This looked like a bit of fun for those seeking confirmation bias that many celebrated successes (or failures, depending on which side you’re on) in the past have more to do with human stupidity and dumb luck.
What to Expect
Recounting of select battles from history (mostly the last thousand years), and how how small factors have affected the outcomes. These range from the weather to bad communications to (very often) human egos.
While the first battle mentioned is Troy, the rest are from the crusades on, covering such gems as Agincourt, Waterloo, and Vietnam, and ending with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and Desert Storm. Durschmied does a credible job of setting up the scenes for us, and describing in vivid detail the events of the day. Along the way he highlights how random chance and, often, human blindness, egoism, and egotism of leadership cause a direct waste of human life. He ends with a review of the facts, and a bit of a “what if”.
What I liked
I love Durschmied’s ability to bring the historical characters to life. This is no mean feat, considering the snapshot in time nature and the many people involved. He expertly weaves both storytelling and factual research (oh, the glorious footnotes and bibliography!), to educate and entertain, and perhaps make us think a little.
What to be aware of
Durschmied only covers battles, not other historical events. He focuses on specific battles out of larger campaigns and wars, and while he brings a bit of background necessary to understand developments that led to this place, this is still a “man on the ground” view of a particular moment. Some extra historical reading is always warranted.
And, I’m sure, he was spoilt for choice. So while some battles are very well known, others are less so (and one could easily find more such occurrences). He does try to justify the choice with a bit of ‘what if’ exercise of the effect on history if things went differently. Sometime they could have materially impacted the progress of events, other times less so.
Felix’s and Jack’s Reviews
Both Felix and Jack had a rather unsurprised (and unsurprising) reaction, both having seen the worst of humanity across the ages. At least there was nothing supernatural here, just plain natural stupidity of the high and mighty in sending men in senseless death traps.
Summary
It’s a fun read, both entertaining and educational and recommended for those who love military history.
Enjoying the reviews, but wondering who the heck are those Felix and Jack fellows? Glad you asked! Felix is the protagonist of the Togas, Daggers, and Magic series, an historical-fantasy blend of a paranormal detective on the background of ancient Rome, and Jack is the police detective running the Unusual Crimes Squad, dealing in occult crimes in modern-day Australia.
Come meet Felix and Jack on the free short stories and novels!
