Weird War

In this thought-provoking and highly entertaining book, noted historian Alan Axelrod (The Real History of World War II) takes readers on a journey through some of the lesser-known aspects of military history. In chapters such as Personality Parade (“Facts about commanders–the good, the bad, and the lucky”) and Weapons, Widgets, and Weirdness, Axelrod explores over a hundred fascinating, startling, or just plain odd items of military trivia. Readers will discover everything from the real reason why American paratroopers bellowed “Geronimo!” when jumping out of their transport planes, to what caused some of the more unlucky casualties of the London Blitz (killed not by German bombs but cars with blacked-out headlights), to what was the shortest war in history (1896s Anglo-Zanzibar War, which lasted exactly 38 minutes). It is indeed, a most curious military history.