Fake Heroes: Ten False Icons and How they Altered the Course of History

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I do however have issues with the structure of the book. I found the chapters somewhat misleading in their titles. Each seem set up to discuss a certain historical myth, and yet only a small fraction of those chapters actually discuss what is stated that they are there for. I am aware that the author doesn’t owe me anything and my annoyance with this may be down to my Autism. But my experience in debating taught me the value of getting to the point. But in fairness some of the stories and arguments laid down by the author in those chapters were entertaining and informative. His discussion about food and language was absolutely fascinating and taught me a lot. English, Otto (27 July 2021). "England's Upper Classes – A Dangerous Cult". Byline Times . Retrieved 27 December 2021.

I have finished reading “Fake History: Ten Great Lies and How They Shaped the World” by Otto English. The reason the Norwegians were (and still are) so good at polar travel is because it's where they live, they do it all the time, they learn to ski before they can walk. Nansen is a towering figure in Norway, and rightfully so (just don't Google his nudes). Amundsen will always be a polar hero, but he is not so highly regarded due to falling in with the likes of Mussolini and his big interest in The Fash during his later years. English characterizes Churchill as a consistent supporter of wanton imperial violence. He can only sustain this claim by ignoring anything that contradicts it. Thus, English mentions that Churchill was involved in the one-sided British victory at Omdurman, but neglects to mention that Churchill criticized the British treatment of enemy wounded. He mentions that Churchill said that the colonization of Australia and America was not in itself a “wrong” but ignores that Churchill opposed imperial atrocities such as the brutal suppression of the Bambatha Rebellion, or punitive expeditions in Nigeria, or the Amritsar massacre. Incidentally Churchill wasn’t “defending the suppression of Aborigines” when he made that infamous remark – he was refuting an argument against Jewish emigration to Palestine. Had Churchill been listened to, more Jewish people would have survived the Holocaust. It is also fanciful to suggest that a majority of white Americans or Australians in the 1930s would have disagreed with Churchill’s view.This is a well-researched and excellently written book on how supposed facts from history and our world are untrue and why humans are so keen to believe them. The desire to buy into enormous lies feeds our brain through its desire to belong. Through many examples over hundreds of years, Otto English (or Andrew Scott, his real name) convinces through asking the questions that he reminds us of at the end of the book: The premise of this book is to explore and debunk ten great history myths which are frequently passed off as truth. The author sets his case straight away. Fake History is based on lies which are used to push agendas today. This often comes with idealising a past which bares little resemblance to the reality (as much as we can tell it) those gone before have lived.

For a better overview of Scott and of what went wrong on the Terra Nova expedition, I'd suggest A First Rate Tragedy by Diana Preston and The Coldest March by Susan Solomon (whose research on the Ozone layer is mentioned in a later chapter of this very book!). 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. Much is made of Scott's sentimentality around the killing and eating of dogs, as if it's a failing or a weakness. This seems incredibly odd to me, would you want to kill and eat your pets? Don't think so buddy. If anything the failing here was becoming too attached to the dogs, unlike the Norwegian team who saw them as more of a means to an end. It ends up sounding like "Scott liked animals, god what a loser!" Journalist and author Otto English takes apart ten of the greatest lies from history and shows how our present continues to be twisted and manipulated by the fabrications of the past. He has written extensively for Politico [3] and Byline Times, [4] and in 2021 published a non-fiction book, Fake History. [5] [6] Fake History looks at "the 10 biggest lies from history and... at the people who propagated them", [7] including the idea that the British royal family are German, or that Adolf Hitler was a failed artist. [8]I could go on, so I will. Churchill did not “reinvent” himself as a journalist for the Second Boer War – he had previously covered the Cuban insurrection for the Daily Graphic, been commissioned as war correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, and covered the reconquest of Sudan for the Morning Post. Churchill was not “alone” in his opposition to Indian independence in the 1930s – the Government of India Act of 1935 was intended by the government to secure British rule of India, not pave the way for independence. Obama did not remove Churchill’s bust because his grandfather was tortured while Churchill was PM – it is doubtful that his grandfather was ever imprisoned by the British and in any case, he was allegedly arrested while Attlee was PM. Artillery did not shell the East End of London during the siege of Sidney Street. It is a great book to read but be assured it is certainly not a strict factual account of history with balanced views on what might have happened. Instead the sources are carefully edited to bear out the opinions of the author and meet his agenda. Whilst stating how our history is based on the version we read or were taught when younger, he clearly chooses the versions he wants to make his point.