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History s Greatest Lies gives readers a fascinating new look at our past. The revelations in the book shock and amaze by exposing veiled motivations and convenient inaccuracies in well-documented events by established leaders that often have a continuing affect on the world. Each chapter points out a lie that is held as a common truth in history, and summarises what we think we know. Then the author shreds the lie to academic ribbons using the latest findings on each subject. Each true story sets the record straight, revealing timeless ulterior motives, and introducing important personalities who successfully (and suspiciously) avoided responsibility in common history texts.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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 rich and giving to the poor."
Reality: "Jesse James was a Confederate vigilante who killed and stole without mercy, giving nothing back to the poor."
* * *
Myth: "The Philippine War of 1899-1902 was an insurrection, and the United States' enemies were the savage, `unstoppable' Muslims called Moors."
Reality: "Under neither international nor national law did the United States own the Philippines when the war started, and the Filipinos fighting the Americans were civilized Christians."
As Weir clearly indicates while discussing each of these and other contradictions, the truth is often much more interesting - if not always stranger - than fiction. However, it seems basic to human nature to perpetuate, even cherish and steadfastly defend legends and myths as well as partial-truths. William Weir wrote this book to eliminate "some of the biggest misconceptions about historical events, explain how these misconceptions were born, and at the same time tell some fascinating stories." Other than the concern previously noted, I think he succeeds quite well.
Meanwhile, in the minds and hearts of many, Nero will continue to play a musical instrument of some kind while Rome burns, Paul Revere will ride throughout the night to warn as many people as possible that "the red coats are coming," and Wyatt Earp will establish law and order within a western frontier where none existed before. Therein is the basis of their immortality, at least for a while longer.
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 rich and giving to the poor."
Reality: "Jesse James was a Confederate vigilante who killed and stole without mercy, giving nothing back to the poor."
* * *
Myth: "The Philippine War of 1899-1902 was an insurrection, and the United States' enemies were the savage, `unstoppable' Muslims called Moors."
Reality: "Under neither international nor national law did the United States own the Philippines when the war started, and the Filipinos fighting the Americans were civilized Christians."
As Weir clearly indicates while discussing each of these and other contradictions, the truth is often much more interesting - if not always stranger - than fiction. However, it seems basic to human nature to perpetuate, even cherish and steadfastly defend legends and myths as well as partial-truths. William Weir wrote this book to eliminate "some of the biggest misconceptions about historical events, explain how these misconceptions were born, and at the same time tell some fascinating stories." Other than the concern previously noted, I think he succeeds quite well.
Meanwhile, in the minds and hearts of many, Nero will continue to play a musical instrument of some kind while Rome burns, Paul Revere will ride throughout the night to warn as many people as possible that "the red coats are coming," and Wyatt Earp will establish law and order within a western frontier where none existed before. Therein is the basis of their immortality, at least for a while longer.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
56 reviews
59 of 67 people found the following review helpful
a misnomer of a title
24 Feb 2009
Format:Paperback
History's Greatest Lies: The Startling Truth Behind World Events Our History Books Got Wrong. The problem is that the title is wrong. There are three main areas that the author rather too generously calls "history books". The first is folklore: folklore is not the same as history by any means. The second is media image: this is also not the same as history. Then, of course, there's actual history-book type history, and here I'm talking about mainstream history, not the propaganda put out by Muslim terrorist groups, the Klan, etc. One of the more egregious examples cited in the book is the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. You can indeed find this in lots of history books--but as an example of forgery and antisemitism. To say that history books got this wrong is to suggest that the forgery is indeed true--which is not at all what the author intends. Weir notes that a number of well-known people, including Henry Ford, believed the Protocols to be true. But by the same token, Arthur Conan Doyle believed in fairies and spiritualism, and at least one former US president believed in astrology--but so what? There are people who believe the Earth is flat, but that hardly qualifies as one of "history's greatest lies" and inclusion in this book.
