Historical Distortion: When Stories About the Past Get Rewritten

When we talk about historical distortion, the deliberate reshaping of past events to fit a certain narrative. Also known as historical revisionism, it’s not always about lying—it’s often about leaving out, exaggerating, or repackaging truth to make a group, nation, or ideology look better. This isn’t just something that happens in old textbooks. It’s in the books we read today, the movies we watch, and even the way we talk about our own families or communities.

Look at how some books frame colonial history—sometimes as a civilizing mission, other times as exploitation. One side calls it progress; the other calls it theft. Both use the same facts, but pick different angles. That’s cultural narrative, the shared story a society tells itself about who it is and where it came from. When that narrative becomes too powerful, it starts to replace actual history. And once a distorted version sticks, it’s hard to undo. The Bible, for example, is often quoted to support modern political views, even though its original context was completely different. That’s not faith—it’s misinformation, false or misleading information spread, often unintentionally, as truth. And it’s everywhere in book reviews, social media threads, and even school curriculums.

You don’t need a PhD to spot this. Ask: Who benefits from this version of the story? Who’s missing from it? Is this account based on evidence, or just repeated claims? The posts below dig into how this plays out—whether it’s in the way we read ancient texts, how bestsellers rewrite heroes, or why some books get labeled "classic" while others vanish. You’ll find real examples from real books, not theory. No jargon. Just clear cases where history got bent—and how to see it for yourself.