Rating: 
Summary: The real history behind traditional history
Review: "Most Americans know very little history. Unfortunately, most of the history they know is wrong." Exploring this premise
makes for an interesting and informative book. Icons of our
traditional history become living people complete with warts
and foibles. Shenkman shows how our history has become rewritten
over time to sound more patriotic and to help decendants of
famous people make themselves sound important.
Rating:
Summary: There's a lot of bunko in this world...
Review: ...but Richard Shenkman tries to give us the critical eye to spot it. This book, though dated and somewhat sketchy in places, at least has the gumption to stir up controversy and allow us to see that history is not the cut-and-dried, "objective" science we've been led to believe. The lists in this book are incomplete, they often contain unproven assertions, and sometimes are a little slipshod. However, no claim is made that these are the final facts, but rather that these are alternate, iconoclastic views that allow you to approach history, not as a sponge to absorb the broad assertions of which teachers are so fond, but as a critically thinking human being ready to separate the wheat from the chaff. Enjoy in good health and don't believe anything just because somebody told it to you!
Rating:
Summary: There's a lot of bunko in this world...
Review: ...but Richard Shenkman tries to give us the critical eye to spot it. This book, though dated and somewhat sketchy in places, at least has the gumption to stir up controversy and allow us to see that history is not the cut-and-dried, "objective" science we've been led to believe. The lists in this book are incomplete, they often contain unproven assertions, and sometimes are a little slipshod. However, no claim is made that these are the final facts, but rather that these are alternate, iconoclastic views that allow you to approach history, not as a sponge to absorb the broad assertions of which teachers are so fond, but as a critically thinking human being ready to separate the wheat from the chaff. Enjoy in good health and don't believe anything just because somebody told it to you!
Rating:
Summary: A good compliment to the "Myth America" TV series.
Review: As with most TV series you get statements with out support. So I tracked down the Richard Shenkiman book to get some background to the statements about American myths. I was not disappointed. It is as if he was reading this book on the TV with more graphic representations for the different media.The book is worth reading. However the format may not be to some peoples liking as it is short choppy statements and the chapters are divided into subjects as, Discoverers and Inventors, Presidents, Sex, and Art. There is a fair set of footnotes to lead you to further reading. You may need this as he sometimes stretches a point. Final analysis, you are better off reading this to give a better perspective on reality. Read it to your kids and save them a lifetime of "Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of American History".
Rating:
Summary: The Book My Kids' Teacher Won't Mention
Review: Ever wonder about the true story behind the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia? Have you ever visited Abraham Lincoln's Log Cabin, and wonder if it is authentic? Well, look no further. In this book, Richard Shenkman sheds some light on some of the "stories" behind U.S. History as we know it. This book was, if anything, a really fascinating read. Shenkman did a lot of research in objecting to the time-held beliefs and traditions of some of the greatest pieces in American history. He mentions several historical things, and then counters them with his own detailed views and findings. The writing is very easy to follow, and the short, yet detailed chapters make the book a fairly quick read. I can't say that the book was a total "eye-opening" experience, but it was rather interesting. Is the tourist attraction of Betsy Ross' house really hers? Was Colombus' reason for the journey to the New World really made up by Washington Irving? Find out the answers to these and several questions like them in this entertaining book.
Rating: 
Summary: So, you think you know your American history
Review: Fascinating, if somewhat controversial, look at our past. Whimsy mixes with fact as some of the "beliefs" surrounding our origins as a nation, our leaders, and our traditions are revealed in this "Cliff notes" journey into Americana. This is light bathtub reading with its text simple enough for all to appreciate and savor.
Rating:
Summary: Say it ain't so, Joe
Review: Good, succinct destruction of historical myths, as we know them. His debunking of Caesar and Cleopatra or his revelations on Catherine The Great are wonderfully related with wit and panache. A quite enjoyable read, one I finished in one day (because I couldn't put it down)
Rating:
Summary: Short chapters, yes, but a fun read just the same
Review: I agree with the reader from Atlanta. This book really IS superficial in a lot of ways, but I am not sure it was the author's intent to make this an in depth academic study in the first place. The contents certainly deliver on the title's promise. I used this book as a reader in a Japanese university English class precisely because it wasn't so daunting or detailed. The students loved it. One of them transferred elsewhere and went on to get an advanced degree in American history! I think Mr. Shenkman can take some credit for that.
Rating: 
Summary: Sensationalism
Review: Sorry folks, this is not a serious book by any standards. Much of what Shenkman has to say is either unproved speculation or purposeful misunderstanding of events and indeed of history itself. Please do not take this as a serious effort. It is not.
Rating: 
Summary: Nearly no primary sources
Review: 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.
|
