History's Great Military Blunders and the Lessons They Teach

By: The Great Courses, Gregory S. Aldrete

Narrated by: Gregory S. Aldrete

Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

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How could an army equipped with cannon be wiped out by Zulu warriors wielding spears and outdated firearms?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 Courses

Martial Chaos

I'm a military history buff and a US Army veteran, so I really couldn't have asked for a more apt "The Great Courses" lecture series. It's thing to read a translation of Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" (approximately 5th century BCE), an aspirational guide to tactical warfare that's travelled the millennia well. It's quite anther to fearlessly examine some of the most painful military debacles in history and take meaning from what's written in blood . "History's Great Military Blunders and the Lessons They Teach" (Gregory S. Aldrete, PhD) is a neat survey course of things that have gone militarily very, very, wrong for more than two millennia.

The lectures range from The Battles of Syracuse (415-414 BC) to World War II's Operation Market Garden (1944). Some are obvious, often repeated errors. Napoleon's 1812 winter invasion of Russia was about as successful as Charles XII of Sweden's 1707 invasion of the same country. The 1854 storied, tragic Charge of the Light Brigade is about attacking the wrong target. Some of the disasters of World War II were almost too painful to listen to. I remember hearing war stories first-hand from veterans in my grandparents' small town, and to know that sometimes their sacrifices were wasted hurts.

I like that the lectures aren't Eurocentric - one of the best is on the 2nd Century Red Cliffs Campaign of the brilliant but merciless Chinese General Cao Cao. Even the strongest of tyrants don't always prevail. I got a kick out of the lecture on 1879 Isandlwana: 25,000 Zulus, Undetected. It was horrifying to Victorian England, especially the post-battle mutilation (actually, a sign of respect: the Zulu Warriors were releasing the spirits of the slain soldiers), but a century and a half later, it's a study in absolute arrogance and the triumph of what must have been derided then as "savages."

I would definitely listen to another one of Professor Aldrete's courses.

[If this review helped, please press YES. Thanks!]

Hindsight Bias?

The professor does an outstanding presentation of his material.

I have to wonder, though, whether many of these blunders are hindsight bias. For example, we only distinguish rashness from boldness when the endeavor succeeds or fails; there may be no way to determine which description applies beforehand.

Many of the behaviors that the professor describes also precede great successes as well as failures, and it's only when failure occurs that they look stupid. The problem is that we don't keep data on stupidity followed by success, which makes it look artificially easy to determine when you're screwing up.

How in the world did this course get a 4.4 rating?

Out of 24 blunders covered, and a 2400 year timeframe, Aldrete includes 10 British or American incidents. 3 British "blunders" from WWII are included. It's hard to imagine how this "inept" British military managed to hold off the Axis powers alone for years... and then eventually win the war. Oh yes... and there are NO German blunders mentioned from WWII. Apparently the Nazis brilliantly planned and executed their efforts all the way to extermination... hmmm....

Genghis Khan, the Romans, and Napoleon are presented with a neutral attitude about the morality of their conquests. Aldrete reserves moralizing for the British and the Americans. Apparently it was perfectly fine for Genghis to rampage across the world murdering millions in his path. However, the British are arrogant for trying to hold their empire together and America was immoral for its efforts to subdue the marauding Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes. Present the facts and save your judgements for an ethics course, professor.

Aldrete's speech pattern is halting and painful. He... pauses... after every... two or three... words... at... the most... And please learn how to pronounce common words in the English language.

I thought this course would never end. I want my credit back.

Great material, Shatner-esque delivery

This is fascinating material! However, while the narrator clearly has mastered the material, his delivery is... full of... awkward... pauses, strange pronunciations, and odd turns of phrase. He's clearly reading the material, which would be fine if the delivery was not so distracting!

Awesome as Aldrete's usual !!!

After listening to "Decisive battles" from the same author, I knew I had to listen to this title as well.

If you want to learn college-level history, With the ease of just curling up with a good book that is beautifully narrated this is the course for you.

