The Greatest Story Never Told [Paperback]

Michael K. Smith (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 516 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris Corp (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738859796
• ISBN-13: 978-0738859798
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,131,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for All Americans, February 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Greatest Story Never Told: A People's History of the American Empire, 1945-1999 (Hardcover)

This book reads like fiction. Unfortunately, it is all meticulously documented fact. For all who are interested in U.S. post-WW II history, it is essential reading. Actually, it is essential reading for all Americans, because it reveals the seamy underside of U.S. foreign policy, all the news that ISN'T fit to print in the New York Times or report on the Jim Lehrer News Hour. After a brief introduction, the book is separated into decades. Unlike conventional histories, which tend to be dry accounts full of names of places and people and dates and statistics, this presents events in a manner akin to a snapshot: each entry is headed by a year, followed by a location and a headline. The author then places us in a scene and describes it using vivid, dramatic language. Typical entries run from a single paragraph to one page in length, so one can't get bogged down. Joel Kovel's quote on the back cover is apropos, particularly in this post-9/11 era which is aleady disturbingly reminiscent of the hysteria of the McCarthy witchhunts of the 1950s, a subject documented in the book: "We are continually told of how benign and well-meaning America is. This notion is not shared by the rest of the world, but it provides an effective shield against coming to grips with the realities of empire. Happily, there are people like Michael Smith to disabuse us of the illusion of innocence. His fierce compendium of the misdeeds our leaders would have us forget is an indispensable guide to a history that is perpetually suppressed but must not be forgotten." ...

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Advance Praise for "The Greatest Story Never Told", January 31, 2002

By 

Michael Smith (Novato, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Greatest Story Never Told (Paperback)

"The Greatest Story Never Told" is a bold, provocative slash through the history of our country, a lively, uncompromising narrative which is a refreshing antidote to the self-congratulation so often found in Americans writing about the United States.
----Howard Zinn, Author, "A People's History of the United States"

An excellent compilation of events which the media rarely reminds us of, and which young Americans have scarcely heard of.
------William Blum, Author, Killing Hope and Rogue State

We are continually told of how benign and well-meaning America is. This notion is not shared by the rest of the world, but it provides an effective shield against coming to grips with the realities of empire. Happily, there are people like Michael Smith to disabuse us of the illusion of innocence. His fierce compendium of the misdeeds our leaders would have us forget is an indispensable guide to a history that is perpetually suppressed but must not be forgotten."
----Joel Kovel, Professor of Social Studies, Bard College

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars News items you won't find in the "news", July 13, 2002

By 

David Ross (Arcata, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Greatest Story Never Told (Paperback)

The Greatest Story Never Told: A People's History of the American Empire, 1945-1999 by Michael K. Smith provides hundreds of historical snapshots that you will not find in you local paper. Smith takes a decade-by-decade approach from the end of WWII to the people's victory in Seattle when the World Trade Organization was shut down. Smith focuses on political, social and environmental issues in the U.S. from a progressive prospective. Michael Smith provides a people's prospective reminiscent of Howard Zinn's The People's History, yet with a sometimes sobering sprinkling of Noam Chomsky's analysis. Here's a sample from page 442:

1999: Washington
Portrait of a Clinton Ritual

1993-"I am asking the United State Congress to pass a real campaign reform bill this year." (Cheers)
1994-"I also must now call on you to (pass) tough and meaningful campaign finance reform and lobby reform legislation this year." (Cheers)
1995-"We should also curb the role of big money in elections....this year, let's give the folks at home something to cheer about." (Cheers)
1996-"Now I challenge Congress to go further-to curb special interest influence in politics by passing the first truly bipartisan campaign reform bill in a generation." (Cheers)
1997-"Let's work together to write bipartisan campaign finance reform into law...by the day we celebrate the birth of our democracy-July the fourth." (Cheers)
1998-"I ask you to strengthen our democracy and pass campaign finance reform this year." (Cheers)
1999-"Now we must w3ork to renew our national community as well for the twenty-first century...(by passing) the bipartisan campaign finance reform legislation." (Cheers)

A well-documented historical compilation of short news items you won't find in the "news." Check it out.