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Fake History

Ten Great Lies and How They Shaped the World

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Fake History

By: Otto English
Narrated by: Otto English
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A fun, authoritative and alternative history of the world that exposes some of the biggest lies ever told and how they've been used over time.

Lincoln did not believe all men were created equal.

The Aztecs were not slaughtered by the Spanish Conquistadors.

And Churchill was not the man that people love to remember.

Journalist and author Otto English takes apart 10 of the greatest lies from history and shows how our present continues to be twisted and manipulated by the fabrications of the past.

Much of what we assume to be true or are encouraged to believe to be true is simply wrong. Whether propagated by politicians and think tanks, populists or the media, the family tales of childhood or your Facebook friend's feed - fake history is everywhere and it impacts, ever more, on our modern world.

This book dismantles the lazy and pernicious tropes of the past as Otto English sets out to redress the balance and reclaim truth from those who seek to pervert it.

Fake History will expose everything you weren't told in school and reveal why you weren't taught it.

©2021 Otto English (P)2021 Audible, Ltd Colonialism & Post-Colonialism Politics & Government World Thought-Provoking Funny Imperialism Winston Churchill Colonial Period Latin American Abraham Lincoln
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Otto English looks at many of the sacred cows of history and sifts a cautious more realistic narrative from some of the false & exaggerated accounts we have been brought up to accept uncritically.
He does not promote national self hatred as some reviewers claim but gives credit where it is due to the achievements of many great but flawed figures. I find him fair minded about the human condition and the hubris of “great” men.
In summing up , he makes a plea for greater scepticism and fact checking.
Once nostalgia and longing for a golden simplistic mythical past have seized the imagination, populists and autocrats can push unscrupulous agendas. We all hanker after good stories, preferring flattering, nobler versions of history and our own past. This is an enjoyable and important plea for balance, honesty and untinted spectacles. History is very dangerous indeed when left to unscrupulous liars and demagogues. Trump and Johnson were not the first cynical political liars, it’s been going on for centuries.

A useful corrective

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Like all information it's good to use multiple sources to inform oneself. This book is very well researched and on the whole a fresh, balanced look at events/people that have been edited to fit an agenda.
Very enjoyable read and really does fell like a fresh breeze trying to clean off the muck that has been made of historical events and historical figures.

Eye Opening

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He almost had me up to the end. English makes some very good points about nationalism, cultural myth-making, and the use of propaganda, but his hectoring and moralizing attacks seems at odds with the even-handed and rational approach he demands from his opponents (notably Tories, Brexiteers, and “the establishment”), to the point where he even seems to undermine his own arguments with interpretations and presentation that leave no room for other viewpoints. (This is not a unique tactic in the use of history as a moral argument, but it seems to work against even the title of his book.)
Up until chapter ten I was carried along by the vehemence and broad brush approach until English came to examine the use of atomic weapons against Japan at the end of WWII. He fails to look at much of the in-depth study done in this area over the 75 years or so, and without any references or citations simply parrots back the simplistic “Oh my lord, isn’t it horrible, isn’t it indefensible!” arguments which have been knocked sideways. When you have an author begin to use this poorly researched polemic you begin to wonder what other failings the work may hide?
So, while it may be worth a read, you should bring as much scepticism to English’s book as he wants you to bring to others.

He had me almost to the end

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This is a good read when the author sticks to the historical evidence. However large parts of the book sound like a judgemental lecture by the thought police. I now feel so guilty about my National Trust membership, that as soon as my hair shirt order arrives from Amazon I'm off on a pilgrimage of redemption.

Far too sanctimonious

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Lots of content and interesting facts to take onboard. Some of the subjects not as interesting to me as others found myself drifting off a bit in parts. But overall good effort.

Really enjoyed this.

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