Doomed to Repeat: The Lessons of History We've Failed to Learn

“Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.” And so we have. Time and again, mankind has faced down problems, but have often failed to take the hard-earned knowledge into the next battle.

Doomed to Repeat is a collection of essays, edited by Bill Fawcett, that illuminates some of the problems we've faced repeatedly throughout history, including Islamic jihad, terrorism, military insurgencies, inflation and the devaluation of currency, financial disasters, ecological collapses, radical political minorities like the Nazis and Bolsheviks, and pandemics and epidemics like the Black Death.

With more than 35 chapters of the Groundhog Days of world history, both infamous and obscure, Doomed to Repeat: The Lessons of History We've Failed to Learn is chock-full of trivia, history, and fascinating looks at the world’s repeated mistakes.

Why do societies face the same crises time and again, and what can we learn from the cycles of the past?

• Rise and Fall of Empires: From the slow decline of the Roman middle class to the economic strains that ended the British Empire, discover the common threads that unravel superpowers.
• Economic Crises: Explore the anatomy of financial disasters, from Tulipmania and the South Sea Bubble to modern stock market crashes, and see why we’re doomed to repeat them.
• Military Quagmires: Understand why Afghanistan has been a graveyard for empires for millennia, and examine the historical roots of terrorism and insurgency that challenge nations today.
• Pandemics and Plagues: Journey through history’s deadliest outbreaks, including the Black Death and the Spanish Flu, to understand the societal changes they caused and the threats we still face.

Bill Fawcett is the author and editor of more than a dozen books, including You Did What?, It Seemed Like a Good Idea . . . , How to Lose a Battle, and You Said What? He lives in Illinois.