihilation. A world where British diaspora preach libertarianism from the American west, and where old Russian revolutionaries are fêted in exile. Told from the perspective of a British political history, it is the tale of a world whose leaders are very different from those we knew - but yet who are sometimes strangely familiar.
Available now.
The Yorkshire Assembly Jack Tindale
England remains one of the most centralised countries in the developed world - but does it have to be?
In 2004, Tony Blair's government held an abortive referendum on establishing an elected Assembly in the North East of the country, which voters rejected by an overwhelming margin. Of the reasons given for the failure, chief amongst them was the failure of the pro-Assembly campaign to give a coherent message regarding devolved powers, as well as lacklustre leadership from the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott.
So, what if the government had looked a bit further south? From the Penistone Show to the corridors of power in Bradford Odeon, The Yorkshire Assembly shows a number of scenes from a patchwork United Kingdom.
Available now.
Walking Back To Happiness Liam Baker
Harold Wilson was launched into the spotlight as the darling of Labour’s modern left in the leadership election of 1960, challenging Gaitskell and making himself the de facto leader of the Labour Left. His was the promise of a modernising party, committed to shaping Britain into a progressive and technocratic nation, and this promise would be put to the test when he became Prime Minister in 1964. Sadly, it was a test he did not pass and the failures of his government set Britain upon a path of industrial stagnation, social democratic malaise, and the ultimate dominance of the right in British politics.
But, what if Wilson never entered the 1960 leadership contest? What if the original candidate of the left in 1960 took Wilson’s place in British history? In Walking Back To Happiness, Liam Baker imagines a Britain without the false promises of Harold Wilson and the stagnation of Labour’s technocracy. Instead, Wilson is replaced by someone far more radical in his politics and far more telegenic as a personality. In this timeline, the received wisdom of British politics – where radical means unelectable and democratic socialism is doomed to fail – is turned on its head as the Labour Left becomes the party establishment and Britain’s small-c conservatism is shaken by continuous social upheaval.
Available now.
Making Murder Sound Respectable Bob Mumby
“Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” – George Orwell
The Fascist and Communist dictatorships left a bloody stain on the 20th Century, leaving tens of millions dead in their wake and a bitter taste in the mouth for hundreds of millions more when they encounter those ideologies. But what if they had never got the opportunity to do that damage?
A world where the Russian Revolution didn’t produce a Communist superpower, and Hitler never found success at the ballot box. A world where the political fears and tensions of the 1930s continued, unmolested by the pressures of total global war.
In Making Murder Sound Respectable, Bob Mumby explores this world through a very different British election
night, from the perspective of a group of students watching the results on television. While they worry about what kind of curry they want, events unfold in the background that reveal a glimpse of a radically different world. Communist and Fascist thugs clash in the streets, and foreign commentators pontificate on whether the Union Party has strayed too far from Oswald Mosley’s principles, while far from Britain’s shores the forces which have been contained for a century may yet be unleashed.
Available now.
The End, And Afterwards Andy Cooke
It took three things to bring about the End of the World:
- A space drive that was to open the stars to humanity.
- Exiled Warlords willing to blackmail the world to restore their tyranny.
- Their intended victims, desperate to avoid them.
But even though the Earth might be doomed, Hope could still survive..
Pip Allen was desperate to go to the stars after he graduated.
Charlie Jennings was seeking a new life and meaning.
Joe Mbutu was striving to protect his people from the callous Warlords.
Corbin Anders was trying to prevent what he saw as an abomination.
The Endeavour would tie their stories together at the End of the World... and afterwards.
Sea Lion Press' first 'future history' brings the vivid and frightening world of acclaimed author Andy Cooke (The Fifth Lectern) to life.
Available now.