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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | Celtic | Home » » » The Truth About History | | | | | | | Description: | | Amazing new theories born of cutting edge technology have forced scholars to revise and shatter accepted facts and cherished beliefs, including those in this meticulously researched, lavishly illustrated oversize book. The result? Stories more compelling than any fiction you could read! Dazzling maps, sidebars and photographs add to the wonder of discovering new information on subjects as varied as how meat eating led to monogamy, how mosquitoes brought about the fall of the Roman Empire, the secret weapon of World War II, the bizarre travels of Adolf Hitler's bones, the truth about Noah's flood, and much more. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Editors of Reader's Digest | | Hardcover:
| 320 pages | | Publisher:
| Readers Digest | | Publication Date:
| October 07, 2004 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0762105232 | | Package Length:
| 11.0 inches | | Package Width:
| 8.4 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.0 inches | | Package Weight:
| 2.65 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 5 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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 History truth or fiction?Oct 12, 2009
When I ordered the book used, I thought I was getting the current offer. But the published date was 2003. So I don't know how much more is in the current book from Reader's Digest. None the less, the topics covered did give me food for thought and a new appreciation of historical truth. I think students should have access to the current book so they can have a check on their textbooks to see what is or is not there. That's all, folks.
everything it said it wasAug 29, 2009
This came exactly as described and offers a nice/different perspective. I actually bought it as a gift and so haven't really looked at all of it myself. The recipient was very pleased, though.
 A Great Jumping Off Point For Intellectually Curious ReadersNov 08, 2007
This is a book I would have loved having ten years ago when I was a teenager - I'm sure I'd still value it today. Short articles and sketches cover human origins, historical personalities, scientific discoveries, famous battles and more. Interesting illustrations, photos and diagrams accompany every topic. The topics are fascinating and unusual, some well-known and of major importance, while others are obscure "believe it or not" type factoids.
Anyone intellectually inclined will be inspired to read more about the topics covered. That's a major value of the book: sparking an interest in, for example, books about pre-Columbian America (like "1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus" and "1421: The Year China Discovered America") or Rome or human ancestry or great historical personages.
This is a not scholarly work or academic text, and I suspect that a few of the "truths" are controversial and in dispute. I think that does not lessen the book's worth since the book is obviously not a definitive academic text or scholarly work and no one would mistake it for such.
If I could time-travel to my ten-year-old self and give me this book, I'm sure it would lead me over the years to read more in-depth about many of history's "truths."
Great Light ReadingMar 14, 2007
I was pleasantly surprised by this almost comic book of a book. The illustrations are garish, but the information snippets are a delight to read, and the information is up to date (an updated Barnes and Noble version is the one I have, updated in the 2005/2006 timeframe.
Although I knew about many of the topics from recent news articles, it's a pleasant way to keep abreast. I even learned a few things - the name of the venerated Narmer, eponymous king of Egypt, means "King Catfish".
Scholars will cluck at some minor inaccuracies, or the glossing over of controversies, but it's a truly fun bedtime reading book, and does a great job addressing its general reader audience.
For more like this, I would highly recommend "Hidden History" by Brian Haughton (2007) and "Ancient Mysteries" by Peter James and Nick Thorpe (1999). They won't appeal as much to adolescent readers, but they are the meat and potatoes to the ice cream of "Truth About History"
Enjoy the whole meal!
13 of 14 found the following review helpful:
A Guilty PleasureFeb 20, 2005
Reader's Digest books aren't exactly the most challenging things that you can read, but they are reasonably well written and entertaining. "The Truth About History" consists of sixty short and well-illustrated essays, each laden with interesting takes on the "common wisdom" of history.
For example, did the Hindenburg's hydrogen explode--or was there another reason why the great airship crashed and burned in New Jersey in 1937? (And no, it wasn't sabotage.) What happened 70,000 years ago that nearly wiped out the human species? Did Custer and his men make a "last stand"? Was Marie Antoinette really a cold and callous ruler or did she just suffer from bad press? Was there ever a King Arthur? Does the movie "Braveheart" have anything to do with reality? Did Napoleon die of stomach cancer, or was he murdered--and if so, by whom?
The essays covering subjects that I already knew about seem to be fairly accurate, if a bit short (but this is a Reader's Digest book, after all). Still, this is "history lite," so take it all with a grain of salt and enjoy the ride!
If this sort of book appeals to you, you might also want to take a look at the following: Robert Stewart, "Mysteries of History"; Paul Aron, "Unsolved Mysteries of America History"; "More Unsolved Mysteries of American History"; and "Unsolved Mysteries of History"; Hugh Miller, "Secrets of the Dead" and "More Secrets of the Dead"; David Wason, "Battlefield Detectives"; and Reader's Digest (again) "Great Mysteries of the Past: Experts Unravel Fact and Fallacy Behind the Headlines of History." Despite the somewhat sensational titles, each of these books features fairly balanced discussions of some really interesting questions about history--often with surprising and well-supported conclusions.
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