Chabon describes the rest of world history only elliptically, but hints at enormous changes. Germany crushes the Soviet Union in 1942 and World War II continues until 1946, when Berlin is destroyed with nuclear weapons. Chabon refers to a 'Polish Free State' existing in 1950 and describes some characters as veterans of a lengthy 'Cuban War' in the 1960s. President John F. Kennedy was not assassinated and married Marilyn Monroe, and Orson Welles succeeded in making his film of "Heart of Darkness". Describing the modern world, Chabon refers to a 'Third Russian Republic', an independent Manchuria that has its own space program, and Persia existing in place of Turkey.