Alt Hist is temporarily closed to new submissions while I catch-up. I will announce when we are open again.
Alt Hist Issue 5 Flashback
While you’re all waiting for Alt Hist Issue 11 let’s have a blast from the past in the shape of Alt Hist Issue 5! Issue 5 was published back in 2013, and featured a number of great stories. Take a look below for more!
Alt Hist Issue 5
You can purchase eBook and Print copies from:
And eBook copies from:
Smashwords | Apple iBooks | Barnes & Noble Nook | Kobo | WH Smith
Alt Hist Issue 5 features stories covering a variety of historical periods from the 1800s to post-War USA.
This issue includes five new original works of fiction including stories about Al Capone and Italian Futurism, the aftermath of the American Civil War, the real Frankenstein, the Bridge that consumes the souls of men, and the latest instalment in a series of stories about a successful Nazi invasion of Britain.
Alt Hist is the magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History, published twice a year by Alt Hist Press.
You can read a free preview of each story by following the links below:
- After Mary by Priya Sharma
- AD 1929 by Douglas Texter
- The Stiff Heart by Meredith Miller
- The Bridge by Micah Hyatt
- Battalion 202: Rotten Parchment Bonds by Jonathan Doering
Priya Sharma’s “After Mary” is set in the mid-1800s and is the story a scientist with dreams of greatness who lives alone in his country house with only his assistant, Isobel, and servant Myles. Then his friend comes to the house and leaves a copy of Frankenstein, which changes everything.
“AD 1929” by Douglas W. Texter is a story describing a meeting of artistic guile and criminal muscle. This is a tale of what might have happened if the Italian Futurist F.T. Marinetti had come to America and gone to work for Al Capone.
Meredith Miller is the author of “The Stiff Heart” which draws its title from a poem by Emily Dickinson. Meredith’s piece is a story about life under the surface, in New England in the 1870s where secrets and fears and desires sometimes refuse to behave properly. Not everyone joins in the self-satisfied complacency of this prosperous post-Civil War community.
Micah Hyatt is the author of “The Bridge”. Throughout history men have risked their lives to achieve great feats of engineering: The pyramids of Giza. The Empire State building. The Panama canal. But those who build The Bridge risk their very souls.
“Rotten Parchment Bonds”, the latest story in the Battalion 202 series by Jonathan Doering, features Harold Storey, a quiet man praying for a quiet life after the horror of the First World War trenches. But his prayers are cruelly crushed by the German Invasion of Britain in 1941. As a police officer he is forced to co-operate with Nazi officials and is thrown into moral turmoil by the accommodations that start to be made. But perhaps there is one good man amongst the enemy ranks?
Alt Hist Issue 2 Flashback
Alt Hist Issue 2
Issue 2 of Alt Hist is available in eBook and print book formats. For an eBook format please visit Smashwords or Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk for Kindle versions. A print version of Alt Hist Issue 2 is available at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
Alt Hist is the magazine of historical fiction and alternate history. The second issue features eight new stories and also three book reviews. From ancient Egypt to World War I, and the death of Abraham Lincoln, there is something for every fan of historical fiction in Alt Hist Issue 2.
Stories featured in Alt Hist Issue 2:
‘Long Nights in Languedoc’ by Andrew Knighton
‘The Apollo Mission’ by David X. Wiggin
‘Son of Flanders’ by William Knight
‘In Cappadocia’ by AshleyRose Sullivan
‘The Orchid Hunters’ by Priya Sharma
‘Death in Theatre’ by Jessica Wilson
‘The Scarab of Thutmose’ by Anna Sykora
‘The Watchmaker of Filigree Street’ by N. K. Pulley
And reviews of:
Historical Fiction Writing: a practical guide and tool-kit by Myfanwy Cook
Ruso and the River of Darkness by R. S. Downie
Rome Burning by Sophia McDougall
Alt Hist Issue 9 – Flashback
Another flashback to an old issue of Alt Hist, The Magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History. This time from more recently. Alt Hist Issue 9 was published in 2016. We had a lovely Japanese piece of art for the cover to tie in with the story “Ikigai: A Reason for Being” by Samantha Payne – about a Samurai warrior and a Japanese lady.
Alt Hist Issue 9
The Magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History
You can purchase eBook and Print copies from:
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Barnes & Noble
And eBook copies from:
Smashwords | Kobo | iBooks
Alt Hist Issue 9 brings you the best new writing in historical fiction and alternate history. This issue features six new short stories and takes the reader from German occupied Yorkshire to Samurai-era Japan, via the Bermuda triangle, medieval Wales, the Vikings and post-war Ireland. You’ll find action-packed stories of fights against sea monsters, the intrigue of resistance against Nazi and Norman oppressors and the upholding of honour within traditional Samurai and Viking societies inside the pages of Alt Hist Issue 9.
In “The Lords of Pontefract”, the penultimate story from Jonathan’s Doering’s “Battalion 202” series, the focus turns to one of the people tasked with providing government and leadership to the town. In “The Lords of Pontefract”, Jonathan Doering imagines the activities of “the other side”, a shadowy network of officials who would have acted as saboteurs and spies within the occupation administration.
Carl Owens, the navigator of “The Bonny Claire” is a rational man of science. He uses books and instruments to do his work. In Rick Novy’s story the Bonny Claire is on its way to Bermuda, when the captain warns of an impending storm—against all the evidence of the Owens’s scientific observations. But the captain is right—and more than a storm confronts the Bonny Claire and its crew.
