Pseudohistory is a type of fake scholarship that tries to change or mislead people about what really happened in the past. It often uses methods that look like those used by real historians. A similar term, cryptohistory, refers to pseudohistory that comes from beliefs tied to secret or supernatural ideas. Pseudohistory is connected to pseudoscience and fake archaeology, and the terms sometimes overlap in meaning.

Pseudohistory can take many forms, but experts have found common traits in these works. It is usually driven by a political, religious, or personal goal. It often makes shocking or exaggerated claims about history that would require changing well-known facts. A common feature is the idea that powerful groups are hiding information to stop the author’s ideas, a belief often supported by detailed conspiracy theories. These works often rely on unreliable sources, such as myths or legends, treating them as real facts, while ignoring evidence that contradicts their claims. Some works argue that history has no real truth and that all ideas are equally valid. Others mix possibilities with facts, claiming that if something could have happened, it did.

Examples of pseudohistory include British Israelism, the Lost Cause of the Confederacy, the myth that Irish people were enslaved, the witch-cult theory, denial of the Armenian genocide, denial of the Holocaust, the clean Wehrmacht myth, and the claim that the Katyn massacre was not carried out by the Soviet NKVD.

Definition and etymology

The term "pseudohistory" was first used in the early 1800s, making it older than similar terms like "pseudo-scholarship" and "pseudoscience." In a record from 1815, the word was used to describe The Contest of Homer and Hesiod, a story that claimed to be historical but was actually fictional, as it described a made-up competition between two Greek poets. Another 1815 record used the term in a negative way to describe a history book that was not accurate or honest. Pseudohistory is similar to pseudoscience because both use methods that claim to follow proper research rules but do not, and they provide little or no evidence to support their claims.

Michael Shermer and Alex Grobman define pseudohistory as "rewriting the past for present personal or political reasons." Other writers, like historian Douglas Allchin, argue that presenting the history of science in a simplified and dramatized way—such as exaggerating events or idealizing scientists—creates incorrect ideas about how science works. Even if these stories are based on real facts, they still count as pseudohistory.

Characteristics

Robert Todd Carroll created a list of rules to help recognize fake history. He explains that:

Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke uses the word "cryptohistory" to describe this type of work. He says two important signs are: not knowing about the main sources and repeating mistakes and exaggerated claims.

Other common signs of fake history include:

• Connecting different events without clear reasons to create a pattern. This often leads to a conspiracy theory that claims a secret group is behind the pattern. For example, the fake history book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail connects the Knights Templar, medieval stories about the Grail, the Merovingian Frankish dynasty, and the artist Nicolas Poussin to claim they are related to Jesus’s descendants.
• Imagining the results of events that might have happened, but assuming they actually did.
• Using shocking or exciting details to attract attention.
• Choosing only evidence that supports an idea and hiding evidence that contradicts it.

Categories and examples

The following are some common types of pseudohistorical theories, with examples. Not all theories in a listed category are necessarily pseudohistorical; they are categories that seem to attract pseudohistorians.

An alternative chronology changes the order of events in history, disagreeing with the timeline accepted by most historians. One example is Anatoly Fomenko’s New Chronology, which claims recorded history began around AD 800, and events before that date either did not happen or are incorrect retellings of later events. A related idea is the Tartary conspiracy theory. Other examples include the phantom time hypothesis, which claims the years AD 614–911 never existed, and David Rohl’s New Chronology, which argues that timelines for ancient Egyptian and Israelite history are wrong.

In the eighth century, a fake document called the Donation of Constantine, which claimed the Pope gained authority over Rome and parts of the Roman Empire, was widely shared. In the twelfth century, Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote The History of the Kings of Britain, a book that mixed Celtic myths to exaggerate the achievements of King Arthur. A historian named William of Newburgh wrote in 1190 that most of Geoffrey’s claims about Arthur and his ancestors were made up.

The Shakespeare authorship question is a theory that suggests the plays and poems credited to William Shakespeare were actually written by someone else.

Another example of historical revisionism is the claim by David Barton and others that the United States was founded as a nation exclusively for Christians. Most historians argue that the Founding Fathers intended to separate church and state.

Confederate revisionists, "Lost Cause" supporters, and Neo-Confederates argue that the Confederate States of America aimed to protect states’ rights and limit government power, not to preserve slavery.

Connected to the "Lost Cause" is the Irish slaves myth, which incorrectly mixes the experiences of Irish indentured servants and enslaved Africans in the Americas. This idea was promoted by Irish nationalists like John Mitchel in the past and by white supremacists in the United States today to downplay the suffering of African Americans and oppose reparations for slavery. It also hides the role of Irish people in the transatlantic slave trade.

Historical negationism, or denialism, is a type of pseudohistory that denies events that have been proven to have happened, such as the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, the Nanjing Massacre, and the Nakba, as described in Joan Peters’ 1984 book From Time Immemorial.

Some historians classify psychohistory as pseudohistory. Psychohistory combines psychology, history, and other social sciences to study why people and nations act the way they do, especially the difference between stated intentions and actual behavior. It also tries to use psychology, especially psychoanalysis, to understand the emotional roots of historical actions.

Pseudoarchaeology involves incorrect interpretations of physical evidence, often by people without proper training. These claims rarely match what experts agree on. Nazi archaeology is an example of this. People who practice pseudoarchaeology often refuse to change their views, leading to oversimplified and inaccurate conclusions.

Examples of pseudohistory include the books by Immanuel Velikovsky, such as Worlds in Collision (1950) and Ages in Chaos (1952), which became popular despite being based on ancient myths. In 1968, Erich von Däniken wrote Chariots of the Gods?, claiming ancient monuments like the pyramids were built by visitors from space. Similar ideas by Zechariah Sitchin, who claimed extraterrestrials from Nibiru genetically engineered humans, are also classified as pseudohistory.

The ancient astronaut hypothesis gained popularity in the United States through the History Channel’s Ancient Aliens series. Historian Ronald H. Fritze noted that these ideas often become popular in cycles, like trends in fashion.

Graham Hancock’s books, such as Fingerprints of the Gods (1995), argue that ancient civilizations like those that built Stonehenge or the pyramids were far more advanced than previously thought. His work sold millions of copies but was criticized by scholars. Christopher Knight’s books, like Uriel’s Machine (2000), also promote similar pseudohistorical claims.

The idea that a lost continent called Lemuria once existed in the Pacific Ocean has been classified as pseudohistory.

Other conspiracy theories include exaggerated or made-up stories about civilizations like Khazaria and Tartaria.

The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion is a fake document that falsely claims a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world. It was proven to be a copy of earlier works in 1921.

The Khazar theory is a fringe academic idea that suggests the Khazar people, a medieval group, played a significant role in Jewish history.

As a topic of study

Some college courses that examine false or misleading history are part of undergraduate programs in colleges that offer a variety of subjects, such as Claremont McKenna College.