The hinge factor : how chance and stupidity have changed history

From the wooden horse of Troy to the Gulf War, military history has been as much marked by chance and error, as by gallantry and heroism. Many conflicts have been decided by the caprice of weather, bad intelligence, heroism where it wasn't expected, or individual incompetence. In military terms, the incident which can swing a battle from victory to defeat in a moment is known as the "Hinge Factor". The "Hinge Factor" vividly describes battles which demonstrate this phenomenon - including the circumstances behind the loss of the Holy Cross, through to the attack of African war bees in 1914, to Star-War weaponry described in the Gulf War. This enthralling book demystifies the general belief that battles are always won due to the brilliance of a general and will both inform and entertain a wide audience. A wooden horse : Troy, 1184 BC The loss of the True Cross : the Horns of Hattin, 4 July 1187 A rabble with bare feat : Agincourt, 25 October 1415 A barrel of schnapps : Karansebes, 20 September 1788 A fistful of nails : Waterloo, 18 June 1815 The fourth order : Balaclava, 25 October 1854 Three cigars : Antietam, 17 September 1862 Two counts and one prince : Königgrätz, 3 July 1866 A fair fight : Spioen Kop, 24 January 1900 A slap on the face : Tannenberg, 28 August 1914 The sting of a bee : Tanga, 5 November 1914 Der Halte Befehl : France, 21 May 1940 A shark on the loose : North Atlantic, 27 May 1941 The Sorge enigma : Moscow, 6 December 1941 One man's death : Vietnam, 31 January 1968 And the Wall came tumbling down : Berlin, 9 November 1989 The zero factor : the Gulf, 17 January 1991. Looks into the absurd and bizarre events of battles that have changed the course of history, from the wooden horse at Troy to a dropped package of cigars at Antietam and a photograph snapped in Vietnam