In defence of counterfactual history

A recent podcast, an audio version of an article from The New Statesman, once again brought me to the topic of counterfactual history:

I am a big fan of counterfactual history (aka “virtual history” or “what if?”). This goes back to my time as an undergraduate history student and a module at my university that was made up of a series of counterfactual history scenarios, the assessment for the module being to write your own. In hindsight this was the most useful module in the degree as it developed the skills and habits for other modules, including empathy with the historical subjects, problem solving, thinking about alternative scenarios, challenges of cause and effect, etc.

Overall, that module stays with me as a transformational learning experience, even if historians are snobby about history that is not “real”. In many ways it was a fun, safe, space to consider the skills of history – a subject where you tend not to have labs or simulations offering such experiences.