Introduction

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VOLTAIRE ONCE DISMISSED historians as nothing more than gossips who tease the dead, glorify the inglorious and vilify those who are worthy but unpopular with whoever is paying for the history books to be written.

And to a certain extent he was right. There are major events from history that are still presented today as a maze of conflicting disinformation and biased opinion that leave the modern reader trying to navigate their way to the truth through a rather confusing fog. When it comes to a re-examination of the reputations of prominent characters from our past, some emerge from closer scrutiny stripped of their veneer of nobility, while others, previously thought unworthy, emerge significantly less tarnished.

The biased rewriting of history includes the almost criminal fiasco that was the Charge of the Light Brigade, which had to be rebranded as a shimmering example of the unquestioning heroism of the average British soldier in order to save face, and the seemingly monstrous Dr Crippen, who was railroaded to the gallows by a young forensic scientist determined to make a name for himself. Or the real story of Elizabeth Báthory, the woman dubbed Countess Dracula, who was far from the terrifying character she was made out to be, but rather a victim of her enormous wealth.

When writing this book, the greatest care has been taken to avoid the pitfalls of relying on biased sources so, no matter how eminent the writer of any one particular source, all dates and information have been cross-checked against others of both sympathetic and opposing opinion. That said, should any reader find an error, I would be very happy to make the correction.

Graeme Donald

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