Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of American History [Hardcover]

Richard Shenkman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1988

The truth and nothing but the truth--Richard Shenkman sheds light on America's most believed legends:

• The story of Columbus discovered that the world was round was invented by Washington Irving.

• The pilgrims never lived in log cabins.

• In Concord, Massachusetts, a third of all babies born in the twenty years before the Revolution were conceived out of wedlock.

• Washington may have never told a lie, but he loved to drink and dance, and he fell in love with his best friend's wife.

• Independence wasn't declared on July 4 (and the Liberty Bell was so little regarded that Philadelphia tried to sell it for scrap metal but nobody wanted it).

• After World War II, the U.S. Government concluded that Japan would have surrendered within months, even if we had not bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This entertaining look at the myths Americans live by debunks everything from the sanctity of the Founding Fathers to the notion that concern for defendants' rights is a recent development. Shenkman, coauthor of One Night Stands with American History , begins with our presidents and disabuses readers of the idea that poor boys can grow up to occupy the White House (there have been few). He goes on to a multitude of subjects, including sex, war, the frontier, education, art, pointing out along the way that prostitution flourished in the Victorian era, that the defenders of the Alamo did not all perish in the battle and that in the antebellum South not all whites backed slavery. The book is occasionally eye-opening and always fun.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Facts go only skin-deep, but they can prickle memorably, which is why books like this, disabusing us of our cherished bunk, are useful and fun." -- New York Times Book Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 202 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (November 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688065805
• ISBN-13: 978-0688065805
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,272,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rick Shenkman is the editor and founder of George Mason University's History News Network, a website that features articles by historians on current events. An associate professor of history at George Mason University, he can regularly be seen on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. He is a New York Times best-selling author of six history books, including Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of American History and Presidential Ambition: How the Presidents Gained Power, Kept Power and Got Things Done (HarperCollins, 1999). His latest book is Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth About the American Voter (Basic Books, June 2008). He blogs at: http://howstupidblog.com

Educated at Vassar and Harvard, Mr. Shenkman is an Emmy award-winning investigative reporter and the former managing editor of KIRO-TV, the CBS affiliate in Seattle. In 1997 he was the host, writer and producer of a prime time series for The Learning Channel inspired by his books on myths. He gives lectures at colleges around the country on several topics, including American myths and presidential politics.

Mr. Shenkman can be reached by email at [e-mail].

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nearly no primary sources, October 16, 2004

By 

ensiform (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of American History (Paperback)

Television news reporter (now there's a credential) Shenkman attempts to debunk some widely-held but erroneous beliefs about American history from Columbus to the present day, covering topics such as sex, family, the so-called good old days, arts and quotations. It's a fine and admirable idea for a book. Unfortunately, this book does not deliver the idea's promise. Shenkman uses nearly no primary sources, relying on modern historians' research. This gives the result that in many instances, his "proof" of the falsity of one claim is simply another author's claim. Shenkman also has an odd idea of what constitutes American history, often resorting to 17th-century history to refute claims of what "American" life really is. He also quotes extensively but cites sources sproadically, often lumping a few paragraph's worth of sources together in one footnote. There are one or two nuggets of good stuff in here, like the origin of Paul Bunyan, or some of Harvard's history, but the lack of primary sources and generally non-scholarly approach make this book somewhat interesting at best.

44 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A teaser - and I'm not sure to trust it, November 7, 2002

By 

Michael Rossander (Westlake, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of American History (Paperback)

This looked like a fascinating premise - debunk all the things we think we know. Unfortunately, the book did not live up to it's promise for me. The author tried to cover so much ground that nothing could be properly explored or explained. Just a lot of random factoids strung together.

I'm normally a fan of the factoid books, but I guess I just had mismatched expectations. I expected more from this book.

I was also vaguely troubled at a number of points during the book. The author used a lot of weasel words (might, could, may, etc.) when trying to convince us that the conventional understanding of a particular point is wrong. If you know better, say so. If it's a matter still in dispute, that's a little too academic for me to care about.

At other points, I found myself challenging his assumptions and sources. The one good thing I can say about this book is that for popular entertainment it was exceptionally well footnoted. (Not that I have the resources to look up all those books, but it was reassuring to think that I could.)

I doubt I'll be picking up any of his other books.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining But Lightweight, June 24, 2000

By 

Brian Glass (Zanesville, OH United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of American History (Paperback)

This was an interesting book, enjoyable and an easy read. It is a good jumping off point for futher in-depth investigation. I wouldn't take everything here at face value (and the author doesn't really expect you to). It has encouraged me to read opposing view points on subjects like the Alamo and the Rough Riders. It has helped remind me that there are sometimes several different points of view to one story. I would recommend it but remember it's just one more side of history.