Past Mistakes cover art

Past Mistakes

How We Misinterpret History and Why It Matters

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Past Mistakes

By: David Mountain
Narrated by: Alex Wyndham
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

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.

©2020 by David Mountain. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Ancient Archaeology World Ancient History Imperialism
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

African History cover art
A Short History of the World cover art
A Concise History of Japan cover art
European History cover art
Thinking About History cover art
Out of Italy cover art
The Rise of the West cover art
Apocalypse Not cover art
Historiography for Beginners cover art
The Mound Builder Myth cover art
Classical Antiquity cover art
The Maya cover art
A History of the World cover art
Remaking the World cover art
How the West Won cover art
The Invention of the Jewish People cover art

Critic reviews

"Narrator Alex Wyndham's smooth voice and English accent voice are perfect for this fascinating dive into the myths and mistakes in what we 'know' about history.… Most importantly, he sounds engaged with the historical stories he is telling, and that keeps the listener interested as well." --AudioFile magazine

“Whether discussing Pythagoras’ legacy, Athenian democracy, the myth of Progress, or the Wild West, Mountain quickly points out how the truth is more nuanced than - or completely different from - stories we may know. …the work’s main thrust is the conversation between present and past and how our view of the past influences current behavior - most clearly outlined in a chapter about the Wild West mythos shaping American gun culture to this day.” --Booklist

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

What listeners say about Past Mistakes

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating book!

I absolutely loved this book by David Mountain, and how it cleverly deconstructs some of the things we assume from history lessons. A very intelligent and captivating book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating and often humorous

Thoroughly enjoyed this. I don’t think the narrator is boring as somebody else noted, however, I did have to slow him down! I giggled throughout this - lots of historical misconceptions (many we should already be aware of but it’s the way the author tells it).
Don’t expect Europeans to come out of this well…

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining and interesting.

This book gives you good examples of common misconceptions, and how history has been and is, used to further political views. Sadly, often not very good views.
The narrator is good enough, but he sounds a bit expressionless, as if he has no facial expression while he talks. This makes it a bit flat.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful