Dewey Decimal909
Table Of ContentCONTENTS 1. Smoke and Mirrors Joan of Arc: A French (Flight of) Fancy 5 Elizabeth Báthory: The Real Countess Dracula 14 Doctor James Barry: A Necessary Disguise 21 Phantoms and Face Paint: The Western Myth of the Black-clad Ninja 27 Pope Joan: A Woman on the Fisherman's Throne 35 Tokyo Rose: The Woman Who Never Was 44 Robin Hood: Fact or Folklore? 53 2. Voyages of Discovery The Book of Marvels: Marco Polo's Chinese Whispers 63 America: Who Got There First? 71 Cooking Up a Lie: Who Really Discovered Australia? 79 Man and Myth: Bligh's Mutiny on the Bounty 85 Ghost Ship: The Mysteriously Abandoned Mary Celeste 94 Walking Without Legs: The Monoliths of Easter Island 103 3. Murder Most Foul Cleopatra's Cobra: The Death of the Last Queen of Egypt 115 Syphilis or Salieri: Mozart's Killer 121 The Peasant Who Knew Too Much: The Death of Rasputin 129 The Body in the Basement: The Mistrial of Dr Crippen 137 Abandoned to Their Fate: Romanovs and Revolution 144 The Dreyfus Affair: The Origins of the Tour de France 150 4. Riddles of Ritual and Religion The Great Pyramid Mystery: The Who, Why and How 161 The Spanish Inquisition: The Black Legend 170 Raising the Roof: The Many Incarnations of Stonehenge 179 5. Conflict and Catastrophe The Black Hole of Calcutta: A Lie Built on Greed 191 Invasions of the Spanish Conquistadors: The Incas and the Irish 197 The Light Brigade: A Charged-Up Family Feud 204 What Lit the Great Fire of Chicago: Cow or Comet? 212 Suicide by Proxy: The Death of General Gordon 219 The Bombing of Guernica: Capturing the Falling Soldier 226 Acknowledgements 237 Bibliography 238 Index
SynopsisFake History is an entertaining romp through the centuries, uncovering the fundamental inaccuracies and misleading parts of our past., Fake History is an entertaining romp through the centuries, uncovering the fundamental inaccuracies and misleading parts of our past.As Napoleon himself once said, 'History is a version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.' Noted down in historical documents, copied and widely repeated, it doesn't take long for a version of the truth to become accepted as fact. But who invents these false accounts in the first place, and why do they gain traction so quickly? Far from concerning the obscure and insignificant parts of our history, these fundamental inaccuracies and downright lies color the depiction of many of those pivotal characters and events we learned about at school. Cleopatra, Marco Polo, Captain Cook, Joan of Arc; most of us could reel off a fact or two about each. But as this intriguing book reveals, a closer examination of these core parts of our social and political history shows that often all was not as it seemed, and that the agendas of those responsible for recording these events had a huge impact on what was reported and what was covered up. Perfect for: - Fans of quirky historical facts - Readers looking for a different, entertaining look at history, As Napoleon himself once said, 'History is a version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.' Noted down in historical documents, copied and widely repeated, it doesn't take long for a version of the truth to become accepted as fact. But w ho invents these false accounts in the first place, and why do they gain traction so quickly? Far from concerning the obscure and insignificant parts of our history, these fundamental inaccuracies and downright lies colour the depiction of many of those pivotal characters and events we learnt about at school. Cleopatra , Marco Polo , Captain Cook , Joan of Arc ; most of us could reel off a fact or two about each. But as this intriguing book reveals, a closer examination of these core parts of our social and political history shows that often all was not as it seemed, and that the agendas of those responsible for recording these events had a huge impact on what was reported and what was covered up.
LC Classification NumberD10