Virtual history - Niall Ferguson

'Fluent and entertaining.' The Times

'Ferguson . . . constructs an entire scenario starting with Charles I's defeat of the Covenanters, running through three revolutions, the American, the French and the Russian - that did not happen and climaxing with the collapse of the West, ruled by an Anglo American empire, in the face of a mighty transcontinental, tsarist Russian imperium . . . A welcome, optimistic assault on an intellectual heresy that has done much, much more harm than good.' Brian Appleyard, Sunday Times

'Quite brilliant, inspiring for the layman and an enviable tour de force for the informed reader . . . A wonderful book . . . lucid, exciting and easy to read.' Claus von Bulow, Literary Review

'Sizzling essays hot from the academic griddle.' Piers Brendon, Mail on Sunday

'The implications of Virtual History deserve to be meditated by every historian . . . a talented and imaginative team of historians who tackle with counterfactual verve a series of mostly twentieth century turning points.' Christopher Andrew, Daily Telegraph