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About
'Funny, occasionally filthy and ultimately fascinating.' - Richard Herring, comedian
Go to any ancient building in the land and there will be interesting and exciting stories presented to the visitor. Tales of secret passages and hidden tunnels, strange marks and carvings left by stonemasons – all commonly believed and widely repeated, but are they really true?
From ship timbers being repurposed on dry land to spiral staircases giving advantage to right-handed defenders, and from archers sharpening their arrows on church stones to claims of being the oldest pub in the country, Historic Building Mythbusting seeks to uncover the real stories.
Buildings archaeologist James Wright explains and unpicks the development of these myths and investigates the underlying truths behind them. Sometimes the realities hiding behind the stories are even more engaging, romantic and compelling than the myths themselves...
Go to any ancient building in the land and there will be interesting and exciting stories presented to the visitor. Tales of secret passages and hidden tunnels, strange marks and carvings left by stonemasons – all commonly believed and widely repeated, but are they really true?
From ship timbers being repurposed on dry land to spiral staircases giving advantage to right-handed defenders, and from archers sharpening their arrows on church stones to claims of being the oldest pub in the country, Historic Building Mythbusting seeks to uncover the real stories.
Buildings archaeologist James Wright explains and unpicks the development of these myths and investigates the underlying truths behind them. Sometimes the realities hiding behind the stories are even more engaging, romantic and compelling than the myths themselves...
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Reviews
"'James Wright pours gallons of boiling oil on myths about ancient buildings. But it's not really boiling oil, is it.'"
Jonathan Foyle
"'If you are expecting a diminished, slightly less colourful sense of the past that you might expect from a 'mythbusting' book then think again, for what emerges in these pages is exactly the opposite. Here the familiar gives way to the extraordinary, fiction bends to wild truths, and historic buildings themselves emerge as a living and breathing means of understanding our environment, our ancesto
master stonemason and author of King of Dust
"'As the Fake History Hunter, I search museums, books and the internet for history related misinformation - debunking myths and misconceptions where I can. James' knowledge has been an invaluable weapon in my armoury, and he proves his talent for this kind of detective work in this wonderful book!'"
Jo Hedwig Teeuwisse