Secret history

A secret history (or shadow history) is a version of history that is at odds with commonly accepted historical events and which is claimed to have been deliberately suppressed or forgotten. Originally secret histories were designed as non-fictional, revealing what is portrayed as the truth behind the spin: the exemplar is the Anecdota of Procopius of Caesarea (known for centuries as the Secret History), which portrays the reign of the Roman Emperor Justinian I to the great disadvantage of the Emperor, his wife and some of his court.

Related Topics:
History - Anecdota - Procopius of Caesarea

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There is also a thriving genre of secret historical fiction. Often this relies on alternate history, with the end result of the changed historical premise being a world that is otherwise indistinguishable from the present (an example would be The Alteration by Kingsley Amis, in which the entire 20th century world is run by the Catholic Church). Secret history is sometimes used in a science fiction universe to preserve continuity by reconciling predicted events in a science fiction universe with what actually happened.

Related Topics:
Genre - Alternate history - Kingsley Amis - Science fiction universe - Continuity

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The process of inventing or altering the canonical account of past events in fiction is known as retconning.

Related Topics:
Canonical - Retconning

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Examples of secret history in the media include:

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• Blackadder — has a forgotten King Richard IV of England
• Dark Skies
• The X-Files
• The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson
• The Crying of Lot 49, Gravity's Rainbow and Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon
• Declare and most other novels by Tim Powers
• In the Country of the Blind by Michael Flynn is about a secret society that attempts to influence history with mathematics calculated with Babbage Machines.
• Harry Paget Flashman is placed at the centre of many 19th century events by George MacDonald Fraser
• The Metal Gear series intertwines many real life events with the series's plot