Legends and Lies in Foreign History

Author: Liu Wenrong et al.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The Trojan War once took place in ancient Greece; Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus; the Middle Ages was a foolish "Dark Age"; King Arthur was a great British monarch; Joan of Arc was a French national hero; Columbus discovered the New World; the abolition movement led to the American Civil War; America is a melting pot of nations. These are the facts you learned from textbooks since childhood and believed to be true. But do you know? These are just legends with little or no basis, and some are even deliberately fabricated lies. The title of this book is "Legends and Lies in Foreign History," meaning to let you know that there are many "established facts" in foreign history that are actually lacking solid evidence. Upon deeper investigation by historians, it has been found that some are misinterpretations, some are biases, and some are outright lies concocted for certain purposes. As the American philosopher George Santayana said, "History is always wrong, so it must always be rewritten." May you remember this sentence!