ERIK DURSCHMIED

Las interminables guerras, la altísima mortandad, la extensión de la gran plaga, la Peste negra, las hambrunas y, en contraste, el escandaloso modo de vida de la nobleza y de los altos dignatarios de la Iglesia, obligaron a buscar chivos expiatorios que explicaran por que Dios habia abandonado a los hombres.

In the Mediterranean, this most fought-over region in the world, the figures of potentates and conquerors appear god-like: Thutmosis, Leonidas, Xerxes, Pyrrhus, Hannibal, Caesar and Vercingetorix. Ancient history, from Pharaonic Egypt and the Shahs of Persia, to the Golden Age of Greece and the conquests of Alexander the Great and his dream of a universal brotherhood, is dominated by these incredible characters. And then comes Rome, the supreme political event of Ancient History and the worlds first superpower.Ancient Battles is the history of incredible men, brave and reckless, lucky and ill-fated, engaging their forces in battles that are prime examples of ruse, chance, and military brilliance. Erik Durschmied looks at seventeen of ancient historys most fascinating battles, many of which have been almost forgotten, but which in reality changed both the world and time itself.

Revolution brings tragedy, terror and heroism. Using historical texts and eye witness accounts as well as his own interviews, Erik Durschmied shares his unique understanding of revolutionary events that have shaped the course of history.His curiosity and amazement are reflected in the pages as is his irreverence for the conventional recitation of history.Progressing from the 18th to the 20th century, Durschmied provides a remarkable snapshot of the French Revolution; the Red October rising in Russia; Operation Walkure in Germany; Che Guevaras exploits; the rise and fall of Emperor Hirohito in Japan and the fall of the Shah of Iran in these powerful stories.

Con su fascinante y personal estilo, Erik Durschmied nos invita a adentrarnos en la historia de la revolución, a explorar las vidas y la época de los grandes líderes que provocaron irrevocables transformaciones en su país y en su sociedad. Avanzando desde el siglo xviii hasta el siglo xx, el relato enlaza los ideales patrióticos y el fervor revolucionario de estos gigantes con los engaños y los asesinatos a sangre fría cometidos en nombre de la libertad.Entre la crónica histórica y el ensayo de divulgación masiva, y con una lectura fácil, rápida e intrigante hasta el final, este libro narra la historia de unas revoluciones legendarias y de unos hombres cuyas vidas se suceden en los entornos y momentos cruciales en que comenzaron a forjar sus grandezas: Georges-Jacques Danton, Maximilien de Robespierre, Lenin, Trotski, Stalin, Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, Andreas Hofer, Napoleón Bonaparte, Rosa Luxemburg, Adolf Hitler, Fidel Castro, Ernesto Che Guevara, Hiroito, Reza Pahlevi, Ruhollah Khomeini...

There are instances of heroic deeds that had no immediate witness, such as the Schollss attempt in 1943 to raise their nations conscience, suppressed by Hitlers propaganda machine. The Canadian physicist Dr. Slotin acted in 1946; but since the bomb was supposed to be fail-safe, his feat was not released to the public. A KGB commissar gagged Captain Marinesco in 1945, just as Moscows rulers silently did away with Colonel Maleter in 1956 as a hindrance for their political ambition. In the case of Parteigenosse Duckwitz in 1943, nobody discovered that he was behind the betrayal of the Nazi plan, and he wouldnt publicise his disloyalty to his Fuhrer. It took faith and courage for a Palermo priest to go up against the Sicilian Mafia in 1993. Holding out against impossible odds was a Yankee pilot in a clapped-out aircraft in 1941, and a British battalion against an entire army in Korea 1951. And there is the sergeant who in 1916 blundered into an impregnable fortress and then took it single-handedly.These are a few brave man and women who dared to stand up and be counted. Some had to pay a bitter price for remaining loyal to their principles, but all of them changed the course of history.

