The direction history takes has often hinged on tiny turns of chance or accident. Things that happen just at the wrong time. Small incidents that end up having big consequences. For example, Communist jets were two minutes away from opening fire on American planes during the peak of the Cuban Missile crisis when they had to turn back as they were running out of fuel. Napoleon's Haemorrhoids is all about the small events that make you stop and think how it all might have turned out - luck, coincidence, fate: the tiny ripples that have caused big waves in history's waters. Did you know: the Panama Canal would have been built in Nicaragua had it not been for a picture on one of its postage stamps...? Covering not just the great sweeps of political history and war, but chance discoveries that led to great inventions and scientific progress, the accidents that led to feats of literature and film, little slips that gave away big crimes, slip-ups that altered sporting history, and a medley of chance beginnings, this little book is a treasure trove of fascinating facts. If you've ever wondered why history turned out the way it has, and thought there must be some big design behind it - think again...Specialising for over 30 years in collecting stories of the bizarre from around the world, Phil Mason has amassed one of the country's largest private collections of cuttings and books chronicling the weird and the strange. His books includeWould You Believe It?, and Mission Accomplished with Mathew Parris, a compilation of misplaced predictions by parliamentarians.