Published by the Folio Society, London, 1997.
 
The book is in excellent condition bound in black boards with gold motifs and lettering. Slipcase is also in excellent condition, showing a scene from the Trojan War. Colour, as well as black and white photographs throughout.
 
First published in 1984, by Knopf in New York. The book is about "one of the most compelling paradoxes of history: the pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interests". It details four major instances of government folly in human history: the Trojans' decision to move the Greek horse into their city, the failure of the Renaissance popes to address the factors that would lead to the Protestant Reformation in the early sixteenth century, England's policies relating to American colonies under King George III, and the United States' mishandling of the conflict in Vietnam.
 
This book is sometimes coupled as a dual Folio Society set with A Distant Mirror.