Throughout history, natural elements have been responsible for the deaths of more people than the spear, bullet or atomic bomb. Floods have drowned millions, droughts and famines wiped out entire populations, frost has halted invincible armies, and storms have sunk unsinkable fleets.When facing the weather, its unpredictability can lead to incredible disasters. Though we have made major advancements in collecting and forecasting the weather, huge seas, skies, rain-falls and freezes have confounded us since the days when Noah was forced to take to the Ark.Erik Durschmied uses his formidable knowledge of military strategy and his skill at human observation to give examples of how man can never prepare for the unexpected.

Las interminables guerras, la altísima mortandad, la extensión de la gran plaga, la Peste negra, las hambrunas y, en contraste, el escandaloso modo de vida de la nobleza y de los altos dignatarios de la Iglesia, obligaron a buscar chivos expiatorios que explicaran por que Dios habia abandonado a los hombres. Juana de Arco fue traicionada y quemada publicamente acusada de brujeria. Gilles de Rais, el legendario Barbazul, un pederasta y asesino que acabo con la vida de cientos de niños, fue ahorcado e incinerado por brujeria. Torquemada, el sadico inquisidor español, instituyo el tormento como forma de confesion. De su mano murieron en la hoguera un numero incalculable de supuestas brujas. ¿Existieron realmente las brujas? ¿Que eran en realidad sus aquelarres? ¿Eran sus rituales magicos simples estratagemas que les permitian liberar su reprimida sexualidad? Erik Durschmied intenta desvelar el misterio y la realidad de las putas del diablo.

There is no shortage of stories when it comes to battles. Some were decided by genius, but many more by a quirk of fate, when that thin balance which separates success from disaster lay in a minor decision or a trivial incident that tipped the scales. The thrust of a spear, the blink of an eye, a single phrase or a misinterpreted command is all it takes. A moment of courage or cowardice, energy or weariness, resolution or indecision.Battles have shaped the course of history and decided the fate of mankind. From a brutal Attila the Hun who went down to defeat on the Catalaunian Fields, to an overbearing French artillery colonel at Dien Bien Phu; from the stout walls of Constantinople to a skimpy mealie-bag wall at Rorkes Drift; from the sun of Austerlitz to the snows of Stalingrad, it was always an incident that decided the outcome of battle.

In this fascinating book, the author of The Hinge Factor and The Weather Factor surveys revolutions across the centuries, vividly portraying the people and events that brought wrenching, often enduringand always bloodychange to countries and societies almost overnight. Durschmied begins with the French Revolution and goes on to examine the revolutions of Mexico in 1910, Russia in 1917, and Japan in 1945, as well as the failed putsch against Hitler in 1944. His account of the Cuban Revolution is peppered with personal anecdotesfor he was the first foreign correspondent to meet Castro when the future leader was still in the Sierra Maestra. He concludes with the Iranian Revolution that ousted the Shah in 1979another that he personally coveredand, in a new preface, extends his analysis to the Arab Spring.Each revolution, Durschmied contends, has its own dynamic and memorable cast of characters, but all too often the end result is the same: mayhem, betrayal, glory, and death. Unlike the American Revolution, which is the counterexample, few revolutions are spared the harsh reality that most devour their own children.Durschmied is a supremely gifted reporter who has transformed the media he works in.Newsweek[A] light and lively narrative that serves as a useful introduction for the general reader.Library Journal

From the Trojan Horse to a photograph snapped in Vietnam, world history has been shaped as much by chance and error as by courage and heroism. Despite impossible odds, invincible armies fall in bitter defeat to weaker opponents. How and why does this happen? What decides the fate of battle? In this fascinating book, Erik Durschmied takes us through the major conflicts of historyfrom Agincourt to the Civil War, from Crimea to the Gulf Warand reveals how, in war, it is the improbable and the inconceivable that determine events.Writing with the style and flair that made him an award-winning war correspondent, Durschmied explores the fistful of nails that could have won Waterloo for Napoleon; the barrel of schnapps that proved disastrous for an Austrian emperor; and the three cigars that changes the course of Antietam; and many other instances when chance decided historys path. Conflicts are decided by the caprice of weather, erroneous intelligence, unlikely heroism, strange coincidence, or individual incompetencein short, by the unpredictable hinge factor.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

