• How George Washington Fleeced the Nation

  • …and Other Little Secrets Airbrushed from History
  • By: Phil Mason
  • Narrated by: David Heath
  • Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
  • 3.7 out of 5 stars (39 ratings)

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How George Washington Fleeced the Nation  By  cover art

How George Washington Fleeced the Nation

By: Phil Mason
Narrated by: David Heath
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Editorial reviews

Phil Mason thinks of historical facts as malleable. History is a story we tell in order to serve a purpose for the present he says, but these stories aren’t always true to reality. In this audiobook Mason "rattles the skeletons that have been hidden in the cupboard" reconciling the mythical versions of historical figures with the real people they were. We hear about the hidden sides of Presidents and Prime ministers, the eccentricities and shortcomings of famous thinkers and artists. The tone of David Heath’s performance is of a straightforward documentarian at times, though the subject will surprise you, shock you, perhaps even changing the way you think about history.

Publisher's summary

The hidden quirks and shortcomings of history’s leading figures will change the way you think about history. Our view of the famous is one-dimensional—leading figures from history are summarized in history textbooks with one or two lines: Churchill the war-time genius, Gandhi the poor ascetic—but nobody is perfect and even the famous have their quirks and hidden secrets.

How George Washington Fleeced the Nation reveals the often hilarious, sometimes shocking, and always highly informative foibles of the great and the good. Einstein, the most brilliant man who lived, regularly forgot his shoes and never learned to drive. Hitler possibly has a Jewish ancestor. Picasso avoided paying restaurant bills by doodling on their napkins instead. Prepared to be shocked, amused, and outraged at what they didn’t teach you in high school.

©2010 Phil Mason (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about How George Washington Fleeced the Nation

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Not worth the time

This book is like someone took all of Social Media, and put it in novel form. The author is taking sometimes complicated and nuanced historical figures and boiling them down to snippets and what equates to click bait in book form.

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Read it.

The information is fascinating. The performance, however, races along with no inflection to indicate a new topic or person. Very disconcerting.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Skip it. Just a repeat of his other two books

If you have read either one of Phil Mason's previous two books do yourself a favor and skip this one. Very little new material a lot of repeats, whole sections plagiarized from himself.

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Highway robbery

This author is a thief. plagiarized over 90% word for word from himself. demand refund for two of his books since all three are identical except for the titles. How George Washington fleeced the nation, Hitler's secret Jewish psychic, and Napoleon's hemorrhoids. Are literally word for word the same book, just arranged differently and with a different title. I consider this an extremely underhanded tactic. The author Phil Mason should be ashamed, his publisher should be ashamed, and Audible should be ashamed for allowing this authors blatant con. I demand $27 USD be refunded, as it was NEVER my intention to buy the SAME book three times in a row. Audible should put a disclaimer on this author and his "three" books. instead of allowing the author to cheat the readers.

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