'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' - George Santayana, philosopher and writer
Mankind's past is strewn with mistakes - colossal blunders driven by virtue as often as vice. Some unlucky people didn't always set out to cause the mayhem they did, but somehow things just went wrong. Really wrong.
History's Worst Decisions shines a light on fifty of the biggest. Starting with Adam and Eve's original blunder in eating the apple, author Stephen Weir takes you on a tour of catastrophes from antiquity to modern times. From the Trojan War to Gallipoli, from the Boston Tea Party to the Enron scandal, famous figures of ancient times such as Cleopatra and Nero rub shoulders with more modern culprits like Churchill and Mugabe. History's Worst Decisions doesn't just point the finger at individuals, the actions of governments and corporations are also scrutinised. The motivations, often sinister and sometimes naive, that led those responsible to commit their mistakes are unveiled, as is the lasting impact that their decisions have had on the world we live in today.