The Gallipoli defeat of 1915 and the Nazi invasion of the USSR in 1941 are widely regarded as disastrous mistakes with savage consequences. Twelve publishers rejected J.K. Rowling's original Harry Potter manuscript before Bloomsbury published it. Decca and four other recording companies rejected the music of the Beatles. The introduction of rabbits into Victoria in 1859 created an ecological disaster within 20 years. Prohibition was introduced in the USA in January 1920 but was repealed in December 1933 when the social and economic damage to the country was clearly evident.
- Ian Kershaw, Fateful Choices, 10 Decisions Which Changed the World, Allen Lane 2008
- Stephen Pile, The Book of Heroic Failures, Little Brown, 2001
- Stephen Weir, History's Worst Decisions, Pier 9, 2005
- Stephanie Barczewski, Heroic Failures of the British, Yale Uni Press, 2016
The case studies will focus on the factors which contributed to the fateful decisions, who made the decisions and their disastrous consequences, including
- The rejection of the JK Rowling Harry Potter manuscript
- The introduction of rabbits to Victoria in 1859 by a farmer/landowner
- White Star line shipping executives and designers reduced the number of lifeboats on the Titanic 1911-1912
- The USA introduced Prohibition as a bold social experiment in 1920 via the 18th Amendment but repealed the legislation by the 21st Amendment in 1933
- The Great Leap Forward in Communist China in 1957 was an unmitigated disaster with over 20 million dying from famine and mass starvation
By the end of this course, student should be able to:
- Gain an understanding of the decision making processes in each of the case studies within a specific historical context and how the decisions led to such devastating results for the decision makers
- Discuss the short term and longer term impact of the fateful decisions and the attempts made to address the impact by governments and/or organisations
