Trust Me, I Know What I'm Doing

Book excerpt: Hindsight hurts. * The British Parliament passes the Stamp Act, having the American colonies pay for their own defense—which instead starts a revolution. * In 1929, President Herbert Hoover decides to let the economy fix itself…and the Great Depression gets greater. * Nixon tapes everything he says in the Oval Office, believing it will all be of great historical value. He turns out to be right when those same tapes cost him his presidency. * Charles the First cuts a deal with the Irish to fight Parliament that instead loses him public support—and later his head. Along with 100 Mistakes that Changed the World, Trust Me, I Know What I'm Doing proves once again that when global leaders drop the ball, the whole world shakes. With a hundred more bombshell blunders—from Pickett’s Charge to the Lewinski scandal—this compendium takes a fascinating look at some of history’s greatest turns for the worse.