Past Mistakes: How We Misinterpret History and Why it Matters

Mountain, David

ISBN 10: 1785786903 / ISBN 13: 9781785786907

Published by Icon Books (edition ), 2021

About this Item

It's a well-cared-for item that has seen limited use. The item may show minor signs of wear. All the text is legible, with all pages included. It may have slight markings and/or highlighting.

Seller Inventory # 1785786903-11-1

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Past Mistakes: How We Misinterpret History and Why it Matters
• Publisher: Icon Books (edition )
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1785786903
• ISBN 13: 9781785786907
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

'A welcome ally in the fight against fake history' Eleanor Janega, author of The Middle Ages

From the fall of Rome to the rise of the Wild West, David Mountain brings colour and perspective to historical mythmaking.

The stories we tell about our past matter. But those stories have been shaped by prejudice, hoaxes and misinterpretations that have whitewashed entire chapters of history, erased women and invented civilisations. Today history is often used to justify xenophobia, nationalism and inequality as we cling to grand origin stories and heroic tales of extraordinary men.

Exploring myths, mysteries and misconceptions about the past - from the legacies of figures like Pythagoras and Christopher Columbus, to the realities of life in the gun-toting Wild West, to the archaeological digs that have upset our understanding of the birth of civilisation - David Mountain reveals how ongoing revolutions in history and archaeology are shedding light on the truth.

Full of adventures, and based on detailed research and interviews, Past Mistakes will make you reconsider your understanding of history - and of the world today.

'Past Mistakes takes what we think we remember from history class and sets the record straight! Definitely worth reading if you're ready to have your mind blown and then be filled with rage that you've been hoodwinked for this long.' The Tiny Activist

About the Author

David Mountain is a writer, speaker and editor, based in Edinburgh. After studying biology and geology at the University of Bristol he became a scientific editor at an environmental NGO, working across the savannahs of central Kenya and the gardens of suburban Java to tackle the problem of invasive species. He has since studied the politics of nationalism at the University of Edinburgh, devoting more time to exploring, and writing about, history. He is fascinated and infuriated in equal measure by history, politics and philosophy, and can't resist pointing out flaws and contradictions in how we think we understand the world.