This is a mixed bag that deconstructs "great lies" of history and attempts, with varying degrees of success, to find parallels with the current political reality. The brilliant chapters on the hyper-mythologised version of Winston Churchill and weaponising of WWI/WWII memory in modern Britain will resonate with any Brit who has had the misfortune to question Churchill's legacy or, heaven forbid, neglected to wear a paper flower. I even liked the chapter on the dubious origins of "curry." Lejön az egészről, hogy a prioritás a szerző részéről saját indulata megélése volt. Aminek következtében szó sincs építkezésről. Pedig ha csak a fejezetcímeket nézzük, hihetnénk azt is, English egy ívet kíván létrehozni. Hisz azokban világosan meg van határozva egy állítás (pl.: "Régen az emberek azt hitték, a föld lapos"), amit a szerző bizonnyal cáfolni kíván, valamint ott az alcím is (pl. "A történelemhamisítás története"), ami mintha arra utalna, hogy egy általánosabb tematikus rendbe lesznek illesztve a fejtegetések. Aztán kiderül, hogy ilyen tematikus rend jószerével nem létezik, English csak csapong, össze-vissza hajigálja elénk mindazt a tudást, amit innen-onnan összecsipegetett, nem csoda, ha az ember egyes fejezetek végén őszintén elgondolkodik azon, hogy volt-e itt mondva valami érdemleges, vagy csak ventilált egy jóízűt az író saját magának. Let's get the problems out of the way first: this is a really inadequately edited book. There are numerous typos and other errors scattered throughout it, which no publishing house worth its salt should have let through. The writing is uneven at times and seems almost as if it was rushed, while the narrative is also fascinating in places. The overall premise of the book, however, is difficult to argue with, that "History, much like modern life, is in short full of bullies, self-promoting charlatans, bigots, bastards, and liars." Another way of putting it is that "the person who shouts the loudest gets all the acclaim," which is mentioned by way of explaining why Thomas Edison is widely regarded as the inventor of the light bulb, when it's not really that simple. Nem mondom, hogy a fenti metódus olyasvalami, amit én sose követtem el, mert de. Ugyanakkor megiscsak jó lenne hinni, hogy ennél többre vagyunk hivatva. Mert végtére is nem az a gond, hogy mások mást gondolnak, mint mi - hisz az ember sokféle. Hanem hogy hajlandóak-e ezek mellett a gondolatok mellett úgy érvelni, hogy a másikat is embernek tekintik. Mégpedig olyan embernek, akiről feltételezik, hogy respektálható céljai és motivációi lehetnek. Jó, hát igaz, ami igaz, ez a fajta hozzáállás meglehetősen energiaigényes, néha meddő is**. De az semmiképpen sem jó módszer, ha a másik oldal leegyszerűsítő populizmusára válaszul mi meg megteremtjük annak tükörképét: a mi leegyszerűsítő populizmusunkat. English, Otto (27 July 2021). "England's Upper Classes – A Dangerous Cult". Byline Times . Retrieved 27 December 2021.

Otto English obviously put a lot of research into writing Fake History: Ten Great Lies and How They Shaped the World, and it shows. At first it seems like a lot of the information might be tangential, but English manages to bring all the threads together to paint a very clear picture. While not everything is quite as revelatory as the title might suggest, there were certain lies that I believed that it was fascinating to learn were not exactly as I had been told. I felt that this book didn’t quite meet my expectations, but I still got much out of it. To that extent I will give the sequel “Fake Heroes” a go. Not in the least that, to my regret, I was once a Che Guevara fanboy. Much has changed since then.

Other Otto English Books

It's all nonsense. I don't think that's a spoiler because I think that the word "Fake" in the title gives the game away a little. Our decisions, like Brexit, are not based on our national character but on our made up history.

Ráadásul ezzel dédelgetjük azoknak a lelkét is, akik velünk értenek egyet - hisz valójában mi is azt szeretjük a legjobban, ha ki van mondva nyíltan, hogy az "ők" és a "hülyék" tulajdonképpen szinonimák. Ettől valahogy jobban érezzük magunkat. Having exposed some of the greatest lies ever told in Fake History , journalist Otto English turns his attention to some of history's biggest (and most beloved) figures. English, Otto (5 June 2021). "History's biggest lies - from Hitler's art career to royal family being German". Daily Mirror . Retrieved 27 December 2021. Overall, Fake History: Ten Great Lies and How They Shaped the World was an excellently researched and written work of non-fiction. Unfortunately, I feel the audiobook was not the best way to experience it. With that in mind I will talk about what I didn't like about the audiobook, but note that it didn't affect my rating of the book overall.We are told that Kathleen Scott and Nansen were lovers, and that their affair was consumated in a Berlin hotel, there is absolutely no reliable evidence for this whatsoever, and it appears to have been invented by Huntford. They may have been friends, and Nansen may have had a crush on her, but hey, Kathleen was a vivacious and sociable lady, she had a lot of pals, it doesn't mean she was banging all of them, GOSH! Also I think this may have been one of the things Huntford had to pay the Scott family damages over, because it's not truuuueeeee 🤠

There is absolutely no reliable evidence that Scott's wife Kathleen had an affair with Nansen, I wasn't sure why this was included at all.What surprised me in reading about these people was not just how they did not live up to the hype, but in fact how evil, selfish and nasty some of them were, from Nazi collaborator Coco Chanel to Mother Teresa amassing wealth while people in her care starved. And then there’s Thomas Midgley, who knowingly helped poison the world with lead. The list goes on. In a way you may think of this book as a kind of horror story, and so it is. for history geeks like myself this book makes for a very interesting read as i learned a lot of interesting facts reading this book. for anyone who isn’t head over heals in love with history however this book doesn’t fully do what it says on the tin and you’d be forgiven for getting bored of the endless tangents. Mivel a másik oldal hülyéi úgyis hülyék, ezért nyugodtan szálljunk bele a mítoszaikba páros lábbal. Küldjük el Churchillt a búsba, például. Meggyőzni ezzel se fogjuk őket, de legalább szórakozunk rajtuk.