From the Crusades to the modern age of chemical warfare and smart bombs, history is littered with truly disastrous military campaigns. How to Lose a War chronicles some of the most remarkable strategic catastrophes and doomed military adventures of overreaching invaders and clueless defenders—whether the failure was a result of poor planning, miscalculations, monumental ego, or failed intelligence . . . or just a really stupid idea to begin with.

• Alexander invades India—and ends up in deep vindaloo.
• Sacre bleu! The French are humiliated by Prussia in 1870.
• spain's "invincible navy" breaks up off the coast of britain while attempting an invasion.
• the mau mau rebellion against the british in kenya shows us how not to run an insurgency.
• Chiang Kai-Shek's pathetic army fails to keep Mao's Communists from grabbing China.