Legends, Lies and Cherished Myths of World History PDF Download

Author: Richard Shenkman
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 006209887X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
The truth and nothing but the truth—Richard Shenkman sheds light on America's most believed legends. The story of Columbus discovering the world was round was invented by Washington Irving. The pilgrims never lived in log cabins. In Concord, Massachusetts, a third of all babies born in the twenty years before the Revolution were conceived out of wedlock. Washington may have never told a lie, but he loved to drink and dance, and he fell in love with his best friend's wife. Independence wasn't declared on July 4th. There's no evidence that anyone died in a frontier shootout at high noon. After World War II, the U.S. government concluded that Japan would have surrendered within months, even if we had not bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Author: Richard Shenkman
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780060170622
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description

Author: William Weir
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group USA
ISBN: 161673437X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Get the real facts you weren’t taught in school and learn how these myths have survived for so long. Discover the stories behind history’s greatest lies and how—and why—the world’s biggest whoppers have survived textbooks and lesson plans for years. For instance, did you know the conquistador Hernán Cortés wasn’t as bloodthirsty as they say? Neither were the Goths, who were actually the most progressive of the Germanic tribes. Or, that a petty criminal with a resemblance to John Dillinger was probably assassinated instead of the notorious bank robber? In History’s Greatest Lies, Weir sets the record straight through a fascinating examination of historical lies and myths and the true stories behind them. Each chapter pinpoints a misconception held as common truth in history. For example: Emperor Nero did not fiddle as Rome burned Paul Revere had plenty of help in his midnight ride In terms of prisons, the Bastille wasn’t all that bad Weir explains why each lie persevered in our minds through ulterior motives, responsibility shirking, or exaggerations. You’ll also discover the common threads that make up these falsehoods: the scapegoats, the spin needed to cast undeserving in a better light, and the frightful oversimplification of facts. Praise for History’s Greatest Lies “Weir takes no prisoners—and tells no lies—in his continuously surprising and always fascinating new book. Great falsehoods have shaped history even more than great truths; the enduring fascination of this highly original volume is discovering how much of what we accept for fact is just plain wrong.” —Joe Cummins, author of The War Chronicles: From Chariots to Flintlocks and History’s Greatest Untold Stories

Author: Richard Shenkman
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780329166489
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
Surveys several misunderstood historical figures and events, exposing controversial myths about science, religion, politics, and history. Discusses such topics as Cleopatra, King Arthur, the Bible, Nazism, and the Spanish Inquisition.

Author: Otto English
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781787396425
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Taking the ten biggest lies from history and looking at the people who propagated them, social commentator and expert historian Otto English shows how our past has been bent and broken, used and abused over time to fit the ends of some of the world's most powerful people.

Author: David Fisher
Publisher: Henry Holt
ISBN: 1250109841
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description
"From the birth of the Republican Party to the Confederacy's first convention, the Underground Railroad to the Emancipation Proclamation, the Battle of Gettysburg to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, [this book examines] the often little known stories behind the battle lines of America's bloodiest war and debunks the myths that surround its greatest figures"--Amazon.com.

Author: James Hayward
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752476300
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
During the First World War, a rich crop of legends sprouted from the battlefields and grew with such ferocity that many still excite controversy today. This book is the first to examine the roots of those stories and reveal the truth. Some myths remain well-known. Did an entire battalion of the Norfolk Regiment vanish without trace at Gallipoli in 1915? Did thousands of Russian troops actually pass through England with snow on their boots? In 1914, an acute spy mania gripped the British public, who imagined that the country was brimming with German spies. Xenophobia, denunciations and attacks on dachshunds were rampant. Amazingly, there was even talk of enemy aircraft dropping poisoned sweets to kill British children. Myths such as the Angel of Mons and the Comrade in White were more innocent creations. With no radio or television, rumours of disaster were rife, and the apparition of mystical guardian spirits gave hope to the civilian population at home. Other stories, such as the so-called Crucified Canadian, and the existence of a gruesome German corpse rendering factory, were more sinister. Yet in an age of new and startling technologies such as poison gas, submarine warfare and the tank, such tales appeared believable. Using a wide range of contemporary sources, James Hayward traces the story of each myth and examines the likely explanation. Supported by a selection of rare photographs and illustrations, the result is a refreshingly different perspective on the common ‘mud and trenches’ view of the First World War, shedding fascinating new light on many curious and unexplained wartime tales.

Author: Richard Shenkman
Publisher: Random House Value Pub
ISBN: 9780517138632
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The bestselling author of "I Love Paul Revere, Whether He Rode or Not" now exposes the most popular myths and legends of other countries. If you think Cleopatra was beautiful, Robin Hood was a nice guy, or Napoleon was short, this book will make you think again. 12 line drawings.

Author: Dale L. Walker
Publisher: Forge Books
ISBN: 1466812923
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
"All of history is mystery," Dale L. Walker says, and he proves his point in this lively, humorous--and rational--approach to the West's greatest puzzles. Did Davy Crockett, for example, go down swinging Ol' Betsy, defending the ramparts of the Alamo--or was he captured? Who is buried in Jesse James's grave? Was the man Pat Garrett shot that night really Billy the Kid? How did Black Bart, "the gentleman bandit," disappear? Did Sacajawea, the famous "Bird Woman" who scouted for Lewis and Clark, die twice? The possibilities unfold as Walker brings together little-known facts and the elusive connections that shed light on the biggest enigmas of the American West. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Author: Richard Shenkman
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780060925697
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Bestselling author of Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of American History now takes on the world! Skewering the nonsense we were all taught about the world's revolutions, religions, heroes, and inventors, Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of World History is a whirlwind tour of history from the Trojan War to World War II. Eclectic and fun, Richard Shenkman's well-documented revelations prove that muck of history is indeed "but a fable agreed upon." Queen Victoria may have usually worn black, but she loved to drink and party. During World War II the English were conned into believing it was Winston Churchill who broadcast the speech about this being their finest hour. But it wasn't Churchill, it was Norman Shelley, a radio actor hired as a stand-in. Marie Antoinette did not say, "Let them eat cake," Churchill didn't coin the phrase "the Iron Curtain," and Caesar never said, "Et tu, Brute?" Scandal in the English monarchy is nothing new: Fifteen kings fathered children out of wedlock. One queen helped depose her husband so her lover could take his place. Three English kings were gay.