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Stupid Wars: A Citizen's Guide to Botched Putsches, Failed Coups, Inane Invasions, and Ridiculous Revolutions | 
 enlarge | Authors: Ed Strosser, Michael Prince
Publisher: Collins
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $5.75
You Save: $9.20 (62%)
New (40) Used (20) from $4.75
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 145570
Media: Paperback
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 0061258474
Dewey Decimal Number: 355.02
EAN: 9780061258473
ASIN: 0061258474
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Little Shelf Wear
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Product Description
When winners write history, they sometimes "forget" to include their own embarrassing misjudgments. Fortunately, this take-no-prisoners edition of history isn't going to let the winners (or the losers) forget the mistakes of the past. Be prepared to laugh out loud—and gasp in horror—at the most painfully idiotic strategies, alliances, and decisions the world has ever known. These stupid wars have been launched by democracies as well as monarchies and dictatorships, in recent decades just as often as in less "enlightened" times. The ridiculous and reckless conflicts chronicled in Stupid Wars include the misdirected Fourth Crusade, the half-baked invasion of Russia by the U.S., the U.K.'s baffling Falklands War, Hitler's ill-fated Beer Hall Putsch, several incredibly foolish South American conflicts, the Bay of Pigs fiasco, and many more. Whether you're a future dictator, war-mongering politician, royal mistress, or history lover, these blow-by-stupid-blow accounts will teach you the valuable lessons you need to stay off the list, including: - Don't declare war on all your neighbors at the same time.
- Working radios, accurate maps, and weather-appropriate uniforms are big plusses.
- Large amounts of bird poop and very small islands are probably not worth dying for.
- Never invade Russia.
- Seriously. It's a really bad idea.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Monty Python Meets the History Channel May 2, 2008
Peter S. Chase (Boston, MA USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Monty Python Meets the History Channel!
Manages being a very amusing read while also being informative.
New History Fan May 4, 2008
Jennifer Mallis (New York, NY)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have attempted to read many history books but I found most of them boring. Stupid Wars grabbed my attention from the beginning to the end. I found myself laughing out loud many times!! I highly recommend this enjoyable book to everyone to share in the hysterical historical discoveries of our past as beautifully executed by Michael and Ed. Keep laughing!
Hilarious and Informative December 21, 2008
Doc Ridley (Ohio)
I was very intrigued when I found this book in the history section at Borers. I really didn't know what to expect. But as soon as I started reading it, I was hooked. I'm a history major myself and training to become an officer in Military Intelligence, and even I sometimes just have to roll my eyes at the lack of life in those history textbooks. If they were written like "Stupid Wars," I think you might have a lot more interest in history.
The premise was appealing to me. Rather than look at the heroic victories of the past, we could probably learn just as much if not more from the epic failures of military leaders throughout time. But the most striking thing about the book is not only that it covers wars that I had almost no knowledge of prior to, but it's a funny read as well.
For instance, I found myself laughing at the part when the authors recount the little-known Winter War between Russia and Finland. After the the last negotiations ended before the war started, Stalin "left to twirl his mustasche and plan the destruction of their country." At another point, one of the crazier characters of the book, Francisco Lopez "Compared himself to Napoleon and Alexander the Great. It would have been true if Napoleon and Alexander had been fat, ignorant failures from obscure countries."
The book is rife with such examples of making fun of blundering, idiotic leaders from the Roman Empire to modern times. Another great thing about the book was that it peaked my interest in various conflicts that I wasn't familiar with beforehand. Since reading the book, I've picked up books on the Russio-Finish War and the Chaco War in South America.
A must read for anyone into history, politics, humor or humanity in general May 1, 2008
Charles Kendikian (Lansdale, PA USA)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book is entertaining and informative from start to finish. It starts strong and just gets better and better as the stories and centuries pass. For anyone that keeps abreast of politics and world affairs it will come as no surprise that much of what our leaders have us do makes little or no sense, but what stands out here is the fact that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
The stories told in this fine work seem impossible to have really happened, but they did. I consider this book to be more humor than history, but it is in fact both. Tragic irony at its best. The laughter only stops when you consider how many thousands of people suffered or died for no logical reason, or due to an inconceivable lack of planning. Some of history's most revered public figures are exposed as more egomaniacal, blindly confident, or just plain idiotic than their reputation would indicate. As the previous reviewer said, even the great George Washington was guilty of transgressions that, as brought to light here, must make his wooden teeth chatter in his grave.
The world has always, is always, and probably will always be riddled with tragedy and inequity. Boy does this book show it. Maybe it should be required reading for aspiring politicos.
Simple but brilliant premise May 21, 2008
Matthew Hickerson (Northport, NY)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
The premise of "Stupid Wars" is simple, but brilliant: For ages, scribes, historians and military leaders have documented glorious successes on the battlefield. Yet what of the unmitigated disasters? What of the coups that were attempted by the likes of the Three Stooges? What of the wars that were fought for no apparent reason? Now we know.
"Stupid Wars" presents battlefield idiocy in a highly readable form: each chapter covers military and political blundering of the highest order for a particular event. So in what is an average of about 20 pages per chapter, the reader learns of all of the "masterful planning" that went into events such as the doomed-from-the-start Bay of Pigs invasion or the mustering of troops to put down the Whiskey Rebellion that really never was.
In what is an educational and humorous romp through history, we learn of such folly: how the Russian army, which seemingly should have been prepared to fight a cold-weather war, invaded Finland in 1939 without a clue as to how to battle the Finns in the winter. We learn how Romania managed to alienate virtually every major and minor power on both sides during WW II.
The authors tell these stories with an eye on history and a smile on their faces. They point out the absurd, the ridiculous and the shear folly of many of history's biggest blunders. I, for one, never knew that the armies of the Fourth Crusade never actually made it to the Holy Land for lack of transportation. Certainly, someone should have realized that they needed ships to get them there.
In the end, it's a great premise and a great read. The reader is entertained yet learning about history too - a great combination.
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