Publisher's Synopsis
All over the world there are places that became famous forever by chancebattles briefly waged, scenes of triumph and disaster, sites of murder and intrigue, centers of influential creativity, and noted mythical places from books and film. How and why did; Angora, Tabasco, Duffel, and Fray Bentos give us products good and bad; Kohima's tennis court save India; Storyville's 269 brothels helped it to create jazz; Botany Bay never saw any British convicts; Tay Bridge was a disaster avoided by Marx and Engels; "OK" stands for a farmhouse; Ferrari chose the "Prancing Horse of Maranello"; Kyoto was saved from Hiroshoma's terrible fate; The British built the Great Hedge of India; With 432 pages beautifully illustrated and carefully researched, Fame By Chance covers 380 of these places with new insights and facts that are amusing, surprising, and sometimes controversial.
