The Worst Decisions Ever Made

History is often told as a story of progress.
But just as often, it is a record of decisions that should never have been made — choices driven by fear, arrogance, ignorance, desperation, or the belief that consequences could be ignored.

The Worst Decisions Ever Made examines history through a different lens: not heroes and victories, but moments where a single decision reshaped lives, nations, and generations — usually for the worse.

This book is not a list of accidents or unavoidable tragedies.
It is a study of human choice.

Inside, you’ll encounter decisions made by rulers, governments, institutions, movements, and individuals who believed they were acting wisely — or at least necessarily — only to unleash outcomes far beyond their control.

Some decisions were born of confidence.
Others of panic.
Many were justified at the time as reasonable, temporary, or for the greater good.

History judged them differently.

This book explores:

• Policies that destroyed economies instead of stabilizing them

• Wars launched on assumptions that proved catastrophically wrong

• Ideologies that promised order and delivered suffering

• Technologies adopted before their consequences were understood

• Social and political choices that traded long-term stability for short-term relief

Rather than sensationalizing failure, each chapter focuses on the reasoning behind the decision — what people believed, what they ignored, and why warning signs were dismissed.

You’ll see how:

• Power narrows perspective

• Groupthink silences dissent

• Certainty replaces evidence

• Fear accelerates irreversible choices

• And once a decision is made, institutions work harder to defend it than to correct it

This is not a book about mocking the past.
It is a book about recognizing patterns that still repeat today.

Many of the worst decisions in history were not made by villains.
They were made by ordinary people in authority who believed they were being practical, decisive, or strong.

That is what makes them dangerous.

Written in clear, accessible language, The Worst Decisions Ever Made is ideal for readers who are curious about history, psychology, power, and human behavior — and who want to understand how catastrophic outcomes often begin with decisions that felt justified at the time.

This book does not tell you what to think.
It invites you to look closely at how thinking fails under pressure.

Because the most important question history asks is not
“How did this happen?”
but
“Would we recognize it if we were doing it again?”