What if one of Napoleon's most trusted commanders had spiked Wellington's guns with a handful of nails at Waterloo in 1815, handing victory to his Emperor? What if Hitler hadn't paused for three vital days in his invasion of France in May 1940, allowing the British Expeditionary Force precious time to evacuate from Dunkirk? It is moments like these, argues Erik Durschmied, that provide The Hinge Factor in history: moments of stupidity, chance or accident which have irrevocably changed the outcome of human history, for better or for worse.
