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History's Great Military Blunders and the Lessons They Teach

di The Great Courses

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413609,020 (3.71)1
Military. Nonfiction. HTML:

Military history often highlights successes and suggests a sense of inevitability about victory, but there is so much that can be gleaned from considering failures. Study these crucibles of history to gain a better understanding of why a civilization took - or didn't take - a particular path. Full of dramatic reversals of fortune and colorful characters, this course examines some of the world's most notable examples of military misfortune, from the humiliating destruction of a Roman army at Carrhae in 53 BC to the tragic landings at Gallipoli in World War I. Success and failure, as you'll learn, are two sides of the same coin.These 24 lectures reveal how the trajectory of history hangs in the balance of individual battles; even a single person's actions in a particular moment have made drastic and irreversible impacts. From ancient Greece through global war during the first half of the 20th century, you'll delve into infamous conflicts such as the Charge of the Light Brigade and the Battle of Little Bighorn as well as lesser-known battles.How could an army equipped with cannon be wiped out by Zulu warriors wielding spears and outdated firearms? How could armored French knights be vulnerable to the crude weapons of a band of Flemish shopkeepers? Why would a savvy Chinese general fall victim to a tactic he had previously used himself? Unpredictable twists of fate abound, demonstrating that when it comes to war, there are no givens. Sheer numbers, superior weaponry, and skilled leadership are never a guarantee of success.Take a fascinating journey through some of the most gloriously inglorious wartime encounters. Along the way, you'll get to know some of the most legendary characters in world history.

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The author of this survey of military blunders avers that “there is so much that can be learned from studying failure, particularly when it’s unexpected.” He explains that to qualify as a “blunder,” it must be avoidable; involve a decision that circumstances suggested was unwise; involve someone who failed to take an obvious action; and include an element of identifiable blame for the critical mistake.

He then goes on to explore a number of such military blunders, including such famous battles as “The Parthian Shot” at Carrhae in 53 BC, Culloden in Scotland in 1746, Custer’s Last Stand in 1876, and Gallipoli in 1915. The stories about each battle are fun and interesting, but I’m not sure they actually yield any useful lessons. Surely if unqualified generals or unwise decisions could have been avoided, they would have.

Putative lessons aside, I enjoyed listening to all these anecdotes, especially those covering battles I had heard about by name only but not in detail. ( )
  nbmars | Oct 30, 2021 |
I think I'd actually rate this one closer to 3.5 stars - the subject matter was interesting and Aldrete brought everything together well at the end, but the duration of the lecture series wasn't as compelling as some of the other ones I've read. The content was there as well as the details, but Aldrete's reading sounded very much like it was awkwardly read from a script and after a while the cadence became lulling rather than interesting. Basically, the topic was interesting but the professor didn't quite get me there.

For anyone interested in military history, or even just history, this lecture series is worth checking out. It's an interesting overview of moments that changed the path of the world through poor decisions and narcissism. Had any of these leaders behaved differently, our story would be different. Napoleon or Alexander the Great may have continued to conquer, which could have changed the shape of Europe and Asia... and that's only the beginning. It's interesting to think about.

Not the best, not the worst, this lecture series is worth looking at if you're already interested in the topic by you can probably bypass it otherwise - the speaker will likely not draw you in. ( )
  Morteana | Aug 26, 2021 |
Good overview of important historical battles which were failures, including the context of those battles and reasonable analysis of what went wrong and why. Largely puts failures into a few major categories (failure to learn from events and failure to adapt to new technology being the two broadest categories). My favorite part was actually the quotes from contemporary experts on the failures, which tended to be far more pithy than more recent analyses. A particularly sad part was using the three failed campaigns in Afghanistan as an example, leaving it to the reader today to see exactly the same lessons in our current fourth failed campaign.

The speaker has annoying Shatneresque pacing and delivery, but listening at 2.5-3x eliminates this. It would be a much better course as a video presentation with images and maps of the battles, but audio only worked pretty well (and let me listen while driving.) ( )
  octal | Jan 1, 2021 |
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Military. Nonfiction. HTML:

Military history often highlights successes and suggests a sense of inevitability about victory, but there is so much that can be gleaned from considering failures. Study these crucibles of history to gain a better understanding of why a civilization took - or didn't take - a particular path. Full of dramatic reversals of fortune and colorful characters, this course examines some of the world's most notable examples of military misfortune, from the humiliating destruction of a Roman army at Carrhae in 53 BC to the tragic landings at Gallipoli in World War I. Success and failure, as you'll learn, are two sides of the same coin.These 24 lectures reveal how the trajectory of history hangs in the balance of individual battles; even a single person's actions in a particular moment have made drastic and irreversible impacts. From ancient Greece through global war during the first half of the 20th century, you'll delve into infamous conflicts such as the Charge of the Light Brigade and the Battle of Little Bighorn as well as lesser-known battles.How could an army equipped with cannon be wiped out by Zulu warriors wielding spears and outdated firearms? How could armored French knights be vulnerable to the crude weapons of a band of Flemish shopkeepers? Why would a savvy Chinese general fall victim to a tactic he had previously used himself? Unpredictable twists of fate abound, demonstrating that when it comes to war, there are no givens. Sheer numbers, superior weaponry, and skilled leadership are never a guarantee of success.Take a fascinating journey through some of the most gloriously inglorious wartime encounters. Along the way, you'll get to know some of the most legendary characters in world history.

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