Ugh...Amazon "recommended" this for me...

[Fenris]

Amazon.com
Claiming that most textbooks and popular history books were written by biased left-wing writers and scholars, historian Thomas Woods offers this guide as an alternative to "the stale and predictable platitudes of mainstream texts." Covering the colonial era through the Clinton administration, Woods seeks to debunk some persistent myths about American history. For instance, he writes, the Puritans were not racists intent on stealing the Indians' lands, the Founding Fathers were not revolutionaries but conservatives in the true sense of the word, the American War Between the States (to even call it a civil war is inaccurate, Woods says) was not principally about slavery, Abraham Lincoln was no friend to the slaves, and FDR's New Deal policies actually made the Depression worse. He also covers a wide range of constitutional interpretations over the years, particularly regarding the First, Second, Ninth, and Tenth amendments, and continually makes the point that states' rights have been unlawfully trampled upon by the federal government since the early days of the republic. Though its title is more deliberately provocative than accurate, Woods' attack on what he sees as rampant liberal revisionism over the past 25 years proves to be an interesting platform for a book. He's as biased as those he rails against, of course, but he does provoke thought in an entertaining way even if he sometimes tries to pass off opinion as hard facts.

This quick and enjoyable read is packed with unfamiliar quotes, informative sidebars, iconoclastic viewpoints, and a list of books "you're not supposed to read." It is not a comprehensive or detailed study, but that is not its aim; instead, it offers ideas for further research and a challenge to readers to dig deeper and analyze some basic assumptions about American history--a worthy goal that Woods manages to reach. --Shawn Carkonen

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0895260476/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_f/103-8249831-9220645

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. The Puritans didn't steal Indian lands?

This alone is enough to make me know I do not want to read this book.

[AuntiBush]

11. Thank you!

As a Native American, this hurts.
As an American History lover & major, this stinks.

And to think, Amazon sent it. They did support $$ all to the Chimp.

[flamingyouth]

2. Apparently they're just handing out PhDs.

Come and get yours today! :crazy:

"Though its title is more deliberately provocative than accurate..." I love that. I say, if he can't get his title right, don't bother with the book.

[Fenris]

7. Oooh. He's written other books...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0739110365/ref=pd_sbs_b_3/103-8249831-9220645?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0895260387/ref=pd_sim_b_4/103-8249831-9220645?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance

[flamingyouth]

17. Sounds like someone's been ordering history books

And they just tossed this one out there *in case you were a brainless idiot who might actually believe this crap.*

[GOPisEvil]

3. At least the description admit he is biased.

That sounds horrible. :puke:

[Fenris]

9. I love this...

Woods writes with zeal, and speckles his narrative with suggestions for further reading labeled "Books You’re Not Supposed to Read" (which are mostly Right-wing revisionist histories) and "PC Today" boxes containing a grab-bag of conservative gripes and assertions (i.e. "It is not true, as most people believe, that the Indians had no conception of land ownership and did not understand what they were doing when they sold their land to the Puritans"). Diehard Republicans may find this book an inspiring corrective to supposedly Liberal-biased history texts, but others will be put off by Woods’s cherry-picking approach and supercilious tone.

[trotsky]

4. How fucking laughable.

It was those who remained loyal to the crown who were the TRUE conservatives. Jesus H. Christ, is there ANY history these bastards don't want to rewrite?

[not systems]

5. You probably bought some 911 books.

I think this is some what of a history as conspiracy sort of book.

[NewJeffCT]

6. Does this mean...

Does this mean that you're really a Freeper troll?

;)

[AuntiBush]

12. Good Eye

[Fenris]

13. Apparently it's true!

:o

[AuntiBush]

8. I don't know which one is funnier

The War on Poverty made poverty worse...

OR

Hundreds of American liberals had ties to the Soviets

WAIT...

The Puritans Didn't Steal Indian lands...

So that's it. The South wants to rise again... no wonder BU$$ has that Western WH setup now.

[Bridget Burke]

10. Published by Regnery, Inc.

And it's gotten many glowing reviews!

More non-glowing reviews are definitely needed. Probably worth skimming the book first--in a bookstore. This one is not polluting my mail box.

