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History is strewn with mistakes. Many of them were made by well-intentioned people who were bright, intelligent, capable ? but just made the wrong decision. Many of them fall into the simplest category of error: they took Route A instead of Route B. And a lot of them ?seemed like a good idea at the time.? But there have also been some monumentally stupid decisions, too. Histories Worst Decisions and the People Who Made Them journeys through the foolishness of humanity, from the honest gaffe to the really, really dumb. What the blunders collected here share is far-reaching consequence. We all drop the ball from time to time, but sometimes it really matters.The motivators for history?s most foolish moves are many, and often insidious in nature. Pope Gregory the Great in the late sixth century kindly categorized these types of emotions as the Seven Deadly Sins and they?ve served as apt inspiration for some of the most devastating decisions in the fifteen or so centuries since. Author Stephen Weir has examined each instance to determine which of the sinister seven applies, and has categorized the affair with a nod toward its most notable driving, be it anger, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride or sloth (or all of the above).But it?s hardly the case that evil alone begets evil; it would be foolish to believe that only the wicked are stupid. Histories Worst Decisions and the People Who Made Them chronicles the most awful choices motivated by a pursuit of noble ends. Faith, hope and charity can have wrought folly as well.