The Hinge Factor: How Chance and Stupidity Have Changed History - Hardcover

Durschmied, Erik

3.38

1,780 ratings by Goodreads

9780340728291: The Hinge Factor: How Chance and Stupidity Have Changed History

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0340728299 ISBN 13: 9780340728291

Publisher: MJF Books, 1999

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From the wooden horse at Troy to the Gulf War, military history has been as much marked by chance and error as by gallantry and heroism. Despite impossible odds, invincible armies have gone down to bitter defeat as their weak opponents triumphed. In battle, much depends on which side commits the biggest blunder. Many conflicts have been decided by the caprice of weather, bad intelligence, heroism where it wasn't expected, or individual incompetence- in other words the unpredictable.

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Review:

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

About the Author:

Erik Durschmied is a military historian and award-winning journalist who has been a correspondent for Newsweek as well as the BBC and CBS. He has personally covered wars and revolutions in Cuba, Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He lives in France.

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