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

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For those uninitiated, Roland Huntford's 'Scott and Amundsen' is incredibly biased against Scott, and includes falsehoods that have been debunked since, some of which have been merrily repeated in Fake Heroes. *sigh*

Fake Heroes, Ten False Icons and How they Altered the Course

Scrutinising figures from the worlds of art, politics, business, religion and royalty, he brings to light the murkier truths they would rather have kept buried away, at the same time as celebrating the unsung heroes lost to time.Fake Heroes exposes the truth of the past and helps us understand why that matters today. History books are usually informative, occasionally exciting but rarely funny. "Fake History" is all three - often it's laugh out loud funny, as my fellow passengers on the Aberystwyth to Birmingham train discovered yesterday. This is history written as it should be; researched, clear and - as mentioned - bloody hilarious in places. In this fascinating book, journalist and author Otto English deconstructs ten great lies from history. I did find this book entertaining and informative. But I had two main problems with it. Firstly, I think the author is just a little too open in using the book to display his political opinions. Would I be saying this if I didn’t agree with all of them? Well, that is a speculative question. But I would say that I was more annoyed with it interrupting the flow of historical discussion.

I'm unsure why the food taken on the expedition is mentioned at all - they needed enough supplies to last 65 men YEARS - of course they took a lot of food?!

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

Embarking on a journey across the Cape Wrath Trail, over 200 miles of gruelling terrain through Scotland’s remotest mountains and lochs, Raynor and Moth look to an uncertain future. Fearing that miracles don’t often repeat themselves. 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. Some laws require prudence (“Law 1: Never Outshine the Master”), some stealth (“Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions”), and some the total absence of mercy (“Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally”), but like it or not, all have applications in real-life situations.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. 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.

Fake History: Ten Great Lies and How They Shaped the World Fake History: Ten Great Lies and How They Shaped the World

But for all the physical struggle, there is healing. And so when their journey ends, they do what they know best: they keep walking . . . From an audiobook perspective, I didn't find Otto English's narration particularly engaging. And, as a bilingual German speaker I found his butchering of German pronunciation particularly hard to stomach. Hearing him struggle to pronounce German, French, Nahuatl, and other languages was hard on the ears and I do wish a bit more time and effort had been put into learning the correct pronunciations out of respect to the cultural heritages that those languages represent. An inspirational and life-affirming read. What Kevin Sinfield has achieved on and off the field is truly remarkable. His inspiring leadership and relentless focus on fundraising for MND shows how we should all strive to care more for each other’ Gareth Southgate Right From Wrong follows the course of Jacob’s life, beginning on a council estate in Nottingham. Beset by problems at home and at school, Jacob drifted into drug-related gang culture, drinking heavily and fighting for fun before a fateful night changed the course of his life. Unflinching in its account of Jacob’s guilt and shame, this book will reveal how Jacob used the experience to turn things around. He has been actively involved with Restorative Justice programmes including the Forgiveness Project, has reconciled with those he has hurt, has earned a first-class degree in Criminology and become a husband and father. This book has the grammar of a well written text. No references were to be found and the content strayed wildly from what the chapter titles were. I felt like I was just reading someone’s opinion piece the whole time, I know that’s what all history books are, but if you don’t reference things how do I know that what you’re saying is correct and the history you’re calling fake isn’t.In the end, it felt like ranting of a disgruntled old-man by Otto English (Andrew Scott), expunging history while evolving into banality. 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. 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!" When I was at school, we were challenged to question everything. I became a pain throughout my career and wider life as a result. I can't help it but am amazed at the vast majority that are willing to accept the most nonsensical of lies. Some of the individuals covered in this book became icons by accident or by dint of their good looks. Che Guevara was one of these. Had his face not been made famous by the promulgation of his image across the world, he might have been just another guerilla allied with Castro whose name was only known by far-left devotees. Instead, he happened to have a face that had icon written all over it and ended up incessantly emblazoned on middle-class bedsit walls and t-shirts across the world, as much of a capitalist consumerist brand as Coca Cola.

Fake Heroes by Otto English | Waterstones

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 🤠 Engaging… Dunne argues cogently, coherently and from experience that to have choices in life you also have to have chances.’ The Observer, Book of the Day There are flaws in his writing. For example in the JFK chapter he sometimes use JFK and Kennedy interchangeably making it difficult to discern who he meant. Also you will find stories of other characters threw in for not so obvious reason. Nem először tapasztalom azt az ambivalens érzést, hogy egy olvasmányom gondolatiságával mélységesen egyetértek, de a megírás módja egyenesen taszít. Hisz végtére is mit állít English? Elsősorban azt, hogy aki hülye, az többnyire annyira hülye, hogy nem is tudja, hogy hülye. Ez egy nagyon alapvető igazság. Aztán még azt is állítja, hogy vannak emberek, akik nem annyira hülyék, viszont morális hulladékok. Ők aztán elmennek politikusnak vagy politikai tanácsadónak, és megélnek a hülyékből. Azt mondják nekik, amit hallani akarnak - például hogy a hülyék igazából nem is hülyék, hiszen az angol (magyar, piréz, stb.) nemzethez tartoznak, és egy angol (magyar, piréz, stb.) szervileg nem lehet hülye, mert ha hülye lenne, akkor franciának vagy németnek születik. No most ami a morális hulladékokat illeti, hát igen, valóban kitapintható egy ilyen tendencia. Csak az van, hogy English ebből az egészből két következtetést von le:

I have finished reading “Fake History: Ten Great Lies and How They Shaped the World” by Otto English. Fake History: Ten Great Lies and How They Shaped the World is both important and timely. It looks at the stories we tell both on a personal and political level, and how they shape the society in which we live. Essentially, almost everything is built on lies, but it's important not to let a good story get in the way of the truth.