Customer Reviews

The 10 Big Lies About America: Combating Destructive Distortions About Our Nation

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

As European (Spaniard), I have enjoyed the most peaceful period in our 2000 + years of History... thanks to those vilified Americans. You helped us getting rid of fascism and communism (well, maybe you helped Franco to stay in power more than desired, but when he died, your Government was a good mediator in our transition period to democracy). And thanks to your protection, we didn't have to spend that much in weapons to scare off the soviets, thus establishing our so much well-liked welfare society(sorry, not as good as many American lefties think it is). You have been a bargain to Europe. Thank you. I will buy this book as a vaccine against the lies I have to endure in Spain regarding USA and its noble people.

My high-schoolers' history textbooks casually spout several of the lies that this book debunks in easily-understood, well-researched chapters. I was looking for something that would present the "other side" of what they hear, and this is authoritative and so engrossing that my son (age 16) read the entire book without stopping (even eating while he read!) as soon as we got it.

I'd heard Michael Medved on the radio and was always struck by his knowledge of history and ability to communicate, which this book confirms.

Reading The 10 Big Lies restored my positive feelings about the history of our nation, and also added to my pride and gratitude for living here. It was especially helpful to read well-supported GOOD news as a counterbalance to the negativity all over TV and the newspapers.

An uplifting book filled with useful and sometimes surprising facts--that I enjoyed reading.

Recently, I was sitting in a pub in Oxford with a friend from India. He seems to find me, an American who did not share in the general "euphoria" in the UK over Obama's election, a rather exotic creature. But he made an interesting suggestion: why not look at the election of Obama, even if you don't welcome it, as a chance to reinvent what it means to be an American Christian, in a way that will connect more deeply with the world at large?

His challenge was still in the back of my mind when I read this book.

The years of American hegemony are now ending, and China and India will soon take positions on the world stage in some proportion to their vast populations. Witnessing how broadly many of the "lies" Medved describes are believed outside the US, I'd love to give Chinese and Indian friends a book like this and say: "See what America has been, at its best, for the world. As your power grows, try to emulate what you can of our successes, or do us one better."

Most of Medved's arguments are solid. He cites leading experts as well as opponents to make his case, and I think generally gets his facts right. (Notice that critics so far generally depend on vague complaints, unable it seems to point to specific errors.) Among other things, he argues that: America has seldom been as nasty to the Indians as is often claimed. The Founding Fathers were less secularist than supposed. (I wish he'd given both sides here, though -- as Steven Waldmon does in Founding Faith.) Big Business does help the country. America has seldom been truly imperialist, and has done the world a lot of good. And morality rises and falls; "a dizzying roller coaster of steep ups and downs, zigzags, climbs and reverses, and even loop-the-loops."

Medved carefully limits his claims, then backs them up with copious relevant facts. Many of his facts and anecdotes are quite interesting -- McKinley's prayer for the Phillipines, the story of how "America the Beautiful" was written, the size of houses in the 1950s compared to our "supersized" homes of today.

In the end, though, Medved is a bit too triumphalist to wish his book into the hands of Indian or Chinese friends. Sometimes he simply protests too much. Granted there was no official American policy of genocide. Granted that most Indians deaths came from disease, that others married out rather than being murdered, even that Indian cultures were "savage" in some sense. Still, the fact is, we wound up with the land (just as China ended up with Tibet, and India with Nagaland), and they wound up with treaties for half of almost extinct salmon runs. Is self-justification really the right tone to take? Having heard the same tone, and some of the same arguments, from Chinese about Tibet, I feel a bit uncomfortable with them. I would also have liked to have seen a more positive statement from Medved on the role native peoples were to play in America, culturally as well as in terms of territory.

To some extent, Medved's "American exceptionalism" cuts us off from others -- from our European roots, from human tradition as a whole. (Sociologist Rodney Stark gives a much more nuanced reading of what went into American success -- most of which is not unique to America.)

I believe America has done a great deal of good in the world. But pride comes before a fall, for countries as well as individuals. One thing that typifies nations at their greatest periods of growth -- Japan in the late 19th Century, China during the Tang and today, America at the revolution -- is a combination of confidence, and openness to outside ideas.

