From the birth of Western civilization to the rescue of Apollo 13, from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to Florence's Duomo, history has often turned on small, improbable details. Whatever happened to the ancient Samaritan people? Why did a fortuitous rainstorm allow the British to conquer India? How did an air raid in Italy lead to the development of chemotherapy? What happened when Albert Einstein met Adolf Hitler on the streets of Berlin? How did the Japanese manage to attack the US mainland using balloons? Join our improbable experts in exploring these and other strangely important byways of history. With contributions by: Gregory Benford Richard Berg Frank Chadwick Mark Davis Michael Dobson Miles Durr Heidi Feickert Roger Herst Mark Kozak-Holland Andrew Hooper Humayun Mirza Douglas Niles Ben Sedaka