by Phil Mason
First published 2008
History pivots on the smallest moments. Phil Mason examines how random incidents and lucky breaks altered the course of human events in ways no one could predict. Communist jets turned back just two minutes before firing on American aircraft during the Cuban Missile Crisis because they ran low on fuel. The Panama Canal ended up in Panama rather than Nicaragua because of an image on a postage stamp. Mason draws from three decades of collecting bizarre stories to reveal the accidental nature of political upheavals, scientific breakthroughs, literary achievements, criminal investigations, and sporting victories. The book demonstrates that chance encounters and timing mishaps created ripple effects that changed everything. Mason argues against grand design theories of history, showing instead how luck and coincidence drive human progress. Readers discover the unexpected origins of major discoveries and the small slip-ups that exposed famous crimes.
Genres: history, 20th-century, non-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: accidental-discoveries, unexpected-origins
Period: Cuban Missile Crisis, Panama Canal
256 pages · Hardcover · Jr Books Ltd