American History Revised: 200 Startling Facts That Never Made It into the Textbooks [Paperback]

Seymour Morris Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 6, 2010

“American History Revised is as informative as it is entertaining and humorous. Filled with irony, surprises, and long-hidden secrets, the book does more than revise American history, it reinvents it.” —James Bamford,
bestselling author of The Puzzle Palace, Body of Secrets, and The Shadow Factory
 
 
This spirited reexamination of American history delves into our past to expose hundreds ofstartling facts that never made it into the textbooks, and highlights how little-known peopleand events played surprisingly influential roles in the great American story. 
 
We tend to think of history as settled, set in stone, but American History Revised reveals a past that is filled with ironies, surprises, and misconceptions. Living abroad for twelve years gave author Seymour Morris Jr. the opportunity to view his country as an outsider and compelled him to examine American history from a fresh perspective. As Morris colorfully illustrates through the 200
historical vignettes that make up this book, much of our nation’s past is quite different—and far more remarkable—than we thought.
      We discover that:
 
• In the 1950s Ford was approached by two Japanese companies begging for a joint venture. Ford declined their offers, calling them makers of “tin cars.” The two companies were Toyota and Nissan.
• Eleanor Roosevelt and most women’s groups opposed the Equal Rights Amendment
forbidding gender discrimination.
• The two generals who ended the Civil War weren’t Grant and Lee.
• The #1 bestselling American book of all time was written in one day.
• The Dutch made a bad investment buying Manhattan for $24.
• Two young girls aimed someday to become First Lady—and succeeded.
• Three times, a private financier saved the United States from bankruptcy.
 
      Organized into ten thematic chapters, American History Revised plumbs American history’s numerous inconsistencies, twists, and turns to make it come alive again.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In 1995’s Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Leowen surveyed several popular American history textbooks and exposed their errors and falsehoods. Consider Morris’ book its sequel, or perhaps its progeny. Morris discusses topics that were left out of the history books: the way Amerigo Vespucci wound up being credited as the discoverer of America, for example (he was a tireless self-promoter), or the revolutionary anti-jamming communications system invented during WWII by Hedy Lamarr, the famous Hollywood actress. This is a deeply fascinating book, and one that should appeal to a broad spectrum of readers, from students to history buffs to trivia addicts. Some of Morris’ facts seem more like personal opinions, as when he calls General MacArthur’s failure to get court-martialed after Pearl Harbor (for ignoring orders to get his planes in the air) “the greatest government cover-up of all.” But whether he’s trading in documented facts or unsupported opinions, Morris tells a compelling story. --David Pitt

Review

 “This is a deeply fascinating book, and one that should appeal to a broad spectrum of readers, from students to history buffs to trivia addicts.”-- Booklist
 
 “Eye-opening, interesting and lively. If schools put it on the curriculum, kids would pay more attention… American History Revised should be required reading for anyone in public office, a potent reminder that real history, not the tabloid fodder sprayed across the nightly news, is often made far from the limelight.” -- Huffington Post  
 
 “American History Revised offers an overview of American history by focusing on many facts and episodes that, “startling” or not, do indeed often throw light on our peculiarly complicated country, its past, and, inevitably, it’s present and even future. I doubt that there is a single reader who won’t find many of the essays genuinely illuminating — Morris is a master of the concise essay — and often challenging. Morris is opinionated; few readers will agree with him in all of his opinions, but he is a wonderful person to engage with.”-- History Book Club 


 
 “Seymour Morris Jr. is certainly not the first to take a lateral look at the moments when the facts conflict with legend and choose to print the facts. He is, however, the most readable and authoritative. This is a lucid, provocative and thoroughly enjoyable book, full of eye-opening surprises and tantalizing what-ifs, which can be read cover to cover or dipped into like a box of favorite candies.” -- The BookWeb.com 
 
 
 “Many believe that history is inflexible and chiseled in stone.  The simple fact is that history is much more fluid. In fact, according to this fascinating book, history is generally filled with ironies, surprises, and misconceptions. Witty, lucid, and playful, this is a book that will leave you astonished, entertained, and, yes, enlightened.” -- Tucson Citizen 
 
“In his new book, Seymour Morris Jr. shows that American history is like an iceberg, with the best parts long hidden from view. American History Revised is as informative as it is entertaining and humorous. Filled with irony, surprises, and long-hidden secrets, the book does more than revise American history, it reinvents it.” -- James Bamford, best-selling author of Puzzle Palace