A lot of the episodes in the book are folklore--such as Robert the Bruce and the spider: this children's tale doesn't qualify as history. History books have shown that the Bastille housed very few prisoners (and housed them quite comfortably, thank you): you are unlikely to find any history book (other than, say, Stalinist propaganda) that claims otherwise. But from the title of the book you could get the impression that you're getting a real revelation here, and that current history books say that the Bastille was an Abu Graib of its day.
Folklore and media imagery blend together in some of the tales of the American West. Jesse James can be seen in some movies as a heroic and noble character--a kind of Robin Hood. But movies and TV shows are not history books. The Earp gang in Tombstone is another example cited in the book--but history books have not treated the Earps kindly at all--at least not to the extent as portraying them as law-abiding and honest lawmen. Look at the entries in Wikipedia for Jesse James and Wyatt Earp--you'll see plenty of blemishes. Movies and TV usually like to have characters drawn in black and white: the good guys are good--very good, and the bad guys are bad--very bad. Someone like Tony Soprano is too confusing! I remember an episode of Richard Boone's Have Gun Will Travel back about 1960, which featured (in just the one episode) a black cowboy. This episode produced a veritable Noah's Flood of angry letters saying that this was totally unrealistic--that there weren't any black cowboys. Of course, there were indeed plenty of black cowboys--but not in the TV and movie westerns at that time, so the public assumed that they didn't exist. Folklore, media imagery, and history are not the same animal: debunking media imagery doesn't qualify as exposing one of history's greatest lies.
There are some chapters in the book which can be categorized as being actual history: some of these are interesting and worthy of inclusion, although the questions remain about who is right--history or the author.
A lot of the episodes in the book are folklore--such as Robert the Bruce and the spider: this children's tale doesn't qualify as history. History books have shown that the Bastille housed very few prisoners (and housed them quite comfortably, thank you): you are unlikely to find any history book (other than, say, Stalinist propaganda) that claims otherwise. But from the title of the book you could get the impression that you're getting a real revelation here, and that current history books say that the Bastille was an Abu Graib of its day.
Folklore and media imagery blend together in some of the tales of the American West. Jesse James can be seen in some movies as a heroic and noble character--a kind of Robin Hood. But movies and TV shows are not history books. The Earp gang in Tombstone is another example cited in the book--but history books have not treated the Earps kindly at all--at least not to the extent as portraying them as law-abiding and honest lawmen. Look at the entries in Wikipedia for Jesse James and Wyatt Earp--you'll see plenty of blemishes. Movies and TV usually like to have characters drawn in black and white: the good guys are good--very good, and the bad guys are bad--very bad. Someone like Tony Soprano is too confusing! I remember an episode of Richard Boone's Have Gun Will Travel back about 1960, which featured (in just the one episode) a black cowboy. This episode produced a veritable Noah's Flood of angry letters saying that this was totally unrealistic--that there weren't any black cowboys. Of course, there were indeed plenty of black cowboys--but not in the TV and movie westerns at that time, so the public assumed that they didn't exist. Folklore, media imagery, and history are not the same animal: debunking media imagery doesn't qualify as exposing one of history's greatest lies.
There are some chapters in the book which can be categorized as being actual history: some of these are interesting and worthy of inclusion, although the questions remain about who is right--history or the author.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Not so much "lies" as myths and misconceptions about key figures/moments in history
27 Feb 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book.
You could say that a historian's job is to wade into the raw sewage of history and try to come back with a sample of pure untainted water. It's a challenge with the effects of the passage of time, interpretation and opinion polluting the water of truth. William Weir's HISTORY'S GREATEST LIES: THE STARTLING TRUTHS BEHIND WORLD EVENTS OUR HISTORY BOOKS GOT WRONG focuses on key figures/moments in history that are common knowledge that are also common myths. I wouldn't call the events that Weir tells us about as being lies per se but myths that have occurred due to biased views and publicity (with the exception of Wyatt Earp where Earp and his biographer clearly meant to deceive the public).
