For Want of a Nail, the Kingdom Was Lost, or Found

Cleopatra’s nose, Helen’s face, Henry the VIII’s libido, Richard III’s horse and your ancestors’ luck or misfortune made crucial historical differences

I love the slender threads or “what if’s” of history, and have tried to teach them to my children and students as a way of drawing them into the dramas of history. My son’s middle school history book made the rise and fall of empires seem boring and inevitable, determined by great forces beyond the control of any one individual. But history is much more fun and interesting when you see that seemingly small factors could have made a big difference.