History loves a villain.
Across the entire span of human civilisation, certain people and groups have been identified as being responsible for the ills of the world and have remained hated for it. In his continuing desire to separate the facts from the fiction of history, Otto English looks at how these legacies were constructed and who told us that they were evil.

From how Bloody Mary became the figurehead of uppity women and how Judas’s betrayal became a template for religious tensions for centuries to what the Peasants Revolt and the Illuminati shows us about power struggles throughout the ages, English exposes the agendas behind the ‘truths’ we’ve been told to believe. And in looking at how xenophobia was weaponised during the ‘Spanish’ Flu, he reveals how our past sometimes bleeds into the present day.
Fascinating and fearless, Notorious will re-examine some of history’s biggest villains and change the way you see the world forever.

Otto English is the pen name of writer and journalist Andrew Scott. Scott had written for theatre and television before moving into political journalism. From 2010 he began writing about history and politics, often through his blog, The Pinprick. He has written extensively for Politico and Byline Times.

He published his first book, Fake History, in 2021, which examines the 10 biggest lies from history and the people who propagated them. In 2023, English published a follow-up book, Fake Heroes, in which he profiles ten historical figures and analyses myths connected to them.

Andrew will be in conversation with Ian Clark at this event. Ian is a history teacher at Oundle School.

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