History's Greatest Lies: The Startling Truths Behind World Events Our History Books Got Wrong

by William Weir

Book Overview

The true stories behind historical events give readers a fascinating new look at our past. The revelations shock and amaze by exposing veiled motivations and convenient inaccuracies in well-documented actions by established leaders that often have a continuing effect on the world.

Each of the fifteen chapters points out a myth that is held as a common truth in history and summarizes what we think we know. Then the author...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592333362
• ISBN13: 9781592333363
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Fair Winds Press (MA)
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Interesting and Informative Book

I'd first like to state that I am no history buff. I studied American and European history in college, and studied music history for one and one-half years but I would be hard-pressed to accurately recall much any of it now. I am basically a typically college-educated, non-history major person. However, I have always been the type to suspect just about everything told to me by "authority figures" and I encourage everyone to question the sources of information they take for granted, or believe to be true simply because a teacher/preacher or someone who appeared powerful told them it was true. The first thing I checked out in this book was it's bibliography page. I need to have access to the same information the author used just in case I want to check for myself the authenticity of his claims. I was satisfied concerning the list of sources used. The book itself is a very interesting read, similar to a text book, but clearly not a text book. Plenty of photographs and drawings/sketches were included so I was able to get a more accurate grasp of life in the time period (ranging from ancient Rome to today's Afghanistan) being discussed. The section in Chapter 6 about Galileo was fascinating. I won't go into details lest I spoil it for you, but I enjoy knowing a lot more background information that was previously untold or unknown. I had always esteemed Galileo not only as an intellect, but also as an outstanding member of society. I was surprised that he had such a checkered past! And what the Romans did to the Christians after the great fire of Rome - Oh My God! Though it is quite impossible to cover several hundred years of inaccurate history in 265 pages, this book covers many major recorded historical errors that have been spoon-fed to school children generation after generation for years. I will insist my children read this book and others like it which debunk previously held historical truths because I strongly feel that the best way to understand our present, and to navigate our future is to thoroughly understand our past. And our past must be based on the truth no matter how ugly it may appear.

Fun Book

Who ever said "you can't judge a book by it's cover" did not read this book. It's funny, fact filled, and well, the title says it all.

"You mean this Roman coin I bought marked 55 B.C. isn't authentic?"

There is no shortage of books now in print that correct what their authors perceive to be distortions of historical facts such as Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong in which James Loewen offers what he believes to be the "truth" about various subjects that include Christopher Columbus, the first Thanksgiving, Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, Abraham Lincoln and John Brown, and the War in Vietnam. When authors use the term "lies," they suggest intent. That is true of Loewen's book and it is also true of William Weir's History's Greatest Lies: The Startling Truth Behind World Events Our History Books Got Wrong. My own opinion is that there are significant differences between a lie and an opinion. For example, there is no doubt that troops led by Mexico's president, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, eventually defeated the Alamo's defenders led by Lieutenant Colonel William Barret Travis on March 6, 1836, but opinions are sharply divided as to what exactly happened that day and during the previous eleven days. Perhaps no one will ever know what Paul Harvey so frequently referred to as "the rest of the story." At one point while reading this book, I expected to rate this book only Four Stars because, in my opinion, Weir sometimes confuses opinion (i.e. speculation, albeit plausible) with fact. ("History lies? Well, maybe sometimes it exaggerates, or oversimplifies." At least that's true of those who identify themselves as historians.) However, by the time I finished reading the final chapter, I decided to give it the highest possible rating because of Weir's lively and lucid writing style while providing and discussing an abundance of historical information that enabled me to learn a great deal more than I previously knew about Nero, Ramses II, the Goths, Robert the Bruce, Hernan Cortes, Galileo, Paul Revere, Jesse James, the "Earp Gang," the Elders of Zion, Harold Lasseter, and John Dillinger. Weir also devotes a separate chapter to the Bastille, the Philippine Insurrection, and what may yet prove to me "the unconquerable Afghanistan." Here are a few of Weir's corrections and clarifications: Myth: "The emperor Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned." Reality: "Nero was indefatigable in his efforts to quell the fire and provide relief aid to the people." * * * Myth: "The physicist Galileo was condemned and imprisoned by the Roman Catholic Church because his work conflicted with the teachings of the Bible." Reality: "His trial for heresy was the culmination of a campaign to discredit him that was spearheaded by his enemies and rivals - and inflamed by Galileo's own hubris." * * * Myth: "During his midnight ride in 1775, Paul Revere warned the local militia in Massachusetts of the coming of the British." Reality: "Before Revere was able to warn the militia, he was captured by the British." * * * Myth: "Jesse James was an American version of Robin Hood, stealing from the

