Invented Knowledge

This cogent exploration of the murky world of pseudo-history, now available in paperback, reveals the proven fact, the informed speculation and the pure fiction behind lost continents, ancient super-civilizations and conspiratorial cover-ups - as well as the revisionist historical foundations behind religions such as the Nation of Islam and the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints. Drawing on the best scholarship available, Ronald H. Fritze shows that in spite of strong, mainstream historical evidence to the contrary, many of these ideas have proved durable and gained widespread acceptance. As the examples in Invented Knowledge reveal, pseudo-historians capitalize on and exploit anomalies in evidence to support their claims, rather than examining the preponderance of research as a whole. From Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to 10,000 BC, the sensationalist topics of pseudo-history captivate audiences and permeate popular culture. Invented Knowledge offers many entertaining and enthralling examples of spurious narratives, artificial chronologies and ersatz theories in a book guaranteed to intrigue, inform and provoke both skeptics and believers alike.