History's Great Military Blunders and the Lessons They Teach
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History's Great Military Blunders and the Lessons They Teach
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Narrated by:
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Gregory S. Aldrete
About this listen
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How could an army equipped with cannon be wiped out by Zulu warriors wielding spears and outdated firearms?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.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2015 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2015 The Great CoursesListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about History's Great Military Blunders and the Lessons They Teach
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Asher Girling
- 07-06-21
Instructive and engaging if a little repetative
A highly enjoyable and detailed series of lectures, presented in an engaging and easily-followed manner.
My only complaint is that the selection of military scenarios, campaigns and blunders evaluated in these lectures lack diversity: with a huge amount of theatres, time periods and conflicts to choose from, the same eras and wars are returned to frequently, and thus the same recurring themes are discussed to the point of repetitiveness.
Overall though, I greatly enjoyed this informative, well researched series of recordings.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J. Leach
- 02-12-18
Wonderful recounting of history
even with my ani-war sentiments I really enjoyed this lively, well told and analysed account of war history. The hours flew past!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Timbo slice
- 22-09-20
Fantastic
Would highly recommend. I am a landscaper and gardener and have this and others going everyday, i have a keen interest in history and the detail, anecdotes but also conciseness of each lecture is perfect to give an overview and inspire wider reading
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- hfffoman
- 05-03-21
Fascinating from start to finish
I am not particularly interested in military history or even anything much to do with wars. But this is a masterful series of lectures with, I believe, a very wide appeal. They are full of interesting facts, never get bogged down in boring ones (like an awful lot of history books) and are brilliantly delivered.
Check out his lectures on the Romans. These are equally excellent.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- scott Galloway
- 21-10-22
Fantastic
Thoroughly enjoyed this from the great courses, this lecturer has a very engaging style!
Lots of bite sized chunks make it easy to listen to while multi tasking!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Ricky Bolt
- 02-10-20
Learn how to pronounce names!
Painful! Very interesting but find it very hard to take a historian seriously that A/ can't be bothered to learn how to pronounce names like Culloden and B/ thinks England and Great Britain are some how interchangeable after 1707, very shoddy and annoying. Makes me question some of accuracies of the rest of the information... Very disappointing...
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 21-10-22
A great idea for a lecture theme, well executed
A series of pithy summaries of failed battles, with a concluding overview of the main reasons for failure. I enjoyed it immensely despite being English, since many examples came from my nation's failures. But after all, failing heroically is one of our country's greatest strengths. The criticism of the narration in other reviews is I think misplaced. These are University style lectures for learning, not theatrical events. I enjoyed the narration style, it suited the material.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Pauly
- 01-09-18
Unmissable
If you have any interest in military history or in human failure, this is an essential listen. It provides not only 24 fascinating case studies but also an analysis of each one, and explains how each disaster could have been avoided. It concludes by categorising the types of failure and suggesting that it is the inability of humans to learn from past mistakes that often leads to disaster.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- B. Whelan
- 14-08-17
British military disaster
It's well narrated but if you are fan ok the uk it may annoy you in parts its seems 3/4 of the blunders are British. I'm not patriotic but even I grew tired of constant British blunders
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Sam
- 10-06-23
Poor
Awkwardly narrated at an extremely slow speed. Clearly spoken but with strained and unnecessary emphasis which is distracting at times. The stories themselves are interesting, but I feel they lack both empathy and much usable insight. The analysis of the reasons for the failures is generally shallow, typically taking the last five minutes or less of the lecture. Listening left me feel deflated and negative. I recommend you avoid this audio book.
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