My absolute favorite alternate history (time travel, actually) of all time is Time and Again by Jack Finney. I you haven't read that, it is a must read, IMO. Takes you back to gaslight-era New York City via the Dakota Hotel.
My other favorite alternate history is the Eden series by Harry Harrison, the series based on the premise that dinosaur and human species developed in parallel and come into competition for dominance in ancient times.
Thx for the recommendation. Never been a Civil War buff, but maybe I'll have to try it.
BTW, another good historical novel: Lion of Ireland, about Brian Boru, the first king of Ireland.
Excellent category! I'm surprised no one mentioned it before. (Well, maybe they did and I didn't see it.) Granted, much of the alternate history I've read has been by authors that write predominately science fiction, so that might've been why.
It's off-topic for the week, but I'll toss it out there anyway: If you like role-playing games (and this one might be a good read, even if you don't), Steve Jackson Games is releasing a book called "Alternate Worlds", which is a setting for its new gaming system. It includes information and history about numerous other worlds (presented as if it were fact, not in a narrative with a plot). The folks who had sneak peeks loved it (I wasn't one of them), but these people were gamers, for what it's worth.
TS