Brown, Eric. "Six Weeks in a Balloon"
Divergence: 1863 CE
What if: Jules Verne's story of a cross-Africa balloon flight was true, but the tale also included two incidents of German attacks.
Summary: The book's popularity generates heightened British-German antagonism, eventually leading in 1908 to a war which drags on and on. In 1930, a writer is offered a glimpse of the truth.
Published: In The Mammoth Book of New Jules Verne Adventures (eds. Mike Ashley and Eric Brown), Carroll & Graf 2005 (0786714956BUY).