Graeme Donald 
Loose Cannons 
101 Myths, Mishaps and Misadventurers of Military History

A unique look at the military misconceptions that we take for granted, and a revelation of the truth behind the lies.Who tried to bomb Japan with bats? Who invented the air-gun in 250BC? Which stories should we believe? The so-called Dambusters raid was all but ineffective; the Hurricane not the Spitfire was the champion of the Battle of Britain; Singapore did not fall because all the guns were pointing the wrong way’ and who would go to war over a game of football, a pig, or an old bucket?Oppenheimer fluffed his lines after the first atomic test; virtually every well-known quote attributed the Duke of Wellington is wrong; Churchill had a BBC voice impersonator record all his famous WW2 speeches as he was invariably too busy or too ‘tired and emotional’ to do it himself and no-one at the time called WW1 ‘The War to end all Wars’.Will you believe the truth?