A somewhat simplistic overview of 70 military actions where one side, and sometimes both, really blows it. Each incident is four pages long, with two pages of text and two pages of illustrations, including some with maps. I found the maps to be relatively useless, as sometimes you had a hard time even understanding which side was which.
I also had trouble understanding why most of the battles were of armies with tens of thousands of soldiers, sometimes even millions, yet some of them were of very small units, even one of eight men. Perhaps the author had trouble finding enough on military disasters to fill the book.
Actually, there were plenty which weren't even mentioned. For example, I would have included the Battle of Bataan, where MacArthur retreated with tens of thousands of his men, while leaving most of the stockpiled medicine and food in Manila's warehouses. Really smart move Doug! Or how about, during the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian main naval fleet sailing from Europe to Asia only to be slaughtered by the Japanese when they got there?
I also had trouble understanding why most of the battles were of armies with tens of thousands of soldiers, sometimes even millions, yet some of them were of very small units, even one of eight men. Perhaps the author had trouble finding enough on military disasters to fill the book.
Actually, there were plenty which weren't even mentioned. For example, I would have included the Battle of Bataan, where MacArthur retreated with tens of thousands of his men, while leaving most of the stockpiled medicine and food in Manila's warehouses. Really smart move Doug! Or how about, during the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian main naval fleet sailing from Europe to Asia only to be slaughtered by the Japanese when they got there?
