Loose Cannons: 101 Things They Never Told You About Military History

By: Graeme Donald

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Synopsis: From the author of Sticklers, Sideburns, and Bikinis comes this funny, often irreverent look at two thousand years of lies, inaccuracies, propaganda, deceit, downright foolishness, and little-known facts from the ars militaria. On Hitler: "[No one] ever produced 'proof' of Hitler having won the Iron Cross, Second Class without which the First Class could not be awarded. He was a liar, but his favorite WWI yarn, about his life being spared by a British soldier who had him dead in his sights, is unfortunately true. It seems we have Private Henry Tandy VC, then of the Green Howards, to thank for all the fun of Round 2 with Germany." On Che Guevara: "The darling of week-end rebels and champagne socialists, Guevara continues to be lauded by the intellectually bankrupt who sport his image on T-shirts, making Guevara the only racist, mass murderer to become a fashion-accessory. He neither lived nor died a hero and almost everything trumpeted about him is false." On the Lusitania: She was not an American liner; she was not sunk on her maiden voyage; she was not an 'innocent' sunk without warning by the nasty Germans; the incident was not responsible for America's entry into WW1, and as for British connivance into her sinking, the jury is still out on that. On breast enhancement surgery: One of the more unusual 'developments' from WWII, to say the least, but modern breast enhancement techniques were a direct result of the American occupation of post-war Japan.