Tiny Blunders/Big Disasters: Thirty-Nine Tiny Mistakes That Changed the World Forever (Revised Edition) (Tiny Blunders/Big Disasters Series) Paperback – November 2, 2020

I would strongly encourage that this book be in every school. I really enjoyed reading it and I think it should be required reading for students of all ages. Jared Knott and everyone involved really gave all of us a gift by teaching us more about well known blunders throughout the years. Tiny Blunders Big Disasters 39 Tiny Mistakes that Changed the World Forever really opened my mind to history in a whole new way.First, I really enjoyed how this book was organized into chapters so you have the option to choose what category of "oops" you want to learn more about. With explanations from ancient battlefields to modern politics, ranging from medicine to technology, involving unhinged people set on killing to everyday items changing the course of history there is something for everyone.I was really amazed on how many major events could have been prevented if like the title states, everyday small choices were made and checklists were followed. I lost track of the number of times where if people did their job right the first time nothing of note would have happened. Who would have guessed that binoculars, tape, a ballot, cigars, a briefcase, a O ring or a bullet had such power? These mundane items either were forgotten, were altered, moved or misused and the world suffered.Medicine and logic, or more plainly the use of safety precautions played such a huge role over the centuries leading to absolute destruction so many times during this book that I sometimes had to pause reading to absorb what actually happened. On one hand a nurse stopped life from naturally happening which led to dire consequences. On another hand a medical professional urged a risky by useful technique but was denied also leading the fatal consequences. Of course medical advances, tools and understanding paid a role but the audacity of some of these medical professionals played in these high stakes situations left me in awe. It wasn't just the trusted people in charge but every day people who made shady decisions that literally led to people die. I'm looking at you "royal" presidential family who made a call to every contact but the police.This series of stories really illustrates the butterfly effect as the author mentioned, but also how so many people that hold power think they are either invincible or above the law. They use power, influence, money, resources to hide evidence of wrong doing and get away with it, at least for awhile. They, meaning powerful people also think nothing bad will happen to them and act in completely absurd and reckless ways. We all know that sex can distract people from using common sense and that was seen many times. Beyond that it's almost humorous to see how dumb men in power can be. Why did so many of them take so many chances with their lives? Riding in cars, on horses or in the air in dangerous situations when others told them not too. Going out alone or unprotected leaving themselves vulnerable to attack and danger and for what? Allowing drugs, women or laziness dominate their focus away from the tasks at hand.Snipers and the overall theme of bullets throughout this book is a constant. I am in awe of how many close calls happened and how many prominent people actually died by bullets in various forms. I did not know the Hilter avoided multiple calculated plots to end his life only to take his own. I did not know that Teddy Roosevelt was shot in my own city of Milwaukee, but was spared by his folded speech in his pocket. I did not know that Lincoln who would ultimately die attending "Our American Cousin" was almost took out by a bullet that pierced his hat while on his horse.There is so much more information and stories to reflect on in this book but I also have to say that whenever I read about the many women who had to suffer for things that they didn't choose or had their names dragged through the mud. I will be doing more research into the stories of Rose Mary Kennedy, Emily West the Yellow Rose of Texas, Mary Jo Kopechne, Teresa LePore, Violet Jessop and Catherine O'Leary.

Very interesting stuff here. Enjoyable book with a clear cut view I felt of the topics. Was sorry it was over when finished.

The authors works hard, but doesn’t really stick the landing in making these essays about Tiny Blunders/Big Disasters.That said, these are interesting historical vignettes, and I enjoyed reading them. I found the organization of the stories to be a little random.Seems like the editor could have made another pass or two. Patton was a VMI graduate and not a West Point graduate as the author points out confusingly in adjacent paragraphs. R.E. Lee and other Confederate generals were serving US officers when they became traitors and sided with the rebellion. That seems like an important point to bring up when talking about the military leaders of the Civil War.

Jared Knott, decorated Vietnam veteran, VP of sales and marketing, writer of graduate school textbooks and of articles for the Mensa Bulletin, applies a keen mind for research in a quest to identify seemingly insignificant moments which held momentous historical consequence. Tiny Blunders/Big Disasters is a compendium of cautionary tales ranging across the span of history, from Cyrus the Great to the Challenger disaster and events as recent as the sinking of the Costa Concordia in 2012. This is history as you never learned it in high school, a whirlwind journey touching on many major events but not focusing on them, each account instead zeroing in on the “butterfly effect” of a tiny detail which arguably changed the outcome of the larger event and in many cases, the course of history itself.Tiny Blunders/Big Disasters makes the reader ponder what alternative paths history might have taken. It’s possible that if not for the refusal to add a racial equality paragraph in the Covenant of the League of Nations, China might be in a completely different position in our current geopolitical power structure. There’s almost no doubt that had Lincoln been killed in one of the two assassination attempts prior to his election, or if his bodyguard had been present with him at Ford Theatre on the night he was killed, US history would read very differently. Knott is careful not to conclude or predict what would have happened and whether a situation would have been better, but brilliantly examines what we know happened in search of the unexpected detail that may have been the cause.Knott says, “Momentous events so often occur, or are prevented, by tiny mistakes. It’s almost uncanny, and certainly strange, that so often so much hangs on so little!“ That something went wrong in many of these situations is obvious, but our default assumption would usually be that something big occurred in order to derail each event. Interestingly, these tales of misplaced keys, bombs, helmets, letters, cigars, musket balls, and even tape show the reader that it is often something insignificant, missing, or overlooked which triggers an unexpected, sometimes disastrous series of events. Knott describes the historical figures in each event, humanizing them by examining the nuances of stress, personality, fear, and other factors that give insight both into the errors which were made and the larger disaster that occurred. This helps the reader consider his or her own actions carefully, because even the most perfect plans involve humans (and therefore, imperfection) and the same potential for blunder that has plagued history also exists in anything we undertake.Never dull, Knott’s thoroughly researched and detailed delineation of each event will keep history buffs and casual readers alike fascinated and engaged. Blunders, errors, mistakes and oversight are sometimes the dime on which history turns, and Tiny Blunders/Big Disasters is an illuminating, incisive, and fast paced tour. Highly recommend!!!

Interesting reading for those who like history. A little tedious but worth the read. It would be interesting to think about the more recent blunders.