Ever get the sinking feeling that you’re just not winning at life..? Cheer up, history’s packed with people who made far, far bigger messes than you ever could – and Karl Shaw has kindly gathered them all together in ‘The Mammoth Book of Losers’…
This is no solemn roll call of forgotten underdogs. Instead, Shaw treats us to a grand parade of the hopelessly hapless, the spectacularly ill-prepared and the downright clueless. Here you’ll meet explorers who heroically set off for the African interior armed only with umbrellas, fireworks and pianos (yes, really). There’s the Scottish army that invaded England at the exact moment the Black Death arrived – arguably the worst timing in military history. And countless other unfortunate souls who managed to stumble into disaster with almost endearing commitment.
Shaw’s tone is dry, playful and gently incredulous – as if he can’t quite believe these stories either. It feels like sharing a pint with a mate who’s rattling off the most jaw-dropping trivia you’ve ever heard, pausing only to smirk and say, “And wait till you hear what happened next…” The result is history that feels delightfully human: not about mighty empires and grand victories, but about the people who aimed high, missed spectacularly and became legends anyway (for reasons they probably wouldn’t care for!)
The real joy here is how breezy and bite-sized it all feels. Each anecdote is a quick dip into glorious failure, perfect for dipping in and out of on the commute or while killing time at a coffee shop. And while the book lovingly pokes fun at its cast of “losers,” it’s never mean-spirited; there’s something oddly heroic about these folks who set out so confidently into disaster, blissfully unaware of what awaited them.
By the time you finish, you’ll come away strangely reassured. After all, no matter how badly your week is going, at least you didn’t invade plague-ridden England, swallow your own cutlery, or pen an epic poem in praise of broccoli only for everyone to hate it.
In the end, ‘The Mammoth Book of Losers’ isn’t really about laughing at failure, it’s about celebrating the messy, absurd ambition that makes us human. And it turns out that can be far more entertaining than any list of winners…!
This compendious celebration of ineptitude includes some of history’s most spectacularly ill-conceived expeditions and entirely useless pursuits, and features tales of black comedy, insane foolhardiness, breathtaking stupidity and relentless perseverance in the face of inevitable defeat. It rejoices in men and women made of the Wrong Stuff: writers who believed in the power of words, but could never quite find the rights ones; artists and performers who indulged their creative impulse with a passion, if not a sense of the ridiculous, an eye for perspective or the ability to hold down a tune; scientists and businessmen who never quite managed to quit while they were ahead; and sportsmen who seemed to manage always to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
