1066 and all that: how Hollywood is giving Britain a false sense of histor

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=508517

could not help it, but this is from england. they have the bbc, and yet the sheeple live.

"Hollywood" (who?) is giving (how?) people a false sense of history.

Instead of : People are too lazy to pick up a book and read when they can go to the movies and be spoon-fed. Who cares about the details.

Funny.

Plus I thought their is some possibility of truth to the tales of King Arthur, based on someone or something at some point in time, an approximation of a person or several people like some believe Jesus was. I'll give up Conan, but you can't take my once and future king and my mists of Avalon.

Some 57 per cent think King Arthur existed

Well, not in the form the Le Morte de Artur describes, with knights and chivalry etc., but as a sixth-century Celtic cadvridoc (war-leader) in post-Roman Britain, he was almost certainly a historical figure.

This questionaire seems to be designed to create scandal rather than assess the historical knowlege of Britons.

P.S. the Mists of Avalon is a great read, but not exactly historical. :)

Most of history isn't exactly historical.

They should feel nothing but shame for their incompetenct in teaching.

Maybe it's time to stop making teachers worry about objectives and to do lists and let them hand out some books.

about Stamford Bridge, an unprecedentedly one sided ass-whipping at the hands of the English that broke Norway as a military
power for a century after that, only days before Hastings.

Harold Godwinson is a hero of mine.
But then, I am a huscarl at heart.

Ic mourne myn cynig.

Harold rushed south to confront the Normans at Hastings and almost beat them there, despite his and his troops' exhaustion from the previous battle and the long march.

If he had waited for the bulk of his army to catch up with him, he would have destroyed William's invasion force.

Or William had not been under the Papal banner, or he had not been hit in the eye... If they had withdrawn in order, instead of into the malfosse. If the line had not chased after cavalry on foot...

But in the end, had Harold been fully in command, and the Huscarls been fresh, we would still be speaking a Kentish dialect of Anglo Saxon, which would be fine by me.

...think of Stamford Bridge as the home of Chelsea FC. :eyes:

way, why does bush okay the commercial at the begining instead of at the end of the commercial. is that so the sheeple won't attach him to the lies in the commercial.

that they should believe his commercial. If he was at the end of the commercial the Freeper cultists might get confused while watching it and think for themselves for a little while.

Imho.

Bush/Chenney 04 We think, you shouldn't!!!

From my travels in Scotland, I have found most English men and women never holiday in the north.

"Almost one in two believe William Wallace, the 13th C. Scottish resistance leader played by Mel Gibson in his film "Braveheart", was invented by the silver screen"
Folks, all I can say is :wtf:?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!??!?!??!?!?!

in the film, that's not entirely surprising.

More worrying is 33% thinking Mussolini didn't exist (or hadn't heard of him) - recent history, and more than can be accounted for by people taking the piss out of the questionaire. If you don't know about the founder of fascism, you're more likely to fall for it.

It may well be that the British public (like publics everywhere) is lacking in some historical knowledge. Let's encourage more reading & educational TV--always good ideas.

But, could it be that some of the informants had their tongues wedged firmly in cheek? Small percentages claim to believe in the historical existence of Richard Sharpe, Edmund Blackadder and Xena, Warrior Princess!

King Arthur is a special case. Dig through the layers of French courtly romance (with Sufi roots?) & Celtic mists; you might find a real man who was not exactly a "king" & whose name probably was not Arthur.

Another special case?



"Trackway and Camp and City lost,
Salt Marsh where now is corn-
Old Wars, old Peace, old Arts that cease,
And so was England born.

"She is not any common Earth,
Water or wood or air,
But Merlin's Isle of Gramarye,
Where you and I will fare."

--Puck's song--Rudyard Kipling

It's absolute genius!

if this is anything to go by. You need to half-remember history to get the jokes, not never have known it.

Is your screen name a nod to Harry Flashman? I think anyone who likes "1066 and All That" would like the MacDonald Fraser books too.

Flashman reminds me of our current president: a totally craven, crass rich kid who blunders into perceived success in Afghanistan.

I'm 35 and was raised in an English/American household that placed a great deal of importance on history and literature (and the Goon Shows).

It's sad, but you're probably right about "1066."

By the way, have you ever read "Whizz for Atoms?"

Having gone to an English boarding school, I know all about its world.

Flashman had a hundred times more insight into other people's lives than Dubya. Plus he could ride a horse, and speak languages (including English) well. As any fule kno.

You're right, of course, about dear Flash Harry. He was ten times the man that Dubya is. Surely you can't even coast through (and get kicked out of) Rugby without picking up at least a bit of knowledge.

it is beyond hilarious. :bounce: