Iains and Teribus, the point you are both astutely avoiding is that no one can say with certainty that the past would have been X if event Y had or had not happened. It is pure speculation. The prediction may be correct but no one will ever know.

Teribus, the point you keep missing is that without someone telling you something, and that includes an author in a book or a presenter on the screen, you would know nothing. I know that I know very little and the older I get the more I realise how much more I have to learn. You, in your arrogance, tell us that no one needs to tell you anything. The proof you offer for this argument? Knowledge that you have gained by someone telling you something. Priceless as Raggy says.

Bluster and spout history all you like. I have not and will not dispute any of the factual evidence you present. What I will dispute is speculation and opinion presented as fact and the mind set of someone who believes he has nothing more to learn.

DtG