RSS - PostsThe Hinge Factor: How Chance and Stupidity Have Changed History
The Hinge Factor: How Chance and Stupidity Have Changed History
Erik Durschmied 
What if it hadn’t rained at Agincourt in 1415 and the French had, as expected, won the day? What if one of Napoleon’s most trusted commanders had spiked Wellington’s guns with a handful of nails at Waterloo in 1815, providing his emperor with victory? What if Hitler hadn’t paused for three vital days during his invasion of France in May 1940, allowing the British Expeditionary Force precious time to evacuate from Dunkirk? Moments like these, argues Erik Durschmied, provide the hinge factor in history: examples of stupidity, chance, or accident that have irrevocably changed the outcome of human history, for better or worse.
Drawing on his extensive experience as a war correspondent with the BBC and CBS, Durschmied moves from ancient Troy and the Trojan Horse to Iraq and Operation Desert Storm, offering a persuasive and at times wry account of the ways in which chance affects the unfolding of history. Recounting 17 key moments in human conflict and warfare, The Hinge Factor is not just an amusing meditation on what might have been; it is also a poignant and vivid account of the brutality and stupidity of war. More than just an account of accidents in history, this is a thoughtful and absorbing book. –Jerry Brotton, Amazon.co.uk
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Ancient World Leaders – Hannibal
Ancient World Leaders – Hannibal
Hannibal Barca was an extraordinary military leader and political reformer in the ancient world. His Carthaginian army’s march with elephants over the Alps to attack rival Rome in 218 BCE is one of the most daring exploits in world history. Hannibal sacrificed his life to leadership and war, and became such a force in the world’s imagination that centuries after his death, Roman mothers would scare their children by threatening, ‘Hannibal is at the gates’. His sacrifice of self to a larger cause is still an inspiration today, and his battle plans are studied by modern students of conflict and war. Read in “Hannibal” how his personal discipline and charisma remain models for world leadership.