[Catholic Sensation]

14. Well he's right about LBJ's first senate race

He did steal that one from Coke Stephenson. It's actually an amusing story when Robert Caro described it in the second book of his massive biographies on LBJ.

[Bob3]

15. some one needs to break the bad news to him that

The south lost the civil war. Quite some time ago. You could look it up.

And while maybe the Puritans didn't steal Indian lands (although I suspect that Mr. Woods - and what is his PhD in? - defines theft in a very narrow manner full of all sorts of weasel words) Plenty others did mate - you could look it up.

[Solly Mack]

16. proof that PhD does mean Piled High Deep in some people's case

[LibertyLover]

20. PHDs

Your post reminded me of an incident that occurred to me several years ago. On Friday evening, I was on my usual evening bus going home after a long week of work and had run into an acquaintance. We were chatting about weekend plans and I mentioned that I was attending a friend's graduation. My commuting buddy asked what the degree was and I laughed and said 'oh, it's a PhD in Materials Science.' My commuting buddy also chuckled and said 'oh a PHD - we all know that stands for Piled Higher and Deeper.' Also on the bus was a youngish man with a slight retardation problem. In the mornings his mother or father would put him on the bus and in the evenings one or the other would be at his stop to make sure that he got off ok. He was normally quiet and polite and pleasant. But for some reason, the Piled Higher and Deeper comment got him very upset. He turned around and yelled at us 'It does not - it means Pretty high degree.' It was obviously very important to him, so I said that he could be right, it could indeed mean that. He calmed down and went back to watching the scenery out the window of the bus. Ever since then, PhD for me has an alternate meaning too.

[Solly Mack]

21. well, it is a pretty high degree :)

He had a point :)

[name not needed]

18. Don't forget. Black people liked slavery.

Whoops. I just gave away the ending.

[onager]

19. "...rampant liberal revisionism over the past 25 years..."

We've only been doing rampant revisionism since 1980?

Then congratulations, comrades! It's amazing how much lib'rul propaganda we've managed to churn out, hobbled as we were by Reagan-Bush from 1981-93 and Bush Jr. from 2000-present...

[liberalhistorian]

22. Yuck!

I've seen this lying POS book at Borders and Barnes and Noble and couldn't believe it when I first saw it. I looked it over, too; it's so full of shit that a stadium-load of toilet paper wouldn't be enough to clean it up.

And until the past three decades or so, most history books were written by RW elitists and told chiefly from the WASP male point of view. My mom was a history and English teacher; she was in college in the early 60's and went nuts with all the bullshit in her history textbooks, where only white men, and privileged white Christian men for the most part, seemed to matter.

[geniph]

23. The New Deal made the Depression WORSE?

and this guy isn't in prison for his serious crack habit, or on Haldol for his psychosis yet?

Can you say W-H-A-C-K-J-O-B? I thought you could!

Is there any right-wing insanity Regnery won't publish? What a bunch of freaks!

[WildEyedLiberal]

24. As a history major...

... few things burn my ass as bad as right-wing resivionism. SNARL! :mad:

[MontageOfFreedom]

25. Is this guy insane? He really believes what they told him?

That everything we learned in history flies in the face of what really happened?

Oh my.....This is amazing!

Yeah, read this and tell me FDR and the puritans are to blame.

http://tinyurl.com/9omx9

Un-freaking-believable.

[chalky]

26. And the reviews! Good godamighty...

One of the only problems one reviewer had was "...More on Bill Clinton and Chinagate as well as the mass media cover-up with the Lewinski scandal." WTF??!?

Another claims "Anybody who denounces this book as being Republican apologetics has either never read it (just following The Daily Worker's marching orders), or else they have no more comprehension of the English language than does the "undocumented" immigrant living next door to you!"

And more than one reviewer helpfully mentioned how "the author...was under strict instructions to keep the manuscript to 80,000 words."

Guess he had to edit out all that pesky balance, huh?

God help us all.

[Borgnine]

27. Haha, I've seen this book before.

I love how the right-wing never lets facts get in their way. After all, facts are just a liberal way to hide "the truth."

[The Quizzical Toad]

28. Ugh. And the worst part is...

this nagging feeling in my stomach that this book ain't satire.

We have some sick people in this country that sure love their Big Lies...

[ck4829]

29. How about "The FACTUALLY incorrect guide to American History"