Shackleton went especially to meet Scott when he arrived back from the expedition, and Scott chaired a dinner for Shackleton when he arrived home from his Nimrod expedition in 1909. By the end the reader realises that how so much of what we take to be historical fact is, in fact, fiction. So we can dispense with the notion of the romantic revolutionary hero who loved the working classes quite readily, then. Ahead of ballots going out in the Tory leadership race, Otto English has been leaked a draft of Rishi Sunak’s pitch to Conservative members Dear Fellow Normal Conservative Human Beings! However, if you've ever actually spent any time studying historiography this book will be equally frustrating as it is fascinating.

The other overplayed line and as such an annoyance once you get beyond the first chapter is the author's rather worrying obsession with a narrow aspect of politics. Instead the sources are carefully edited to bear out the opinions of the author and meet his agenda. The attention to factual detail (apart from the re-printed paragraph ;-) it doesn’t warrant the loss of one star) is quite extraordinary for what cannot avoid being a fairly general overview of a number of historical figures.This idea that Scott was a failure and a bungler is one that has been debunked numerous times over the past twenty or so years, we now know, thanks to climate data collected on the expedition (y'know, the primarily scientific expedition) that that particular year was incredibly cold, a huge anomaly. I can't help it but am amazed at the vast majority that are willing to accept the most nonsensical of lies.

Thoroughy enjoyable way to find out how so much of life's preconceptions are mistaken and how cognitive dissonance and the Dunning-Kruger affect lead us astray. Whether it’s virtuous leaders in just wars, martyrs sacrificing all for a cause, or innovators changing the world for the better, down the centuries supposedly great men and women have risen to become household names, saints and heroes. Captain Scott became an explorer not due to any passion for adventure and scientific discovery, but purely because arctic explorers were the rockstars of the world at the end of the 19th century and into the early 20th century.The Birtherism that blighted the Obama era was terrible indeed, but I don't think it has much to do with Britain's antiquated peerage system. This often comes with idealising a past which bares little resemblance to the reality (as much as we can tell it) those gone before have lived. Each seem set up to discuss a certain historical myth, and yet only a small fraction of those chapters actually discuss what is stated that they are there for. When Churchill achieved anything good, it apparently can be attributed to the influence of his wife. The story spread by the propaganda office was that 'plucky little britain' stood up against the onslaught of the German juggernaut.

English accuses earlier biographers of downplaying the importance of Churchill’s wife, but doesn’t give any examples. The best bit about this book is watching the author descend into exactly the things he outlines about others.Otto English’s latest foray into the murky waters of historical deception interrogates the heroic mono-myth popularised by Joseph Campbell with a critical analysis of some key luminaries whose true life exploits fall far short of their legend. It wasn’t just the illuminating dissection of the 10 “Heroes” lives that had me hooked - Otto also includes numerous unknown and often forgotten heroes whose lives are just as or even more interesting than the main subjects of the book - they’re the people who truly deserve the ‘hero’ status. This line in particular, which attempts to explain why people voted for Brexit, made me cringe: "For many modern English people, the lost, lamented Eden is the eternal summer of Edwardian England. No one with any knowledge of manhauling (the men pulling the sledge themselves rather than using dogs) would suggest wearing furs, which would cause overheating within minutes, resulting in sweating, the sweat would freeze, oh no!