Talk:History in For Want of a Nail

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ńThe idiosycratic spellings "Guatamala" and "Chapultapec" are not the result of errors, or at least, not the result of errors in the article. These are the spellings found in For Want of a Nail, and the article (as well as the maps) reflect this. Johnny Pez 21:44, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

What the heck? Why are you reusing pictures of real OTL people in place of people like Kramer? 67.169.122.170 02:31, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

I totally agree.. it's misleading to have photos of real people with imaginary captions (same for events). I've left the two images that were correctly identified, but removed the fictional detail on them too. It's far too confusing to use photos in this way - they are not an accurate representation of the subject used in this way. -- sannse (talk) 15:15, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

Okay, I can maybe, maybe, see the objection to using real photos of real people to represent fictional people (who, being fictional, have never been photographed). But why remove the fictional captions from the photos of the actual people? Are you afraid that someone who stumbles upon this page will read them and think that Andrew Jackson really was President of the United States of Mexico for eighteen years? This article deals with alternate versions of real people, so it is perfectly appropriate for the captions to mention highlights of their alternate careers. Those, at least, I am restoring. If you object, I suggest we put it to a vote. Johnny Pez 15:40, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Furthermore, who from SHWI (aside from Johnny Pez, of course) is writing this thing? I couldn't find any thread on the newsgroup discussing about how to do this. 67.169.122.170 03:25, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

Who says anybody else from SHWI has to contribute to this article? They're welcome to do so, of course. This is Wikipedia; anyone is welcome to contribute to any article. By the same token, I, as a Wikipedia user in good standing, am free to create one or more articles on Sobel's novel on my own initiative. WYFP? Johnny Pez 15:40, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

You need to distinguish between an article about fiction, and an article of fiction. Wikipedia is not the place for the latter. Idealy, this article should be a brief synopsis and some analysis. What were the reactions to the novel? what other works influenced it and were influenced by it? How many copies did it sell, in what countries and in what languages? What other works by the author are similar, and how do these show his development to this book? These are encyclopedic questions. A caption that states Andrew Jackson was "USM President, 1821-1839" is not. I've changed to an alternative version -- sannse (talk) 16:36, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

The brief synopsis and analysis can be found in the article For Want of a Nail which this article links to. This article is a more detailed synopsis. As for the captions, I'll be sure to note the fictional nature of the titles. Johnny Pez 18:12, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Henry Gilpin

I'm sort of concerned about a link for Henry Gilpin. Given that he was born in 1801, after the POD, this seems about as screwy as having a Ronald Reagan in FWoaN linked to the real one. Naraht 12:19, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

FWoaN is in many ways a screwy alternate history. Sobel includes people from OTL who were born decades after the POD, including Abraham Lincoln, Karl Marx, and even Symon Petlura. There is no question that Sobel meant for them to be alternate versions of the OTL people: Lincoln is a railroad lawyer, Marx a socialist philosopher and Petlyura a Ukrainian revolutionary. That being the case, it seemed reasonable to link to the article on the real Gilpin. Johnny Pez 06:07, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

I retract my complaint about the page and add it to the book itself. :) Naraht 12:49, 12 May 2006 (UTC)