The key events and people that Weir focuses on are the burning of Rome & Nero's role in it, the Robin Hood myth associated with Jesse James, Wyatt Earp's attempt to white wash his role and the events at the OK Corral, Rhames II's earl example of "spin doctoring" in Egypt and the retelling of other historical occurances that were butchered/altered with the passage of time.
Weir then goes back, examines the sleight-of-hand that some of these key figures have used to bolster their reputations and/or miscoceptions that were popularized by other writers. For example, Nero didn't fiddle while Rome was burning because the violin wasn't invented until the 16th century. While he wanted to rebuild Rome and rumors floated around at the time in the senate that he started the great fire of Rome, he didn't and was, in fact, behind a great deal of building that added to Rome's luster. Jesse James was a paranoid, vicious killer NOT a Robin Hood who gave back to the poor. Wyatt Earp, his brothers and Doc Holiday shot the Clanton's some of whom were unarmed and while the Clanton's weren't sqeaky clean, neither was Earp who tried to convince Clanton to fake a robbery to help Earp get elected sheriff. He also separated from his common law wife in favor of of actress/department store heir Julie Marcus.
History, like comedy, isn't pretty (to paraphrase Steve Martin)but the facts behind the myths are often far more fascinating than the myths themselves. Weir's book is quite good focusing on a few myths and correcting them but I was a bit disappointed that he didn't tackle a wide variety of other myths including those associated with contemporary history (such as World War II, the Civil War, etc.). Weir's prose is breezy and inviting never taking for granted the intelligence of his readers.
HISTORY'S GREATEST LIES: THE STARTLING TRUTHS BEHIND WORLD EVENTS OUR HISTORY BOOKS GOT WRONG is a well written good book but I do wish that he had focused but that's no fault of Weir--that was just my expectation that he would cast a bigger net to capture a wider variety of urban myths posing as history.
This coffee table book is nicely designed with terrific illustrations, side bars on various people from history related to the events that he focuses on. If you're looking for gossip about historical figures this would be the wrong book but if you're looking to learn the truth about key figures from history often poorly painted in novels, films and other history books, you'll enjoy Weir's trip into the river of history.
You could say that a historian's job is to wade into the raw sewage of history and try to come back with a sample of pure untainted water. It's a challenge with the effects of the passage of time, interpretation and opinion polluting the water of truth. William Weir's HISTORY'S GREATEST LIES: THE STARTLING TRUTHS BEHIND WORLD EVENTS OUR HISTORY BOOKS GOT WRONG focuses on key figures/moments in history that are common knowledge that are also common myths. I wouldn't call the events that Weir tells us about as being lies per se but myths that have occurred due to biased views and publicity (with the exception of Wyatt Earp where Earp and his biographer clearly meant to deceive the public).
The key events and people that Weir focuses on are the burning of Rome & Nero's role in it, the Robin Hood myth associated with Jesse James, Wyatt Earp's attempt to white wash his role and the events at the OK Corral, Rhames II's earl example of "spin doctoring" in Egypt and the retelling of other historical occurances that were butchered/altered with the passage of time.
Weir then goes back, examines the sleight-of-hand that some of these key figures have used to bolster their reputations and/or miscoceptions that were popularized by other writers. For example, Nero didn't fiddle while Rome was burning because the violin wasn't invented until the 16th century. While he wanted to rebuild Rome and rumors floated around at the time in the senate that he started the great fire of Rome, he didn't and was, in fact, behind a great deal of building that added to Rome's luster. Jesse James was a paranoid, vicious killer NOT a Robin Hood who gave back to the poor. Wyatt Earp, his brothers and Doc Holiday shot the Clanton's some of whom were unarmed and while the Clanton's weren't sqeaky clean, neither was Earp who tried to convince Clanton to fake a robbery to help Earp get elected sheriff. He also separated from his common law wife in favor of of actress/department store heir Julie Marcus.
