Map Monday: The Republic of Massachusetts Bay by Ben "False Dmitri" Carnehl

I've always been a sucker for balkanized North America timelines involving alternate colonial histories where the British are not the dominant culture. I know its not very plausible when you factor  in the demographics that made Anglo domination possible, but call it a guilty pleasure if that works for you. With all that said, when I was on my winter blogging break, one map out of the dozen or more I saw entertained me the most:

That is the map of The Republic of Massachusetts Bay by Ben "False Dmitri" Carnehl from his "Affiliated States of Boreoamerica" timeline. I have covered this timeline many time before on Map Monday, mostly because not only is Ben a good alternate cartographer, but the timeline is full of opportunities to create unique nations and cultures in a North America that never was. In this case, Massachusetts Bay was founded by religious exiles who turned their tiny nation into a mercantile and industrial powerhouse that became a center of radicalism and helped establish one of the institutions that led to the ASB.

The map itself focuses on the internal subdivisions of the Republic and uses softer colors, which I enjoy, for said subdivisions and the nation's neighbors. I also liked the inclusion of the "Praying Towns", which are Massachusetts Bay's version of Indian Reservations and fits the multi-cultural narrative of ASB. In conclusion, its another example of the creativity that comes out of the ASB universe.

Honorable mentions go out to "The Philippine Rainbow" by Lynn "ToixStory" Davis (I have to admit a balkanized Philippines is a unique idea) and "Map of the Arizona S.A.R." by Sjdubya.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.

Top 5 Posts from October 2015

The end of October means the holiday season has officially begun. Before you get wrapped up in the usual end of the year stresses, why not take a break and check out our top of 5 articles from October?

1) Three Terrifying Alternate History Scenarios by Matt Mitrovich.

2) Map Monday: Kaiserreich 1936 by Milites by Matt Mitrovich.

3) The Audio File: Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons and Cast of Wonders by Sam McDonald.

4) Map Monday: Frankish Empire (1651) by Zrew33 by Matt Mitrovich.

5) Map Monday: Affiliated States of Boreoamerica in 1730 by False Dmitri/Ben Carnehl by Matt Mitrovich.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.

Map Monday: Affiliated States of Boreoamerica in 1730 by False Dmitri/Ben Carnehl

As many of you may know, I am a big fan of False Dmitri/Ben Carnehl's Affiliated States of Boreoamerica timeline. Its a lovely bit of world-building with a subtle humor that I also learned recently was in the same universe as Ben's Pseudodemetrian Imperial Commonwealth. That being said, I am here to talk about maps, not the timelines themselves. So lets look at one of the maps from the ASB that caught my attention:

This is the map of the lands of the ASB in 1730. Admittedly its very rough (just look at those color blobs in the bottom left), but it gives an idea of the different political entities that existed in 1730. Here we can see the colonies, independent Jacobite states and some of the more powerful Amerindian tribes. I would actually like to see more maps like this since there is not central depository for the ASB's history. We get glimpses of it from the brief histories Ben and others release on the individual states, but something on the "confederal" level would help string them altogether. Nevertheless, this is a map enjoyed pouring over and I look forward to what Ben and the other contributors to the ASB have in store for the future.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.

Top 5 Posts from August 2015

Do you see that map right there? The map you see before you has introduced more people to alternate history and Amazing Stories than I can ever hope to reach in a lifetime. No wonder it's Map Monday post was the most viewed post from last month. (Spoiler alert, I guess.)

With that said, let's look at our top five posts from August 2015:

1) Map Monday: A map where Europe never discovered America by liminalsoup by Matt Mitrovich.

2) Weekly Update #200: Special Announcement Incoming by Matt Mitrovich.

3) 7 What Ifs About An Earlier WWI by Matt Mitrovich.

4) Map Monday: The Baltic Region by False Dmitri/Ben Carnehl by Matt Mitrovich.

5) What If Wednesday: The Last English King of England by Matt Mitrovich.

If you would like to see more high quality alternate history reviews, news and commentary from me, please consider becoming one of my patrons.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.

Map Monday: The Baltic Region by False Dmitri/Ben Carnehl

I am a big fan of the works and maps of Ben Carnehl, also know as False Dmitri on AlternateHistory.com. Besides his work on that forum, he has a long history with the online alternate history community and has been an active member of such communities as the AltHistory Wiki and Ill Bethisad. I have featured his work before, such as his map of the Royal Province of Maryland and his balkanized American ethnicity map, which is the #2 most viewed post on The Update. After seeing one of his most recent maps get a lot of Twitter love, I decided to feature it on Map Monday. Its called "The Baltic Region":

The map is set in Ben's Pseudodemetrian Imperial Commonwealth universe, where Russia, Poland, and Sweden are united under a shared dynasty. This is very similar to his Affiliated States of Boreoamerica universe, where world building is emphasized over plausibility. That is not to say that Ben doesn't put a lot of work into these universes, but the details tend to focus on social and cultural issues rather than politics. They are quite enjoyable worlds to follow, much like his maps.

While I do enjoy maps with a lot of details and annotations, sometimes you get tired of the MSPaint aesthetic and want to see something a little more polished. In this case we see a region of this timeline that must be very important as it is the meeting place of the three major powers that make up the PIC. Its not cluttered and the colors are pleasing to the eyes. I enjoyed it and I am glad others who I shared it with thought the same.

Honorable mention this week goes out to MrGreyOwl's "Republic of Romanistan". If you want to submit a map for the next Map Monday, email me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com with your map attached and a brief description in the body of the email.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Top 5 Posts from November 2014

What were the most popular articles of last month? Check it out:

1) Twilight Histories Cover: Aztec Steel by Sam McDonald.

2) Map Monday: The Grand War by PlatoonSgt by Matt Mitrovich.

3) Map Monday: Royal Province of Maryland by False Dmitri by Matt Mitrovich.

4) Nagumo’s Missing Turkey: The Kido Butai’s “Third Strike” at Pearl Harbor by James Young.

5) Map Monday: Map of Venus by NuclearVacuum by Matt Mitrovich.

Another month and another strong showing for alternate maps.

Map Monday: Royal Province of Maryland by False Dmitri

My next featured map comes from my friend False Dmitri, a.k.a. Benkarnell. Not only is Ben an active member of AlternateHistory.com, but he is also a veteran editor of Ill Bethisad and the AltHistory Wiki. He can also make some spectacular maps, like his balkanized American ethnicities map that is the #2 most viewed article on The Update. Today, however, we are here to check out the Royal Province of Maryland:

This map is set in his Affiliated States of Boreoamerica timelines.  It is a really unique timelines in the sense that it focuses primarily on the domestic histories of the member states of Boreoamerica and ignores the wars and geopolitical rivalries found in other timelines. The ASB (see what Ben did there) is a confederation of White and Indian states that arose out of a vastly different colonization of North America. Not only are there less British colonies, but the ones that do exist have vastly different identities than their doppelgangers of OTL.

Take Maryland, for example. Not only do we learn how the colonies gained their independence during the a Revolution that was not quite Glorious, but we see how this colony of English Catholics transformed into a Jacobite state where the current claimant rules from afar while the Baron Baltimore is the de facto monarch. Ben has managed to give this alternate Maryland a unique identity not seen in most balkanized North America through his history and from the tiny changes he has made in the map above.

Honorable mention this week goes to rvbomally's "Putsch", which features a three-way Cold War between the capitalists, communists and an alliance of fascist states led by Italy. If you want to submit a map for the next Map Monday, email me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com with your map attached and a brief description in the body of the email.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. Check out his short fiction. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.