As I was riding BART home last night I was excited to see someone reading what looked to be Howard Zinn's brilliant
"A People's History of the United States" but as I looked closer a deep depression set in as I realized that it was actually
"A Patriot's History of the United States." The conclusions that I immediately jumped to turned out to be correct - that this was an unrealistically upbeat history of my country. As soon as I got off the train I headed to Borders Books to see what this book was and, to my dismay, it was yet another attept by the right to corrupt the virtue of the left.
More comment and examples of the similar covers below the fold....
This is an obvious rip off. Below is the cover of the "Patriot's History" and the first edition of the "People's History" (The "People's History" latest editions have featured a white cover not a blue cover)
Here is what is in the inner jacket of the "Patriot's History:"
For at least thirty years, high school and college students have been taught to be embarrassed by American history. Required readings have become skewed toward a relentless focus on our country's darkest moments, from slavery to McCarthyism. As a result, many history books devote more space to Harriet Tubman than to Abraham Lincoln; more to My Lai than to the American Revolution; more to the internment of Japanese Americans than to the liberation of Europe in World War II.
Now, finally, there is an antidote to this biased approach to our history. Two veteran history professors have written a sweeping, well-researched book that puts the spotlight back on America's role as a beacon of liberty to the rest of the world.
Schweikart and Allen are careful to tell their story straight, from Columbus's voyage to the capture of Saddam Hussein. They do not ignore America's mistakes through the years, but they put them back in their proper perspective. And they conclude that America's place as a world leader derived largely from the virtues of our own leaders-- the men and women who cleared the wilderness, abolished slavery, and rid the world of fascism and communism.
The authors write in a clear and enjoyable style that makes history a pleasure, not just for students but also for adults who want to learn what their teachers skipped over.
Emphasis is mine.
Can you honestly take a book seriously that states in the inside jacket that every other history text talks more about "Harriet Tubman than to Abraham Lincoln?" That is an out-right lie.
What these authors (and those that support them) fail to realize is that all our schools teach about the bright side of our history and don't look at the mistakes we've made. The history that is taught to our children is biased.
Part of being the greatest nation on earth is being able to face your demons, not hide them. It is to learn from your mistakes, so we don't repeat them.