History Myths

From the darkness of a plagued and war-torn Middle Ages, the Renaissance (we’re told) heralds the dawning of a new world—a halcyon age of art, prosperity, and rebirth. Hogwash! or so says award-winning novelist and historian Ada Palmer. In Inventing the Renaissance, Palmer turns her witty and irreverent eye on the fantasies we’ve told ourselves about Europe’s not-so-golden age, myths she sets right with sharp clarity.

Scholars, journalists, and politicians uphold Muslim-ruled medieval Spain - "al-Andalus" - as a multicultural paradise, a place where Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived in harmony. There is only one problem with this widely accepted account: It is a myth. In this groundbreaking book, Northwestern University scholar Darío Fernández-Morera tells the full story of Islamic Spain. As professors, politicians, and pundits continue to celebrate Islamic Spain for its "multiculturalism" and "diversity", Fernández-Morera sets the record straight.

The former Confederate states have continually mythologized the South's defeat to the North, depicting the Civil War as unnecessary, or as a fight over states' Constitutional rights, or as a David v. Goliath struggle in which the North waged "total war" over an underdog South. In The Myth of the Lost Cause, historian Edward Bonekemper deconstructs this multi-faceted myth, revealing the truth about the war that nearly tore the nation apart 150 years ago.

Embark on a journey through the rich tapestry of Native American legends with this extensive collection of Native American Myths. This meticulously curated collection brings together seven revered texts, each offering a unique window into the vibrant storytelling traditions of different Native American tribes. Achomawi and Atsugewi Tales and Achomawi Myths - Roland B. Dixon: Explore the mystical world of these tribes with captivating tales from a century ago, offering a rare glimpse into Shastan stock narratives.

Ground Combat reveals the gritty details of land warfare at the tactical level and challenges today's overly subjective and often inaccurate approaches to characterizing war. Ben Connable's motivation for writing the book is to offer an evidence-based approach to examining the future of war.

We take a look into the legend of Bigfoot. From native American to modern times This is Gigantopithecus is an extinct genus of ape that existed from two million years to 300,000 years ago, at the same period as the Homo erectus would have been dispersed, in what is now Vietnam, China and Indonesia placing Gigantopithecus in the same time frame and geographical location as several hominin species.

Embark on an extraordinary voyage through six captivating worlds of folklore and myth. Across more than one hundred and ten hours of immersive storytelling, you’ll witness common threads of wonder that unite us all—no matter how far apart our cultures may be.

Arguably one of the most provocative, puzzling, and misunderstood organizations of medieval times, the legendary Knights Templar have always been shrouded in a veil of mystery, while inspiring popular culture from Indiana Jones to Dan Brown. In The Templars, author Michael Haag offers a definitive history of these loyal Christian soldiers of the Crusades - sworn to defend the Holy Land and Jerusalem, but ultimately damned and destroyed by the Pope and his church.

Cronus, a giant Titan, is obsessed with power, and he goes to great lengths to preserve it. However, his own sons may be his downfall when an epic battle between the Olympians and Titans explodes. Will Cronus lose his precious power?

On 14 May 1804, one Captain Meriwether Lewis and his companion William Clark led a 33-man expedition to the new lands of Louisiana. 8,000 miles and two years later, after rafting up the Missouri and crossing the Rocky Mountains, they reached the far side of the world, the Pacific Ocean.

Serpent goddesses, a hummingbird god, and flying sorcerers—Aztec mythology had it all! Introduce a teen to the fascinating world of Aztec mythology, where gods battled for power, sorcerers flew through the skies, and ancient myths shaped the way people saw the universe. From interesting creation stories to the mysteries of the afterlife, this easy-to-read book unpacks the Aztecs’ extraordinary culture in a way that teens will love. Perfect for curious minds, this book combines thrilling tales with accessible language, making it ideal for teens who are passionate about mythology and ...

“Baseball wasn’t born in a boardroom or a rulebook. It rose up from soil and sweat, from prison camps and parade grounds, from jazz clubs and churchyards. It’s not just a sport—it’s a language, a memory, a mirror.” The History of Baseball: Between the Lines and Beyond the Fences is a sweeping, poetic, and emotionally powerful retelling of America's most beloved game—woven not just from box scores, but from the beating heart of history. This is not a list of stats. It’s a story of soldiers who played during cannon fire, prisoners who played for hope, and communities that ...

It is impossible to think of Russia today without thinking of Vladimir Putin. More than any other major national leader, he personifies his country in the eyes of the outside world, and dominates Western media coverage of it to an extraordinary extent. In Russia itself, he is likewise the centre of attention for detractors and supporters alike. But as Tony Wood argues, this overwhelming focus on the president and his personality means that we understand Russia less than we ever did before.

Renowned critic Greil Marcus takes on the fascinating legacy of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. An enthralling parable (or a cheap metaphor) of the American Dream as a beckoning finger toward a con game, a kind of virus infecting artists of all sorts over nearly a century, Fitzgerald's story has become a key to American culture and American life itself.

From a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a new and eye-opening interpretation of the meaning of the frontier, from early westward expansion to Trump’s border wall.

You know the tale of poor Little Red Riding-hood, that the Wolf deceived and devoured, with her cake, her little butter can, and her grandmother? Well, the true story happened quite differently, as we now know. First of all, the little girl was called and is still called Little Golden-hood; secondly, it was not she, nor the good grand-dame, but the wicked Wolf who was, in the end, caught and devoured.

Did Jesus really exist? Is there real historical evidence that demonstrates that He lived and actually said and did the things the Gospels record? Is there any validity to the speculative claims that the Jesus story was a myth borrowed from a variety of pagan cultures of the ancient world? In this follow-up to the book God's Not Dead (which inspired the movie), Man, Myth, Messiah looks at the evidence for the historical Jesus and exposes the notions of skeptics that Jesus was a contrived figure of ancient mythology.

The tellers of Greek myths—historically men—have routinely sidelined the female characters. When they do take a larger role, women are often portrayed as monstrous, vengeful or just plain evil—like Pandora, the woman of eternal scorn and damnation whose curiosity is tasked with causing all the world’s suffering and wickedness when she opened that forbidden box. But, as Natalie Haynes reveals, in ancient Greek myths there was no box. It was a jar . . . which is far more likely to tip over.

Philosophy, art, democracy, language, even computers—the glories of Greek civilization have shaped our world even more profoundly than we realize. Pericles and the Parthenon may be familiar, but what of Epaminondas, the Theban general who saved the Greek world from Spartan tyranny? Alexander the Great's fame has rolled down the centuries, but the golden Hellenistic Age that followed is largely forgotten. "Byzantine" conjures decadence and deadly intrigue, yet the thousand-year empire that ruled from Constantinople and saved Europe twice from invasion was, in fact, Greek.

Some say history repeats itself. Some even say that events repeat themselves in a timeless loop. Nicole and her brothers do not know for sure. But they do know that sometimes when history repeats itself, things can go wrong, and they’re here to fix that. What would have happened if JFK had remained alive? What would happen if Elvis didn’t really die? What would change if one more boy had died in the Holocaust? Nicole and her brothers are there for only one purpose, to make sure history repeats itself exactly as it did the first time around. They have done it well, for many years. But ...