How to Lose a Battle: Foolish Plans and Great Military Blunders (Paperback)

by Bill Fawcett (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The publisher bills this effort as a "tongue-in-cheek" and "humorous" analysis of the world's worst military disasters. But aside from wry chapter titles (e.g., "Austerlitz: They Fell for It? Austria, 1805"), these are generally straightforward accounts of some of the deadliest carnage in human history. That includes the Civil War's Battle of Antietam—the bloodiest single day in American history, during which some 6,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed and more than 16,000 were wounded—and the three-day Battle of Gettysburg, which resulted in 51,000 casualties on both sides. There's also the WWII Battle of Okinawa, during which more than 12,000 Americans were killed and nearly 32,000 wounded, along with 142,000 estimated Japanese casualties (military and civilian). Fawcett (You Did What? Mad Plans and Great Historical Disasters) gathers 37 concise, analytical, finger-pointing accounts of these and other battles from ancient times to the late 1960s. He and contributors Brian Thomsen, William R. Forstchen, Douglas Niles and Edward E. Kramer readably and insightfully convey a wide knowledge of military history, but more in-depth and well-annotated analyses of these battles are readily available elsewhere. (July 1)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
This surprisingly amusing anthology could be subtitled Monuments to Stupidity. Fawcett is the editor of Hunters and Shooters (1995) and has also written science-fiction and mystery novels. He and several other writers have written a series of essays dissecting some of the greatest military disasters, from antiquity to the twentieth century. Some of these fiascos are probably well known even to laypersons, including Lee's blunders at Gettysburg and Hitler's insistence on fighting to the death at Stalingrad. But some of the more obscure episodes are particularly informative and enjoyable (if one allows the passage of time to soften the horror of human carnage). At Arbela, the Persian emperor Darius allowed his personal cowardice to deliver a victory to the vastly outnumbered forces of Alexander the Great. At San Jacinto, the Mexican Santa Anna (the self-styled Napoleon of the West) saw his sleeping army slaughtered, guaranteeing the loss of Texas. The writers approach their subjects with a healthy dose of sarcasm and even humor. This book will appeal to both general readers and amateur military historians. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (July 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060760249
• ISBN-13: 978-0060760243
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #41,362 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Get your Facts straight, Bill!, August 7, 2006

By	Ron Titus (Huntington, WV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an interesting title that, unfortunately, need to be fact checked. Grevious mistakes in timing and opponents arepresent in several chapters. Examples, page 17, Bill discusses the tactics used at Cannae relating these to those used at Trebia. Unfortunately, the sentence reads as if Cannae took place 2 years before Trebia, rather than the other way around. In the discussion on Horns of Hattin, Bill (p.44) talks as if Richard the Lionhearted's success which took place in 1191-192 had aready happened in 1186. In his discussion of Agincourt (p.50), Bill references the strong spirt of Joan of Arc which would be fine as she was French except that she lived during the time of Henry VI, not Henry V or earlier. Then Bill makes the grevious error of having Santa Anna throw the French out of Mexico (p.82). Bill, the French did not take over Mexico until 1860's during the American Civil War. Santa Anna helped in getting the Spanish out of Mexico. I just wonder what other errors await.

In all this seems a book put together to fill a contract. The battles were chosen and quick summaries provided. Unfortunately, errors have spoiled the experiance for me.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just didn't seem exciting, November 11, 2006

By	Jeff Kerry "Jeff Kerry" (St. John's NL) - See all my reviews

Reading this book was like reading a history text, which I guess is what it is, but it kinda lacked excitement. And every synopsis seemed to be "so and so was overconfident, and that's why he lost."

Bought it for a plane ride, but didn't finish it. Just didn't capture me.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Military History, November 11, 2006

By	G. Poirier (Orleans, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book has 37 chapters written by 5 different authors. Despite this, the authors' writing styles are quite similar, i.e., simple and friendly prose that is generally engaging. However, as a result of this multi authorship, some chapters are short and concise such that a given event is recounted in 5 to 8 pages, while others are rather long-winded and occupy over 20 pages. Several of the events in this book have been recounted elsewhere by other authors in an equally short, concise but frequently in a pleasant tongue-in-cheek style - something which is not as pronounced in this case. I have given this book 4 stars simply because, although it is a good read, to me, it seems to lack that tiny spark that would make it a 5 star work. The several editorial mistakes that it contains may have contributed to that less than perfect score. This book could be of interest to anyone, although some detailed analyses may be of particular interest to military history buffs.