Myth America : : Historians Take on the Biggest Legends and Lies About our Past

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Call Number: Adult Book / Nonfiction / History / United States / General / Myth America, 973 My
On Shelf At: Pittsfield Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / History / United States / General / Myth America	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / History / United States / General / Myth America	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	973 My	4-week checkout	Due 05-17-2024
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / History / United States / General / Myth America	4-week checkout	Due 05-12-2024
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / History / United States / General / Myth America	4-week checkout	Due 05-23-2024

American exceptionalism / David A. Bell -- Founding myths / Akhil Reed Amar -- Vanishing Indians / Ari Kelman -- Immigration / Erika Lee -- America first / Sarah Churchwell -- The United States is an empire / Daniel Immerwahr -- The border / Geraldo Cadava -- American socialism / Michael Kazin -- The magic of the marketplace / Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway -- The New Deal / Eric Rauchway -- Conderate monuments / Karen L. Cox -- The Southern strategy / Kevin M. Kruse -- The good protest / Glenda Gilmore -- White backlash / Lawrence B. Glickman -- The Great Society / Joshua Zeitz -- Police violence / Elizabeth Hinton -- Insurrection / Kathleen Belew -- Family values feminism / Natalia Mehlman Petrzela -- Reagan revolution / Julian E. Zelizer -- Voter fraud / Carol Anderson.
"The United States is in the grip of a crisis of bad history. Inaccurate interpretations and outright misrepresentations of the past-cultivated within and promoted by the conservative movement and right-wing media over the last several decades-hold sway among large numbers of Americans, damaging our public discourse. In Myth America, historians Kevin Kruse and Julian Zelizer have assembled an all-star team of historians to provide textured analysis that explains what we get wrong about the past. Drawing on their immense knowledge of scholarship and their own primary research, these contributors provide correctives to the ways conservatives distort history to serve the needs of their anti-democratic agenda. For instance: Erika Lee shows how, far from posing a relentless threat to America, immigrants have long been recruited and even coerced to come to the United States. Joshua Zeitz traces how the welfare programs of the Great Society, criticized by the right as wasteful failures, have provided millions of Americans with food security, health care, and education. Carol Anderson uncovers how racism and anxiety over the nation's changing demographics, not voter fraud, are motivating Republicans' assault on voting rights. Elizabeth Hinton reveals that, rather than curbing crime, patrolling low-income communities with outside police forces has historically intensified violence and made everyone less safe. Taken together, the essays unveil how corporate interests and right-wing politicians use bad history to fan the flames of white resentment and unravel America's social safety net. Replacing myths with research and reality, Myth America is essential reading amid today's heated debates about our nation's past"-- Provided by publisher.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Timely Book submitted by apf1950 on April 7, 2023, 1:41pm The editors and authors do not hide their agenda, but they generally provide strong analysis. Like any edited volume, the chapters are uneven.

Perhaps the strongest chapter is "Founding Myths." For those teaching about American politics especially, it recommends stepping back from the focus on James Madison and looking at Washington's role in shaping the Constitution and the arguments by Hamilton and Jay in Federalist #2-8. The chapters on the New Deal and Great Society are also good, including their use of data.

The weakest chapter is "American Socialism." It's hard to imagine that the author never considers how election rules made it hard for socialists to win office. Chapters do not use headings, so a minor improvement might have been paragraph breaks between major segments of analysis.

About the only omission is a chapter on the use/abuse of history in the courts. This could be especially useful in light of cases on guns, challenges to the ACA, and the SCOTUS decision in the Dobbs case.