SHORT HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 50 FAILURES (HB)

From the botched attempt to create a life-extending elixir which resulted in 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 constantly been shaped by failures of varying magnitudes. In fifty bite-sized chapters, this book shows how the world as we know it has been defined by plans gone awry, opportunities not seized upon and schemes that were fated to end in catastrophe.