From the author of The Hinge Factor comes a thrilling, page-turning series of dramatic historical re-creations revealing how the fate of humankind has often been decided by the uncontrollable, unpredictable power of weather. From the doomed campaigns of the Roman legions and Napoleon to the fate of US forces in the South Pacific and Vietnam, torrential rain, brutal winters, monster typhoons, and killer hurricanes have had far-reachingand often terrifyingconsequences. As Erik Durschmied vividly describes in heart-stopping vignettes, the elements have influenced human history even more than the spear, bullet, or atomic bomb. Drawing upon extensive research, as well as the authors own experiences in Vietnam, The Weather Factor gives a fascinating account of the inevitable collision between weather fronts and human conflict.

From the wooden horse at Troy to a harrowing photograph snapped in Vietnam, from Robert E. Lees lost battle plans to the evacuation of Dunkirk, world history has been shaped as much by chance and error as by courage and heroism. Time and again, invincible armies fall to weaker opponents in the face of impossible odds, when the outcome had seemed a foregone conclusion. How and why does this happen? What is it that decides the fate of battle?Writing with the style and flair that has made him an award-winning war correspondent, Durschmied takes us through the major battles of history, from the battlefields of ancient Greece to the Gulf War. In a series of gripping narratives, he vividly recreates the crucial events in all their mayhem and confusion while pointing out the decisive moments that changed the course of history. We see Agincourt, where rain combined with French arrogance to give Henry V the day; the Crimea, where a badly worded order led to the disastrous charge of the Light Brigade; and colonial Africa, where an attack by African killer bees, described by the London Times as Germanys secret weapon, repulsed an Allied invasion. And in a chilling epilogue, we are given a disturbing glimpse of the secret attempt by Libya to buy atomic weapons from China for use against Israel.Drawing from a variety of sources, including personal accounts such as soldiers diaries and letters home, The Hinge Factor is an instructive, fascinating look at how the unpredictable, the absurd, and the bizarre have shaped the face of history in war.

Con su fascinante y personal estilo, Erick Durschmied nos invita a adentrarnos en la historia de la revolución, a explorar las vidas y la época de los grandes líderes que causaron irrevocables transformaciones en sus paises y en su sociedad. Avanzando desde el siglo XVIII hasta el siglo XX, el relato enlaza los ideales patrioticos y el fervor revolucionario de estos gigantes con los engaños y los asesinatos a sangre fria cometidos en nombre de la libertad.Entre la cronica historica y el ensayo de divulgacion masiva, y con una lectura facil, rapida e intrigante hasta el final, este libro narra la historia de unas revoluciones legendarias y de unos hombres cuyas vidas se suceden en los entornos y momentos cruciales en que comenzaron a forjar sus grandezas: Georges-Jacques Danton, Maximilien de Robespierre, Lenin, Troski, Stalin, Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, Andreas Hofer, Napoleon Bonaparte, Rosa Luxemburg, Adolf Hitler, Fidel Castro, Ernesto Che Guevara, Hiroito, Reza Palevi, Khomeini...

From the wooden horse of Troy to the Gulf War, military history has been as much marked by chance and error, as by gallantry and heroism. Many conflicts have been decided by the caprice of weather, bad intelligence, heroism where it wasnt expected, or individual incompetence. In military terms, the incident that can swing a battle from victory to defeat in a moment is known as the Hinge Factor.THE HINGE FACTOR vividly describes battles which demonstrate this phenomenon - including the circumstances behind the loss of the Holy Cross, through to the attack of African war bees in 1914, to Star Wars weaponry described in the Gulf War. This enthralling book demystifies the general belief that battles are always won due to the brilliance of a general and will both inform and entertain a wide audience.