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

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In 2023, English published a follow-up book, Fake Heroes, in which he profiles ten historical figures and analyses myths connected to them. In a time when truth is under attack and lazy idiots like Johnson, Rees-Mogg Farahe feed false narratives that seek to play on people's craving for nostalgia, this is an important book. And, as a bilingual German speaker I found his butchering of German pronunciation particularly hard to stomach. For example in the JFK chapter he sometimes use JFK and Kennedy interchangeably making it difficult to discern who he meant.

Democracy in Danger The newspaper’s extensive reporting and analysis of the various threats to democracy from populism, oligarchy, dark money and online disinformation. The book was written during the Covid-19 pandemic, and there are lots of references to Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, with their respective (but different) mismanagement. I am unaware of a single historian who regards Winston and Clementine Churchill as on a reputational seesaw. 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.I can't help it but am amazed at the vast majority that are willing to accept the most nonsensical of lies. The basic premise here is that nationalism is based on false information, patriotic mythology, and down right lies. 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. Here is a quick description and cover image of book Fake Heroes: Ten False Icons and How they Altered the Course of History written by Otto English which was published in May 25, 2023. the rest of the chapter is about how this fact relates to something in our current day society, usually concerning politics e.

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. In comparing the Norwegian and British teams we are told: "He [Amundsen] and his tight knit team were all properly kitted out in wolfskin and reindeer fur and had kept perfectly warm. The attention to factual detail (apart from the re-printed paragraph ;-) it doesn’t warrant the loss of one star) is quite extraordinary for what cannot avoid being a fairly general overview of a number of historical figures. By the end the reader realises that how so much of what we take to be historical fact is, in fact, fiction.

This idea that Scott was a failure and a bungler is one that has been debunked numerous times over the past twenty or so years, we now know, thanks to climate data collected on the expedition (y'know, the primarily scientific expedition) that that particular year was incredibly cold, a huge anomaly.

This is the type of book I would normally think is a healthy counterpoint to our celebrity-obsessed, image-oriented culture, but as mentioned, the writing could have done with some tightening up from an editor. We are not told that the reason Scott needed to get himself promoted as quickly as possible was due to becoming financially responsible for his mother and numerous sisters, after his father died leaving bad debts resulting in the family becoming destitute.Yes, the truth being uncovered will undoubtedly shatter many epic stories which were long embellished about people who have become famous. It‘s a witty eye opener, proving that the history we take for granted is propaganda through the ages. Now I see things from an holistic point of view and am not so easily led by what many want us to believe in a simplistic overly positive view of our history.