The Path to Tyranny Corrections
Footnote on page 15 of 1st edition and 16 of 2nd edition lists Polybius, Histories 6.4.6 as the source when it should be 6.4.9.
Page 94 of 1st edition and 101 of 2nd edition says “Elijah fiercely opposed King Ahaz and Queen Jezebel.” That should be “King Ahab.”
On page 96 of the second edition and page 90 of the first edition, I wrote, “Rome had already lost most of its power, wealth, and influence by the time of its sacking at the hands of the Visigoths in 410 and again by the Vandals in 455 and the deposition and execution of the last emperor in 476.” The last emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed in 476, but was not executed. However, Romulus’s father, Orestes, was the man who overthrew the previous emperor, installed his 12-year son as emperor, and ran the empire behind the scenes for the ten months the two of them ruled over the Western Roman Emperor. Orestes was captured and executed by Odoacer in 476, Days later, Romulus was deposed and Odoacer became king of Italy.*
On page 132 of the second edition and page 125 of the first edition, I wrote, “The Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, Conservative Democrats, and others, known collectively as the Whites, began a civil war against the Bolsheviks, also known as the Reds.” Not all members of those parties joined the war against the Bolsheviks. In some cases, such as the Mensheviks, only a minority fought against the Bolsheviks. Instead, it should read, “Many members of the Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, Conservative Democrats, and other parties, known collectively as the Whites, began a civil war against the Bolsheviks, also known as the Reds.”*
On page 174 of the second edition and page 164 of the first edition, I wrote, “Italy decided against invading British held Egypt and instead opted to attack relatively weak Yugoslavia and Greece. But the Italians lost to these smaller foes…” Italy did invade Egypt, but then decided to refocus its war efforts on its invasion of Greece. Italy planned to attack Yugoslavia, but German opposition and disappointing results in their Greek campaign forced Italy to cancel the attack. Additionally, Italy did not actually lose to Greece, but the two nations were stuck in a stalemate until Germany intervened.*
On page 207 of the second edition and page 195 of the first edition, I wrote, “The U.S. and Britain attacked German forces in North Africa in November 1942 and the German troops there surrendered in May 1943.” The Allies invaded North Africa in November 1942, but first attacked Vichy French forces. Only in March 1943 did the Allies begin their full-scale attack on the German forces.*
On page 208 of the second edition and page 197 of the first edition, I wrote, “Britain and France basically begged him to take the German parts of the Sudetenland.” Britain and France gave Hitler the German parts of the Sudetenland to prevent a war that Hitler was trying to start.*
The 1st edition (page 223) says, “Non-military spending has risen from 5.9 percent of GDP in 1945 to a record high 39.6 percent in 2009.” The 5.9 figure was federal non-military spending and did not include state and local spending. This is corrected in the 2nd edition (page 236) to, “Non-military spending has risen from 11.0 percent of GDP in 1945 to a record high 37.1 percent in 2009.” The statistic for 2009 has also been updated to reflect the most recent available data, as have all 2009 statistics.
* I’d like to thank Anastasia Fitzgerald-Beaumont for pointing out these errors and areas that needed further clarification. I appreciate her help in making The Path to Tyranny as clear and as accurate as possible.
** All errors listed a 1st edition only have been fixed in the second edition. All errors listed as second edition, have been fixed in the second printing of the second edition (see copyright page for “Second Printing.”)