The history found in textbooks is defined by cause and effect; we look within its annals for strategy and consequence; we draw out the instigators - great men of war, of politics, of religion - and we trace the way in which they revolutionised and galvanised nations. But the truth is that it was often not design but accident that determined historical outcomes. And sometimes it was the slightest tremor of a decision, utterance or encounter that sent the biggest shockwaves through the narrative of Britain. The Great Cat Massacre: A History of Britain in 100 Mistakes demonstrates that the nation is as much a product of error as design. Through chapters on religion, law, culture, war, science and politics, it reveals such things as how an edict from Pope Gregory IX helped spread the Black Death, how the sister of cricketer John Willes invented overarm bowling, and how, had a letter not been lost, Disraeli might never have become prime minister. In this highly diverting book, Gareth Rubin lays out the series of catastrophic errors that have gotten us this far.