Loose Cannons: 101 Myths, Mishaps and Misadventurers of Military History (General Military) - Hardcover

Donald, Graeme

3.3

33 ratings by Goodreads

9781846033773: Loose Cannons: 101 Myths, Mishaps and Misadventurers of Military History (General Military)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1846033772 ISBN 13: 9781846033773

Publisher: Osprey Publishing, 2009

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From the author of Sticklers, Sideburns, and Bikinis comes this funny, often irreverent look at two thousand years of lies, inaccuracies, propaganda, deceit, downright foolishness, and little-known facts from the ars militaria.

On Hitler:
"[No one] ever produced 'proof' of Hitler having won the Iron Cross, Second Class without which the First Class could not be awarded. He was a liar, but his favorite WWI yarn, about his life being spared by a British soldier who had him dead in his sights, is unfortunately true. It seems we have Private Henry Tandy VC, then of the Green Howards, to thank for all the fun of Round 2 with Germany."

On Che Guevara:
"The darling of week-end rebels and champagne socialists, Guevara continues to be lauded by the intellectually bankrupt who sport his image on T-shirts, making Guevara the only racist, mass murderer to become a fashion-accessory. He neither lived nor died a hero and almost everything trumpeted about him is false."

On the Lusitania:
She was not an American liner; she was not sunk on her maiden voyage; she was not an 'innocent' sunk without warning by the nasty Germans; the incident was not responsible for America's entry into WW1, and as for British connivance into her sinking, the jury is still out on that.

On breast enhancement surgery:
One of the more unusual 'developments' from WWII, to say the least, but modern breast enhancement techniques were a direct result of the American occupation of post-war Japan.

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About the Author:

Graeme Donald has been researching the origins of words, nursery rhymes, superstitions and popular misconceptions for years, and has published eight titles through Unwin-Hyman and Simon & Schuster. For the ten years that Today newspaper was on the stands he wrote a daily column exploring such material and also wrote for The Mirror and The Age in Melbourne. He devised and set the questions for Back to Square One, a word-origins based panel game which ran for eight series on Radio 2 and World Service. He is the author of Osprey's Sticklers, Sideburns and Bikinis. The author lives in Stockport, England.

Review:

“Loose Cannons exposes many long-held myths about military leaders and operations, from the idea that Hitler was a vegetarian obsessed by occult to the invention of the 'Mau-Mau' organization and the fact that the Japanese were trying to complete their own nuclear warhead when the Americans beat them. An outstanding trivia fact book for any military library.” ―The Midwest Book Review (February 2010)

“Frequently amusing, often silly, and on occasion interesting, Graeme Donald's Loose Cannons: Myths, Mishaps, and Misadventures of Military History offers a distracting romp through a series of historical myths relating to military history... Donald's dry wit contributes mightily to what makes Loose Cannons a fun, breezy read. It isn't scholarship (and the more persnickety at times will wail about his lack of footnotes or corroboration), but this won't detract from the enjoyment one gets from romping through these distracting, myth-busting vignettes.” ―Jordan Magill, San Francisco Book Review (March 2010)

“A funny, often irreverent look at two thousand years of lies, inaccuracies, progaganda, deceit, downright foolishness, and little-known facts from the world of militaria... Military mishaps and misconceptions are explored in this entertaining expose of long-held myths that we generally hold to be the unvarnished truth.” ―History Magazine (April/May 2010)

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