Good, not Great. (Almost No Analysis)

This should be titled 'History's Great Military Blunders (Full Stop)' because there is almost no discussion on the lessons that they teach. In a typical lesson, 95% of the lecture is the story of the blunder and 5% is an analysis of that blunder. This does make for a great, story-time approach to history. However, you won't actually get that much from the professors "insights".

I liked this course, but just know that it's just story-time.

Great Stories

This course is comprised of 23 great historical stories and one final lecture sort of tying the stories together. Very easy to listen to and stay engaged.

Great Content Poorly Narrated

An interesting subject ruined by distracting presentation. The narrator stumbles over every word, which is terribly distracting; it sounds like it's being read by an autistic robot. Bummer.

Legitimate 5 stars

I am a big fan of The Great Courses. That being said, not all are worthy of 5 star reviews... unless they feature Professor Aldrete.

Very Interesting

What made the experience of listening to History's Great Military Blunders and the Lessons They Teach the most enjoyable?

The premise for these lectures is just great. You listen to how these commanders and others invovled make error after error resulting in a horrible defeat of their forces. Spanning time from ancient Egypt to WW2 there are a ton of interesting stories here.

What did you like best about this story?

The various accounts are presented with a ton of insight into the people involved, the time, the customs, etc.

What about Professor Gregory S. Aldrete, PhD’s performance did you like?

Dr. Aldrete is a great lecturer and often includes a comic touch when presenting these tales. I had listened to his history of the ancient world course as well and highly recommend it if you are interested in standard history.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I blew through these vary fast and some are quite comical.

Any additional comments?

Very entertaining.

Interesting content with a truly awful narration.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A more fluid narration! The guy who reads this audiobook is very clearly reading the content from a script. His speech stops and starts and emphasises in all the wrong places. Its like listening to William Shatner struggling with a script !

If the book was read by somebody who could speak in a steady and confident manner it would fare much better, but sadly the narrator of this version sounds robotic, unusual, stuttering and impossible to listen to with any amount of concentration.

What was one of the most memorable moments of History's Great Military Blunders and the Lessons They Teach?

I'm not sure. Because I was so put off by the narrator's manner of speaking I stopped listening after a few chapters. The chapter about the battle of the Crater was quite interesting i guess.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Professor Gregory S. Aldrete, PhD?

Stephen Fry? Patrick Stewart? Quite frankly anyone who can hold together a deep, wise, and unwavering tone.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The content itself was relatively interesting - its just a shame it was presented in such a mispronounced, stuttering, odd and disjointed fashion.

Any additional comments?

Dont buy it unless you can put up with slow reading and mispronunciation.

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

Fascinating material ruined by woeful narration

This could have been a fantastic audio book. The content is compelling but the narrator removes any possibility of enjoying this book. He sounds as if each individual word has been recorded and pieced together, disrupting any possible fluidity. Such a shame.

More of a University Lecture than a Book...

... but still thoroughly enjoyable for a history nerd. Of course, it missed a few "blunders" that I would have considered pivotal in world history, such as the Third Reich's advance into Russia, and George Meade's failure to pursue the defeated Confederate Army immediately following Gettysburg, but all the lectures came together in the end very nicely and a solid point was made that I can't argue against.

... Even if the blunders committed by British generals were hard pills to swallow!

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...

A good overview of some key battles

I won’t confess to being a history buff, but the battles covered spanned the planet and took places at different times throughout history. A good listen.

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!

Valuable lessons for life.

Very enjoyable and informative. A few mis-pronunciations of English place names and ranks but otherwise very good.

Crassus and Gallipoli

Fantastic bite size briefs of historical blunders which I throughly enjoyed listening too. My son also enjoyed it.

unlistenable cadence

Managed about two and a half hours. Narrator has a baffling cadence; like a bad Shakespearean actor making a mess of the meter. He's also nasal, and whiney. Imagine Woody Allen and Billy Crystal's lovechild doing an impression of William Shatner. Also manages to mispronounce a jarringly high proportion of his words.

The two "lectures" I suffered through consisted of a waffly anecdote with Captain Hindsight style lessons in conclusion.

Marginally preferable to having a mosquito in your ear.