Trivia Quiz Answer

Here's what this newspaper headline means to science fiction history:

In Philip K. Dick's classic alternate-history novel "The Man in the High Castle," this now-trivial event is the point at which the book's history diverges from actual history. In the book, Roosevelt is in fact assassinated, and the American presidents of the 1930s don't prepare for war or support the British and Soviets when World War II comes, with the result that the Axis wins.

And in an occupied and partitioned America in the early 1960s, a mysterious author named Abendsend writes a book everyone is whispering about, about an alternate history in which Roosevelt is not assassinated and as a result the Axis is defeated.

From chapter 5:

"That's his theory. If Joe Zangara had missed him, he would have pulled America out of the Depression and armed it so that --" She broke off. They had arrived at the elevator, and other people were waiting.

Later, as they drove through the nocturnal traffic in Wyndham-Matson' Mercedes-Benz, she resumed.

"Abendsen's theory is that Roosevelt would have been a terribly strong President. As strong as Lincoln. He showed it in the year he was President, all those measures he introduced. The book is fiction. I mean, it's in novel form. Roosevelt isn't assassinated in Miami; he goes on and is reelected in 1936, so he's President until 1940, until during the war. Don't you see? He's still President when Germany attacks England and France and Poland. And he sees all that. He makes America strong. ..."

And so forth. It was a neat little trick by Dick to have the departure point be an actual event. Though of course he does fudge one bit: the assassination attempt came before Roosevelt was sworn in to office.