Explore the failures mistakes and missed opportunities that shaped history in this new entry
in the bestselling series. From the botched attempt to create a life-extending elixir that
produced gunpowder to the unsuccessful stint in medical school which led to a career in
naturalism for Charles Darwin to the missile detection system malfunction that almost sparked
a nuclear war the course of human history has so often been shaped by failures of all
magnitudes. In fifty bite-sized chapters spanning thousands of years A Short History of the
World in 50 Failures details how the world as we know it has been defined by plans gone awry
opportunities not seized upon and schemes that were always fated to end in catastrophe.
Whether it's the pharaoh Akhenaten's misplaced attempt to found a new religion or Napoleon's
doomed invasion of Russia discover a fascinating collection of outsized tales and historical
snafus that created the world as we know it today. Also available: A Short History of the
World in 50 Places (9781789291971) A Short History of the World in 50 Animals (9781789292954)
A Short History of the World in 50 Books (9781789294088) A Short History of the World in 50
Lies (9781789294606)
