Stupid Wars : A Citizen's Guide to Botched Putsches, Failed Coups, Inane Invasions, and Ridiculous Revolutions

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Wars happen. Frequently. A quick survey of human his­tory reveals only the briefest of periods where someone hasn’t been shooting or hacking away at other humans. Peri­ods of calm have been few and far between, and are usually reserved for planning the next conflict. Often as not, that planning is half-baked, off the mark, out of touch with real­ity, and potentially terminal for the planner. In some cases, this type of planning actually gets put into action. The results have not been pretty. A wise person once said, “If you want to know the future, study the past.” We salute that wisdom with our study of the most foolish military endeavors man has ever thrown his boundless energy and brilliance into.

A chronicle of man’s dumbest conflicts represents history at its spiciest: utterly stupid, pointless, and morbidly curious collisions where — driven blindly by greed, ignorance, ego, boredom, or some other incomprehensible credo — we have committed and continue to commit mistakes on a grand scale. How can we not marvel at these individuals who gam­bled so recklessly with history itself — with staggering costs in blood and treasure — that readers must shake their heads in disbelief while turning each page?

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