This entertaining and enlightening history examines landmark military screw-ups and their consequences, from those that are merely amusing in hindsight to the truly tragic. Twenty-five blunders span 600 years, but focus on episodes from major 19th and 20th century conflicts like the Boer War, World Wars I and II, the Zulu Wars, Indochina, the Tehran hostage crisis, Grenada, and Kosovo. Organized around themes like "Unfit to Lead", "Planning", "Underestimating the Enemy", "Hubris and Nemesis", and "Technology", the book is illustrated throughout with period drawings, paintings, photographs, and maps.