For Want of a Nail

We've all read the nursery rhyme, written in 1640 by George Herbert and repeated ad infmitum by innumerable writers, including Ben Franklin: "For want of a nail, the horse's shoe was lost. For want of a shoe, the horse was lost. For want of a horse, the rider was lost. For want of a rider, the battle was lost. And for want of a battle, the kingdom was lost."

There's even an interesting twist on the theme, in the form of an alternative history novel published in 1973 by American business historian Robert Sobel. For Want of a Nail: IfBurgoyne Had Won at Saratoga depicts an alternate world in which the American Revolution was unsuccessful.

The want...