Product Description

This book tackles the messy details, reclaims disregarded heroes, and sets the record straight. It also explains why July 4th isn't really Independence Day.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #109586 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781589791077
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

History like it should be taught
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.

This book is Entertaining, Informative and really FUN
More history writers should write like Thomas Ayres.
"That's Not in my American History Book" is very refreshing.
Not the watered-down, approved by the school board type of
history books we all were force to read in school. In short
entertaining stories, Ayres captures our nation's little known
history, warts and all. Some of it is just plain funny. The way the author relates it is just plain fun. My favorite quote
from the book is in the introduction, when Ayres writes:

"After all, irony and humor have never been missing from history -- just historians." That's great! Loved it!
I read Thomas Ayres' most recent book also. It's called:
"Dark and Bloody Ground." It's about the Civil War in Louisiana
and it is also an excellent book.

Don't believe everything you read - especially this book
This book is shockingly inaccurate. I gave up reading it after finding that 2 of the first 6 articles were just factual nonsense:

- "Do the British Own America?" is based entirely on the Drake Plate, which was shown to be a forgery in the 1970s.

- "A Civil War Story" is a mythical story of the origin of taps, one debunked in the 19th century.

Don't even think about reading this book unless you're willing to follow it up with further internet exploration to separate the facts from the fiction. Obviously the author wasn't.