In this totally absorbing book, Erik Durschmied looks at the turning points in famous battles when something as fickle as the weather - in short, the unpredictable "hinge factor" - has changed world history.
I rather liked his account of the battle of Waterloo which he called 'A Fistful of Nails'. The "hinge" is that the French cavalry, after making its daring charge into the guns, failed to spike them. In Durschmied's somewhat over-tidy view of history, the loss of these guns would have forced Wellington to withdraw.
There are many such "hinge factors" in our personal histories. I can think of several in my own life which I shall reflect upon as I quietly sit here at this bend in the river.
How many "hinge factors" have you had in your life?
