100 Mistakes That Changed History
Table of Contents
5 and 6 - AMBITION AND SUPERSTITION
Chapter 11 - PERSONAL AMBITION
Chapter 12 - PLAYING TO THE ENEMY’S STRENGTHS
Chapter 14 - GOTTA KNOW THE TERRITORY
Chapter 15 - THE HIGH COST OF THE EASIEST WAY
Chapter 16 - ... AND DENARII FOOLISH
Chapter 18 - TAKING THE EASY WAY
Chapter 19 - FIGHT YOUR OWN WARS
Chapter 20 - NOT-SO-FREE-FIRE ZONE
Chapter 21 - HIRING OUT HOME DEFENSE
Chapter 33 - SOME MISTAKES HAVE TURNED OUT WELL
Chapter 35 - BROKE THE RULES ONCE TOO OFTEN
Chapter 37 - JUST INCREDIBLY BAD JUDGMENT
Chapter 39 - ALL COURAGE AND NO PLAN
Chapter 41 - FINANCED HIS OWN WORST NIGHTMARE
Chapter 42 - DESTROYING THE ENVIRONMENT
45 and 46 - NOT LEARNING FROM HISTORY
Chapter 47 - EGO OVER SURVIVAL
Chapter 48 - PUTTING THE WRONG MAN IN THE WRONG PLACE
Chapter 49 - INVITING IN THE ANGLOS
Chapter 52 - TECH FAILURE AND PANIC
Chapter 53 - GETTING CARRIED AWAY COSTS THE WAR
Chapter 59 - TOO SUCCESSFUL A DEVIOUS PLAN
Chapter 60 - THINKING SHORT TERM
Chapter 61 - RIGHTEOUSNESS OVER REALITY
Chapter 62 - MEANINGLESS GESTURE
Chapter 63 - POLITICAL SCIENCE
Chapter 65 - A SLOB SAVES LIVES
Chapter 70 - DEALING WITH THE DEVIL
Chapter 72 - STOPPING SHORT OF VICTORY
Chapter 74 - BLINDED BY REVENGE
Chapter 76 - IGNORING A WARNING
Chapter 77 - SELF-DEFEATING VICTORY
Chapter 78 - SHORT-RANGE THINKING
Chapter 79 - NOT LEARNING FROM HISTORY
Chapter 80 - OBEYING ORDERS TO A FAULT
Chapter 82 - TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
Chapter 83 - OPINION OVER REALITY
Chapter 84 - THE HIGH PRICE OF RACISM
Chapter 85 - STUCK TO A BAD BARGAIN
Chapter 89 - MYTH OF THE DECISIVE BATTLE
Chapter 90 - MARKETING DISASTER
Chapter 91 - INDECISIVE LEADERSHIP
Chapter 92 - PUT UP WITH THIS MISTAKE
Chapter 94 - INCOMPLETE RESEARCH
Chapter 96 - UNDERESTIMATING EVIL
Chapter 98 - BELIEVING THE WRONG PEOPLE
Chapter 100 - THOSE WHO DO NOT STUDY HISTORY
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Copyright © 2010 by Bill Fawcett & Associates Inc.
Interior maps provided courtesy of the author. Maps created by James Clouse.
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PRINTING HISTORY
Berkley trade paperback edition / October 2010
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fawcett, Bill. 100 mistakes that changed history : backfires and blunders that collapsed empires, crashed economies, and altered the course of our world / Bill Fawcett.
p. cm.
eISBN : 978-1-101-44367-5
1. History—Miscellanea. 2. History—Errors, inventions, etc. I. Title. II. Title: One hundred mistakes that changed history. D10.F—dc22 2010028546
Thanks to researchers Mari Hillburn and Karen deWinter. And special thanks to Tom Colgan for actually letting me have the fun of writing this book.
But the real dedication has to be to the millions of men, women, children, soldiers, sailors, airmen, and even animals that paid such a high price for the mistakes of others from the beginnings of recorded history. And maybe an apology to those who will come after for the mistakes being made now that they someday will have to pay for.