History, like comedy, isn't pretty (to paraphrase Steve Martin)but the facts behind the myths are often far more fascinating than the myths themselves. Weir's book is quite good focusing on a few myths and correcting them but I was a bit disappointed that he didn't tackle a wide variety of other myths including those associated with contemporary history (such as World War II, the Civil War, etc.). Weir's prose is breezy and inviting never taking for granted the intelligence of his readers.
HISTORY'S GREATEST LIES: THE STARTLING TRUTHS BEHIND WORLD EVENTS OUR HISTORY BOOKS GOT WRONG is a well written good book but I do wish that he had focused but that's no fault of Weir--that was just my expectation that he would cast a bigger net to capture a wider variety of urban myths posing as history.
This coffee table book is nicely designed with terrific illustrations, side bars on various people from history related to the events that he focuses on. If you're looking for gossip about historical figures this would be the wrong book but if you're looking to learn the truth about key figures from history often poorly painted in novels, films and other history books, you'll enjoy Weir's trip into the river of history.
23 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Sloppy research
29 July 2009
Format:Paperback
Though `History's Greatest Lies' is an inspired title, this book by William Weir has two of the classic hallmarks of a book that was hurriedly written to meet a publisher's deadline.
Firstly, it is riddled with mistakes that not even a first year history major would have made. For a supposedly top quality history publication, this is unforgivable. Three examples will suffice to give a sense of how sloppy the research has been. In the Battle of Kadesh chapter, it is stated that Rameses II was the longest reigning pharaoh of ancient Egypt, at some 67 years. Even a cursory glance at any mainstream pharaoh list will quickly show that Egypt's longest reigning pharaoh was Pepi II, reigning for 94 years.
In the Nero chapter, it states that Caligula was assassinated in 49 A.D. Again, any decent revision of the text would have highlighted that Caligula was assassinated in 41 A.D. Finally, the claim that Nero was the only emperor who was declared a public enemy by the Senate. Well, he was... if you ignore Maximus, Didius Julianus, Albinus or Maxentius...
And so on and so forth.
The second clear sign of a hurried development cycle is the selection of historical events that have been described as history's greatest lies. One would be hard pressed to identify exactly how Lasseter's Reef, or Dillinger's death were earth shattering enough, revolutionary enough, or frankly even interesting enough to make a list of history's greatest lies. For more modern examples how about Watergate or Weapons of Mass Destruction... or even John F. Kennedy's stage managed Camalot façade?
No, my sense with this book is of an opportunity well and truly wasted. My advice, don't waste your money on it and wait for someone else to come along and take a shot at it.
Firstly, it is riddled with mistakes that not even a first year history major would have made. For a supposedly top quality history publication, this is unforgivable. Three examples will suffice to give a sense of how sloppy the research has been. In the Battle of Kadesh chapter, it is stated that Rameses II was the longest reigning pharaoh of ancient Egypt, at some 67 years. Even a cursory glance at any mainstream pharaoh list will quickly show that Egypt's longest reigning pharaoh was Pepi II, reigning for 94 years.
In the Nero chapter, it states that Caligula was assassinated in 49 A.D. Again, any decent revision of the text would have highlighted that Caligula was assassinated in 41 A.D. Finally, the claim that Nero was the only emperor who was declared a public enemy by the Senate. Well, he was... if you ignore Maximus, Didius Julianus, Albinus or Maxentius...
And so on and so forth.
The second clear sign of a hurried development cycle is the selection of historical events that have been described as history's greatest lies. One would be hard pressed to identify exactly how Lasseter's Reef, or Dillinger's death were earth shattering enough, revolutionary enough, or frankly even interesting enough to make a list of history's greatest lies. For more modern examples how about Watergate or Weapons of Mass Destruction... or even John F. Kennedy's stage managed Camalot façade?
No, my sense with this book is of an opportunity well and truly wasted. My advice, don't waste your money on it and wait for someone else to come along and take a shot at it.
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