The challenge for conservatives, and for Christians, is to find a way of affirming our ideals, to seek reform on the model of Burke, Jefferson, Reagan, or St Paul, yet to do so in a way that helps us develop a fuller appreciate of the God-given beauties and truths in other traditions as well. Medved does seem to appreciate good in other cultures to some extent, but is unable to articulate his patriotism, and how it relates to the riches humanity shares in common, in what I found to be a fully satisfying manner. This is a generally excellent book, full of useful information, and an important answer to unfair attacks on the American heritage; but infused with a less than fully satisfying philosophy of patriotism. Maybe Medved should read G. K. Chesterton.

author, The Truth Behind the New Atheism

As a frequent listener to Michael's radio show, I looked forward to the release of his book. Whether you agree with his point of view or not , it is impossible to deny that the man is a brilliant, entertaining and engaging individual. And when he directs that substantial intelligence to the subject matter described in the title, the result is a very engrossing read. I enjoyed so many "Ah Ha!" moments as I read the book.
THIS IS NOT A FLUFF PIECE. The arguments are remarkably well researched, supported and footnoted. You can check his work. I for one, appreciate that trail of bread crumbs, if you will, to the supporting documentation and work of other historians. In the end, Michael is very persuasive. It will create debate (and often settle it as well) among your friends when you gather and any of these subjects come up. I came away educated and entertained. I highly recommend the book.

This quote, from the end of Michael Medved's "10 Big Lies About America", best sums up his goal in writing the book. The end result is a veritable ammunition depot of information for the culture wars.

I confess that I've been a fan of Medved's Seattle-based radio show since I moved to Tacoma, WA, in the 90's. Medved always impressed me with the breadth of his historical knowledge and his willingness to have callers and guests on his show with opposing viewpoints. Though many would consider it an oxymoron, Medved was always the thinking person's talk radio host. He is a man who signs off every day declaring this "The greatest nation on God's green Earth", and his book is a full throated defense of that great nation.

I imagine that the many years of talk radio discussion formed the basis for the construction of the 10 Big Lies that Medved deconstructs. As some have pointed out, the lies are described in the book fairly absolute terms (i.e. - "The United States is uniquely guilty for the crime of slavery and based its wealth on stolen African labor."). Where some would call this the creation of straw men, I'd plead to a lesser crime of good marketing. The lies are really just chapter headings. When reading the actual chapters, Medved's arguments are both comprehensive and nuanced. Reading the 1-star reviews, many are objecting to the most superficial reading of the table of contents, not Medved's actual writing.

The writing itself is quite good. Medved strikes a balance between textbook and conversation. This allows the many factual citations to seem less like a history lesson, more like a discussion at a dinner table. If there is a problem with Medved's comprehensive debunking of these myths, it is that it probably leaves less room for leavening humor. Humor being one of the few ways to convince a person of an opposing view to read a political book, I doubt that Medved will find many buyers on the Left. This isn't a book to hand to someone you consider to be a political opponent saying "read this". This is background reading with which to, as in the quote above by Reagan, inform your patriotism.

In the end, I think the book is very good at what it sets out to do. It is a sermon to the choir, yes. However, unlike, say, an Ann Coulter polemic declaring all enemies on the Left to be Godless, baby-killing traitors, Medved is content to simply show where and how they are wrong.

4.5 stars, rounded up.

The 10 Big Lies About America: Combating Destructive Distortions About Our Nation by Michael Medved is a timely book that will set the record straight.....I hope. After years of "PC" and revisionist history, I'm amazed that anyone writing books remembers American history as it used to exist.
Medved doesn't shy away from sensitive subjects in The 10 Big Lies. Dealing with misconceptions about slavery is always a touchy issue. Medved doesn't sugar coat slavery in America, but he does put it in perspective. I'm always amazed at how misinformed people are on the topic anyway. Slavery was tragic, and the United States shouldn't attempt to hide from its involvement in the trade. However, slavery was as much a legal trade activity in the seventeenth through nineteenth century as trading oil today. We need to keep that in perspective.
Medved dismantles, one by one, ten lies about the United States. In doing so, he dismantles and disarms the arguments "the blame American first" crowd and does so in a direct manner. He also buries other misconceptions and outright distortions about this country. For me the biggest lie Medved deals with is that this has always been a multicultural country. Not true. Throughout our history the objective has always been to Americanize newcomers and their children as soon as possible. The U. S. was never invisioned to be one comprised of a multitude of cultures coexisting. Poles yes, but Americans first. Italians yes, but Americans first. Germans, Chinese, Africans all. But Americans first.
The other big lie Medved deals with is that the founders always intended us to be a secular country. Medved slam dunks that lie in short order.
Also, that corporations are oppressive toward their workers and society. Maybe in the nineteenth century but not now, not for the last ninety years. Try doing anything without an economic base.
Michael Medved is a breath of fresh air. Written in concise language and in an entertaining manner and well researched, The 10 Big Lies is a book you'll want in your personal library. If you don't want to buy it, check it out from your library.
I highly recommend.
Peace always.

In a way this book should get three stars rather than four. However I have given the work four stars because much of the material is a necessary rebuttle to the fashionable academic leftism.