When you have to have a courageous death in battle to reach the afterlife, a death from illness can present a dilemma for a man’s kin. In “First Kill” by Megan Jones, a Viking’s brother lies dying and the man’s promised consolation of passing onto Valhalla looks like a remote hope. Yet he discovers that there may be a way to give his brother what he needs.
“Ikigai: A Reason for Being” by Samantha Payne helped inspire the wonderful cover art for Alt Hist Issue 9—an encounter between a Japanese lady and samurai warrior. Mamoru, an unconventional samurai, is intent on upholding the honour of Shouka, a woman who has fallen on hard times.
“Lackendarra” by Séamus Sweeney gives us an insight into the life of a man scared by his experiences in the First World War—a man who became famous in Ireland as a hermit. Séamus shows how someone could become so affected by war that they shut themselves away from society. The story portrays Lackendarra’s encounter with a journalist in 1954 who is intrigued about how the world has changed. Séamus’s has also been previously published in Alt Hist: the wonderful “Dublin Can be Heaven” in Alt Hist Issue 3.
I’ve previously much enjoyed Andrew Knighton’s gritty yet humorous medieval tales for Alt Hist. The latest one from him, “The Sound of Stones”, is a conflict between serf and lord in medieval Wales—but also a cultural clash between the Welsh and the Anglo-Norman newcomers. Take a look at some of Alt Hist’s back issues for other fine medieval tales by Andrew.
I hope you enjoyed this look back at Alt Hist Issue 9. Don’t forget to pick up a copy:
You can purchase eBook and Print copies from:
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Barnes & Noble
And eBook copies from:
Smashwords | Kobo | iBooks
Alt Hist Issue 1 – Flashback
I thought it would be nice to look back at some of the old issues of Alt Hist. Here’s a reminder of Alt Hist Issue 1 – where it all began!!
Alt Hist Issue 1
Alt Hist is the new magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History. Lovers of historical fiction for too long have been denied outlets for short pieces of fiction, as the number of print and online magazines for historical short fiction is very limited compared to the popularity of fiction set in past times. Alt Hist’s mission is to provide readers with entertaining and well-written short stories with a historical setting, whether portraying actual events or events that could have happened. If you read and enjoy historical fiction, alternate history or historical fantasy then we think you will like Alt Hist.
The first issue of Alt Hist features six short stories:
“The Silent Judge” by David W. Landrum
“Easter Parade, 1930” by Rob McClure Smith
“Holy Water” by Andrew Knighton
“Lament for Lost Atlanta” by Arlan Andrews
“The Bitterness of Apples” by Priya Sharma
“Travelling by Air” by Ian Sales
Alt Hist Issue 1 also includes an interview with Brandon H. Bell, co-editor of Aether Age, and information about the alternate history anthology Columbia & Britannia.
You can get Alt Hist from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk and all other major book retailers.
Most popular Alt Hist Posts of All Time
Having restarted Alt Hist I thought it would be interesting to look back at the history of what we have published on this site and see what the most popular posts were. I have taken out hits for static pages like our Submissions page and pages for whole issues. And here’s what we have left.
- Historical Fiction Short Stories – the Long and the Short of it. A blog post by me.
- Jorge Luis Borges, Ireland, and Historical Fiction. A blog post by Séamus Sweeney
- Disambiguation. A short story by Ian Sales
- Dublin Can Be Heaven. Preview of a short story by Séamus Sweeney
- The Silent Judge. Preview of a short story by David W. Landrum
Hope you enjoy reading some of these classics again.
Updating the Website
As part of the process of getting Alt Hist back on the road, I took a look at the site to see if there were any updates needed. To my surprise I had neglected updating the How to Get Your Alt Hist page! In fact it only went up to Alt Hist Issue 6. I have now added details of all 10 published issues of Alt Hist to that page. It was quite fun to read through the descriptions of each issue – there were some great stories published!
So if you don’t have an issue of Alt Hist or need to complete collection take a look and see if there are any issues you want to pick up.
Alt Hist is open again for submissions!
After a long break (since 2017) we are open again for submissions. We will be publishing two issues per year as previously. The next issue will appear in December 2020.
Please go to our Submissions page for more details.
If you are thinking of submitting please consider purchasing some back issues to familiarize yourself with the fiction that we publish.
2019 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist announced
The Walter Scott Prize for Historical History has announced the shortlist for 2019:
A Long Way From Home Peter Carey (Faber)
After The Party Cressida Connolly (Viking)
The Western Wind Samantha Harvey (Jonathan Cape)
Now We Shall Be Entirely Free Andrew Miller (Sceptre)
Warlight Michael Ondaatje(Jonathan Cape)
The Long Take Robin Robertson (Picador)
The winner will be announced on 15th June.
Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan
Will be interesting to see how this new alternate history from literary writer Ian McEwan pans out. Published in the UK on 18th April.
Sounds a bit like the TV series Humans?
Available to preorder from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
Machines Like Me takes place in an alternative 1980s London. Charlie, drifting through life and dodging full-time employment, is in love with Miranda, a bright student who lives with a terrible secret. When Charlie comes into money, he buys Adam, one of the first synthetic humans and—with Miranda’s help—he designs Adam’s personality. The near-perfect human that emerges is beautiful, strong, and clever. It isn’t long before a love triangle soon forms, and these three beings confront a profound moral dilemma.
In his subversive new novel, Ian McEwan asks whether a machine can understand the human heart—or whether we are the ones who lack understanding.