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Prior to reading this book, I had already known some of these things (e.g., Israel Bissel finished Paul Revere's ride after Revere was captured early on, Betsy Ross had nothing to do with the creation of the American flag), but a lot of these stories and facts I had never even heard about. Some of them will appeal to certain people more than others (for example, someone who's not interested in sports might not be that captivated by the story of Louis "Sock" Sockalexis, the original Cleveland Brave), but overall these are very interesting historical tidbits from a wide variety of subjects and eras. As someone devoted to
Prior to reading this book, I had already known some of these things (e.g., Israel Bissel finished Paul Revere's ride after Revere was captured early on, Betsy Ross had nothing to do with the creation of the American flag), but a lot of these stories and facts I had never even heard about. Some of them will appeal to certain people more than others (for example, someone who's not interested in sports might not be that captivated by the story of Louis "Sock" Sockalexis, the original Cleveland Brave), but overall these are very interesting historical tidbits from a wide variety of subjects and eras. As someone devoted to historical truth and memory, it really makes me angry that so many unsuspecting schoolchildren are still being taught that urban legends and outright lies are undisputed historical facts. Knowing the truth behind these stories doesn't have to change the basic message; for example, just because Nathan Hale's alleged last words "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country" were really penned after he'd been dead for five months doesn't change the fact that he was still a very brave young man who did give his life for his country. Knowing that the Wright Brothers were by no means the first people to invent and fly an aeroplane doesn't change the fact that they were still pioneering aviators and inventors. More history books should be written like this, witty and engaging, unafraid to knock down sacred cows that have been standing for a long time. I also enjoyed the foreword, "A Note About 'Politically Correct' History." Mr. Ayres points out the difference between multi-cultural all-inclusive accurate history and what has been termed "politically correct" history, wherein people go to extremes in the pursuit of righting age-old wrongs and leaving out historical contributions made by people in the majority. It would be just as wrong to leave out great contributions made by the ruling classes, the same way it was wrong to just overlook or only pay tokenistic lip service to the wonderful contributions made to history by women, African-Americans, Native Americans, Asians, Hispanics, non-Protestants, and other groups which historically haven't been given much of a voice in America.
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Manufacturer: Taylor Trade Publsihing
Release date: 1 January 2000
ISBN-10 : 0965191184 |
ISBN-13: 9780965191180
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