Mr. Medved does an excellent job in demonstrating the early European settlers in North America and the United States did not commit genocide against the American Indians and were not a major or primary player in the African slave trade nor were uniquely or universally racist. He also destroys the myth of a malevant domination by big business. Mr. Medved demonstrates that the large corporations when free from government protection and control greatly helped and not hindered the freedom and living standards of all Americans.

However Mr. Medved definitely has his blind spots. He shows that some American interventions have had beneficial results. Yet other interventions have only resulted in the deaths and maiming of young Americans and foreigners. For example World War I resulted in the Versailles Treaty, reparations, and colonialism that only led to World War II which the U.S., to the sorrow of the families of the slain soldiers, had to fight. It would have been far better if the U.S. had remained neutral. Then there was the Vietnam War, which accomplished nothing except for more dead young Americans and great demoralization of the culture. Mr. Medved is apparently ignorant of history which demonstrates that countries that intervene abroad too much in the end face a mountain of debt and the destruction of their own culture, sort of the hollowing out of the center.

Mr. Medved ignores the big break in U.S. policy that accurred in 1917 when the U.S. entered into World War I. Prior to this date the United States followed the sage advice of founder and President George Washington to avoid foreign and European conflicts. However in 1917 the United States under the agitation of alpha male wannabees Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt jettisoned the noble legency of Washington and entered into the European war. Death, tragedy, and antifreedom conscription followed. The 1917 break affected many American institutions. In particular because the Wilson war administration attracted the statist intellectualoids, the Democratic party changed from a small government laissez faire party to the present big government Obamacist machine. Please, Mr. Medved, dig deeper.

Then Mr. Medved attacks third parties. He neglects to point out that third parties provide a vehicle of expression to voters who find both the major party candidates deficient. And third parties have been very useful in articulating new and other issues that the major two parties have ignored. Thus third parties can bring more voters into the political process.

This book paints our country as under attack, both from within and without, in a manner that threatens its future.

Consider the opening vignette about a letter in 2007 from officious bureaucrats that admonished all teachers and staff in the Seattle public schools to avoid "teaching about Thanksgiving in traditional ways." Heaven forbid, for example, that children should be permitted to forget that "for many Indian people, `Thanksgiving' is a time of mourning, of remembering how a gift of generosity was rewarded by theft of land and seed corn."

As a corrective to the foregoing, Michael Medved begins by addressing the "big lie" that "America was founded on genocide against native Americans." Well researched and balanced, his essay makes clear that the charge is wildly exaggerated. Yes, there were some bloody battles, but the Indians were often as much at fault as the settlers. Many more Indians perished due to infectious diseases than in attacks by white soldiers. The displacement of the technologically backward indigenous population was inevitable, and the record of similar invasions in other areas of the world is no better (and often worse) than what happened in the U.S.

The other nine issues addressed are: "the crime of slavery," religion, cultural unity, big business, economic downturns, American imperialism, the two-party system, "war on the middle class," and irreversible moral decline.

Each essay stands on its own, so readers can skip around and focus on the areas they find most interesting. That's just as well, because the quality of the essays is uneven.

In general, I think Medved does well with political and social issues. His explanation of why third parties are far less effective than working within the two-party system is first rate. The essay on moral decline usefully points out that concerns about this topic have been a staple in America for centuries and the rise and fall of moral values tends to by cyclical.

The treatment of economic issues is less effective. Thus, "the war on the middle class" essay cites many statistics designed to demonstrate that life is getting better and better for just about everyone except people who have made "bad choices." I am sure that other statistics could be cited for the opposite conclusion. Even if the middle class has indeed been holding its own in material terms, moreover, the much faster progress of people in the top echelon (often for reasons that cannot be explained in terms of merit) has occasioned real and understandable resentment.

The author's conclusion seems to be that America can be a uniquely great nation for many years to come if we just remain confident in ourselves. Well, that might be a useful start, but this book falls far short of a comprehensive analysis of the issues that would need to be addressed in order to stay on top.

An excellent, well written book that gives the reader logical arguments for combating common criticisms of our country. If you want to be well fortified to argue against liberal myths about America read this book.

Loretta Siani
Long Beach, California

Michael Medved is arguably one of the most well informed minds on History or Politics; definitely the most interesting. He doesn't talk down to his listener or bore them. I am no history buff
but this was so contrary to what we learned in school, college or television and what my kids are learning today! It's so important to not let your kids be brainwashed with the wrong information. This is the
first step for my kids to think for themselves, not believe everything they hear, dig deeper. I wish I had a book like this in High School or College it would have made some fun conversations around
the dinner table. You will be more interesting at social events after reading this book. I highly recommend this book for anyone. It's not offensive, just fact, unless your more comfortable being lied to by the system?