Another Great Popular History Book

With History's Greatest Lies Fair Winds Press has released yet another terrific popular level history book. The book consits of a series of articles that can be read in any order and take about fifteen or twenty minutes to read. They are written well and are enjoyable to pass the time and find out about things that we thought we knew but didn't. Anyone familiar with the subject is likely to already know the "lie" of that era. If you like western history you probably already know that the Earp gang was less than honest or that Jesse James was a worthless man. However, the book covers such a wide variety of eras that you are likely to learn something new. As with the other Fair Winds Press book that I have read their are beautiful paintings and photgraphs the layout is very well done, and it makes an excellent coffee table book. This book would make an excellent gift for the history lover. I highly recommend this book.

Deeper and More Engagingly Detailed Than I Was Expecting

I have grown accustomed to various types of what are commonly referred to as `Bathroom Readers,' books made up of very brief pieces on a variety of provocative subjects. Short attention span consumption for the reader with minutes to explore, superficially, some subject of interest. I must confess that when I saw the title of this book, "History's Greatest Lies," this is what I expected. Some kind of broad compendium of brief commentaries and fact lists on the subject of the title. I could have been neither more surprised nor more pleased. This is not one of those World Almanac-type quick reference guides to hundreds of well known (and less well known) deceptions, misunderstandings and plain old outright lies perpetuated by the tellers and retellers of human history. On the contrary, William Weir has selected a total of 15 events in history and has examined the lies and perhaps non-deliberate inaccuracies in the way they have come down to us in the present as `history.' Each section is thorough and engaging, covering many aspects of the subject at hand. Whether or not the reader begins with a special interest in the particular subjects Weir has chosen to concentrate on, one cannot help but be swept up in the intricacies and human foibles, intentions and miscues that have resulted in history having been incorrectly recorder and recalled. His chosen subjects include 1) The Emperor Nero, 2) Ramesses II, 3) The Goths, 4) Robert The Bruce, 5) Hernán Cortés, 6) Galileo, 7) Paul Revere, 8) The Bastille, 9) Jesse James, 10) The Earp Gang, 11) The Philippine Insurrection, 12) "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," 13) Harold Lassiter, 14) John Dillinger and 15) Afghanistan. From ancient Egypt, Rome and Europe to modern Afghanistan, the choices may not be the ones you would have chosen as being representative of historical misrepresentation, but they do quite nicely As an example of Weir's effort, let's consider his presentation on the Bastille - The French prison every school child knows was stormed during the French Revolution freeing the prisoners incarcerated therein. Well, Weir begins with a Myth vs. Reality statement. In this case, the myth is "The Bastille was a bastion of torture, evil, and political oppression, where innocent citizens were held by the tyrant Louis XVI." He says the reality is that: "Only seven prisoners were held in the Bastille, where they lived in relative comfort and ease." This gets your attention. He goes on to document, quoting historically reliable sources, to discuss many aspects of the Bastille and it's misreported role in history including its beginnings, the quality of live for its prisoners, Louis XVI as a Bastille `reformer!' and the actual historical significance of both the structure and the famous event. Each chapter is covered in this kind of depth and each is richly illustrated with historical renderings of people and events. This book is not for everyone. Devotees of brief two-page summaries will