You Did What?: Mad Plans and Great Historical Disasters [Paperback]

Bill Fawcett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 2004

History has never been more fun than it is in this fact-filled compendium of historical fiascoes and embarrassingly bad ideas.

Throughout history, the rich and powerful, and even just the dim-witted, have made horrifically bad decisions that have had resounding effects on our world. From kings to corporate leaders, from captains to presidents, no one is immune to bad decisions and their lasting legacy. The fiascoes that litter our history are innumerable ... and fascinating in their foolishness. This witty collection of historical mayhem chronicles unwise decisions from ancient Greece to modern-day Hollywood and everything in between. Learn such lessons as:

• Never trust Greeks bearing gifts of large wooden horses.
• Avoid building elementary schools on toxic waste dumps, even those with sweet monikers like Love Canal.
• Rabbits multiply like rabbits Down Under.
• Even if you use brightly colored paint on the boats, it's quite easy to misplace an entire country's navy.

With more than forty-five chapters of mind-boggling flubs and follies, fans of history, trivia, and those who just want a good laugh will adore this intriguing and fun read.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Okay, it’s not exactly news that Napoleon miscalculated in trying to invade Russia in the dead of winter or that David Caruso hurt his career by leaving NYPD Blue after a mere season and a half. And the authors, publishing veterans, are a bit blithe in describing the battle between Henry VIII and Thomas More as merely a bad personnel decision. (Similarly, poor Anne of Cleves might have felt differently about their saying Henry can’t be faulted for their failed marriage.) Complex historical episodes, such as the rise and fall of Robespierre, are reduced to a quick sketch of blunder, and major historical goof-ups are mixed in with more trivial pop-culture tales of woe, such as Garth Brooks’s worst-selling album and other actors who, like Caruso, bailed out of a TV ship that, far from sinking, was moving full steam ahead. There’s an odd mix here, definitely history very-lite, but perhaps readers who savor schadenfreude will find some satisfaction in it.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Bill Fawcett is the author and editor of more than a dozen books, including It Seemed Like a Good Idea, How to Lose a Battle, You Said What?, three historical mystery series, and two oral histories of the U.S. Navy SEALs. He lives in Illinois.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; 1st Edition/ 1st Priniting edition (August 17, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060532505
• ISBN-13: 978-0060532505
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,078,099 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good light reading for the amateur historian, October 7, 2004

By 

C. Bedford Crenshaw "the Rebel Rockhopper" (Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: You Did What?: Mad Plans and Great Historical Disasters (Paperback)

Personally, I enjoyed the book. There was much I learned from this book. I knew very little of the Galveston Hurricane. I did not realize that "New Coke" is still made in certain parts of the country. I never realized that Napoleon's big mistake at Waterloo was in having the wrong adjutant in charge. Or how the Kaiser's hatred for his mother helped in causing World War 1. This and many more interesting tidbits are top be found in this book. The only problem with this book is that most of the entries are fairly modern.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars By turns maddening and fascinating, September 23, 2004

By 

Jean E. Pouliot (Newburyport, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: You Did What?: Mad Plans and Great Historical Disasters (Paperback)

Reading this terribly uneven book was the most irritating experience I've had in a long time. Its title seemed to indicate a tongue-in-cheek approach to history's gaffes and goofs, in the vein of "The Darwin Awards". Instead, the reader was often treated to rather ordinary recititations of history. The tale of Watergate was told in a straightforward style without entertainment value. The barbarian invasions of the Roman Empire were a dull, unfunny and undetailed summary (in only 7 pages !) of 400 years of Roman history. Other stories held my interest better, not due to the writing but because of the unfamiliar subject matter. The story of Ferdinand de Lesseps' first attempt to build the Panama Canal was an example. But even this tale, which tried to poke fun at de Lesseps' folly, just wasn't funny.

The book, subtitled "Mad Plans and Great Historical Disasters," is less about the folly of human beings than about the unexpected (but not mad) turns that human activities take. Who knew ahead of time that aspirin would have value while heroin would become a social scourge?

I'll say this for the book: as annoying as it was, I kept coming back to it until I finished it. That's worth 3 stars.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Flawed but Entertaining, July 17, 2005

By 

joedriver252 "joedriver252" (Stuarts Draft, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Did What?: Mad Plans and Great Historical Disasters (Paperback)

"You Did What?" is a collection of tales of decisions that were at best foolhardy and at worst disastrous. Various authors contribute to this work, and the quality of the chapters varies as a result (there are quite a few examples of bad grammar and poor sentence structure throughout the book). Overall, the book is entertaining. Different subjects of varied historical significance are covered, from the Trojan Horse debacle and President Harrison's refusal to wear a coat at his frigid inaugural, to the "Heidi Bowl" and the bad career decisions of several TV actors. This is a quirky book that's rather light on any deep historical information or insight, and the mistakes in writing can be disconcerting. Overall, though, it's worth checking out for some lighthearted reading.