"In American History Revised, author Seymour Morris, Jr. delivers useful and entertaining snippets of American history. The reader learns of a news story, broke to eastern newspapers in 1861 by a young Mark Twain, who later saw his novel Huckleberry Finn banned from several public libraries (a fact which only made them sell faster). With reverence, Morris tells of the U.S. aircraft carrier Yorktown, nearly sunk by the air-raid on Pearl Harbor, repaired and re-fitted in 68 hours by 1,400 men.
“The people and events chosen for this book meet two criteria: they are largely unknown, and they make a point worth remembering.”
Business-minded folks would do well to pick up this piece for a hefty dose of inexpensive financial advice. One is informed that Howard Hughes was not entirely self-made but “got a leg up” from his father, who not only invented a unique oil-drilling bit, but unlike many inventors, the man refused to sell the invention, instead making a fortune renting the bits out to drilling companies. The author also points out that the patient investors that held onto their stocks even after the great crash of 1929 “made out like bandits.”
If anything, these pages reminds us that if humans indeed learn from our past–in order not to repeat mistakes–then history books lacking these facts should be swiftly updated." - San Francisco Book Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (April 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307587606
• ISBN-13: 978-0307587602
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Trivia

More About the Author

Seymour (Mike) Morris, Jr. is an international business entrepreneur,former head of corporate communications for the world's largest management consulting firm.

Living abroad for 12 years gave him the opportunity to observe his country as an outsider. In his part-time capacity as the country interviewer for Harvard, he interviewed many exceptional students and engaged in numerous discussions about America's heritage, an experience that stimulated his appreciation of America's uniqueness among nations. Spending weekends doing research and writing history as a hobby (luckily, no football or baseball games in Europe!), he wrote his book, "American History Revised."

"Understanding the past," he says, "is just like trying to assess the potential of a new business venture. It requires imagination, connecting the dots, seeing the big picture."

He has two other books now under development, one on presidential elections and the other on criminal justice.

He holds an A.B. in American History from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He lives in New York City with his wife Gabriela and his black cat, and longs to spend more time in Europe while completing his forthcoming two books.

www.seymourmorrisjr.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Families will enjoy this book March 15, 2010

By Kristi G., mom of Sage VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This book is very well written, from the angle of story telling. It is easily readable; it is not in the least boring, or hard reading.
Some have talked about it being a coffee table book, but I found it did better around here as a bathroom book. Everyone started reading it when I left it by the tub, including my 14 year old son.
Where it really shines, in my opinion, is discussing some business aspects of history. The story of George Eastman alone was well worth my time reading this book. What an amazing character he was! I'd never heard of him- of course he is NOT in the textbooks. They should put him in textbooks though, he's quite a role model! There's some nasty little tidbits too - like US Generals that hire themselves out to foreign countries.
I did find that the book kinda flicked around though, for example, it went from war to business to politics, to war. It was great to read first this story, and then that story, but I don't know if one TRIED to read it cover to cover if they could make much sense of the organization of the book. I never could really get a fix on that.
That said, the way it is encouraged in depth memorable short reading, and I liked it just the way it was very much, as did the family.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun tidbits about American History March 17, 2010

By Dan Sherman VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This book really is a set of "fun facts" about American history that is very easy to read in short bits and is likely to leave you wanting to learn more about different topics. It really is not a systematic overview of American history and does not try to present a "viewpoint" other than "did you know this?" My favorite teacher ever was an AP history teacher back in high school who really kept the interest of the class (to the extent that he presented additional classes at the request of students after school during the final week of senior year). His technique was to tell us a lot of fun facts and unusual "stories" around key figures in history that made history live in a way that usual recitations of events did not. This book is written very much in the "bet you didn't know" style and does make for a good and interesting read. The approach really kept me interested in history many years later and this book could well have the same effect on others.

Very good for what it is! You will enjoy it! Four stars!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Bedside (or "Throneside") Reading... March 5, 2010

By Bruce Loveitt

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Well, the title is a bit of a hyped-up tease (most of the facts are interesting rather than startling), but this is an entertaining collection of tidbits. Even if you are a history buff you are likely to find things here that you didn't know. For example, did you know that a husband and wife by the name of Rathbone were in Lincoln's box the night Lincoln was assassinated? Not only that, but that John Wilkes Booth stabbed Mr. Rathbone? (Later in life Rathbone lost his mind and wound up killing poor Mrs. Rathbone.) Ok...I have to admit that one was startling! But will anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of baseball history be "startled" to learn that Babe Ruth started out as a really good pitcher? No. Sometimes the author stretches a point, as when he says that if John Kennedy had not been assassinated he would have definitely gotten us out of Vietnam. Most of what I've read on the topic states that Kennedy was of 2 minds about this and kept going back and forth on his policy. Another interesting thing was to learn that Bobby Jones, the great amateur golfer, once called a one-stroke penalty on himself for accidentally touching and moving his golf ball. The rules official didn't see it and didn't want to call the penalty, but Jones insisted and wound up losing the tournament by one stroke. As you can see, the book tends to be a bit uneven and you may have to take some of the author's opinions, stated as fact, with a grain of salt. Overall, however, this is a fun and interesting read and most importantly it will probably get you to the point that you want to read more about the people and topics covered in the book.