Why do competent armies fail? What made the 1915 British-led invasion of Gallipoli one of the bloodiest catastrophes of the First World War? How did a dozen German U-Boats manage to humiliate the U.S. navy for nine months in 1942, sinking an average of 650,000 tons of shipping monthly? Why was the sophisticated Israeli intelligence service so thoroughly surprised by the onslaught of combined Arab armies during the Yom Kippur War of 1973? MILITARY MISFORTUNES, written by the prominent American strategic analyst, Eliot Cohen and British historian John Gooch, has become the classic, standard answer to these recurring conundrums. Cohen and Gooch's theory of defeat combines gripping battlefield narratives with an innovative look at the hidden factors that undermine armies and lead otherwise well-equipped nations to stunning defeat. It is a must read for anyone who hopes to avoid the same fate.