This entire line of books is incredibly good, chocked full of information you usually don't find in history books or classes, giving new light to "accepted" history.

Liked it, but while I'm conservative, I'm not rabid. I found it to be over the top, and questioned some of the author's positions. Nothing was footnoted, so there was no way to check his data and statistics, and I hate that. I want to know where he's getting those numbers from.

Having said that, I think it's good to evaluate history from other perspectives. Just because we live with the effects of the Truman Doctrine doesn't mean we can't look back and examine for ourselves whether it was a good choice, for example. And that can be repeated throughout American history.

I really enjoyed the part of this book that pointed out that our government today is so far from a constitutional government. We don't even look at our rules anymore, preferring to ask forgiveness than ask permission. The Constitution is important, and we need to reexamine our attentiveness to it before there are no rules anymore at all.

It's a Conservative writing vs a liberal point of view. Informative but even though it comes across as a fact checked book, it in itself needs some fact checking. I am a conservative, but just smart enough to know I need to go and do my own extensive research to arrive at the truth at times.

Still, there are some items that I did not know that I learned from my reading.

I already knew that Lyndon Johnson was just a plain scoundrel. Who know's he and the mob or CIA may have put Kennedy down.

I had a very bad experience with the first title I read in the 22-book Politically Incorrect Guide (PIG) series, each by a different author. Anthony Esolen’s The PIG to Western Civilization was insufferably preachy and abandoned any pretense of objectivity when it came to topics relating to Christianity.

Thomas Woods book in this series, on American History, was much, much better.

Although this book covers many major events in American history from the colonial period through 2000, it is not a completely comprehensive overview. Instead, it assumes a baseline historical knowledge that most American will possess and focuses on countering what politically-correct historians have gotten wrong. The major points are nicely highlighted at the introduction to each of the 18 chapters, so it should be easily possible to skim this book (I didn’t) and only dive deeper into topics that surprise or interest the reader. The book is well researched and Woods does a good job of making the case for all of his arguments.

As a result, I plan on reading more books in the PIG series, but I repeat my strong advice to avoid Esolen’s lone entry in the series (or anything else by him).

Provacative and enlightening. Anybody who is interested in history should read this book. Woods takes on the textbooks we have all read and disproves much of what is being taught.

Basically government is out of control and out of touch with the public and the public is too unaware to realize they are being duped.

I am listening to this book on CD. It's interesting in a way. There are valuable tidbits and quotes.

The author seems to have an axe to grind and a political agenda. I feel that the book is a bit argumentative.

For example, the author is really big on the right to bear arms. This is difficult to take in this era of school shootings. He brings evidence to support his view. It feels a bit like the debate club with one side reporting. One feels like someone else could bring an opposing viewpoint with an equal number of validating quotes and tidbits.

He does shed light on some of our misconceptions about American history. Some of what he says is actually true. Still, the way he says things like "books you're not supposed to read" and the "PC" version...it's a bit annoying.

More later.

Very interesting. thought the author did a good job of balancing the explanation of what is commonly taught or what is commonly thought and then presenting his research on what actually happened.

In particular, I thought the first chapter on the origins of the United States offer the simplest example of how mythologies and outright misinformation have crept into our everyday learning of history. I always enjoy hearing people talk about "separation of church and state" and "we bought the land from the Indians for beads and whiskey." When in fact the colonies were all founded by Christian religious sects escaping state-sanctioned religious oppression. And the Indians were just as smart as the Europeans when it came to trading and getting one over on someone. And they were actually better at warfare. They just hadn't developed the more sophisticated tools of the trade so to speak. But once introduced, they became just as proficient as any white man.

Another part that was interesting was related to Reconstruction and the personality and policies of Andrew Johnson when he became President. This might have been some of the worst governing of our country from all directions. Lots of opportunism at work that was later white-washed to make the South the villain no matter the facts.

Chapter 12 was probably the capper for me. Having read some books on the Cold War as it developed in WWII, I didnt know some of the details regarding the widespread exposure our government had to allies of Communism or outright spies. I also am intrigued enough to read more on Joseph McCarthy's quest to root out communism at the federal level. Author acknowledges the Senator's personal problems, but doesn't let it overshadow what and why he thought communism was a problem.

Definitely an easy read. Chapters are short and have many factoids as well as "short stories" that illustrate the various points. I am sure I will reference in the future as well as read again from time to time.

Absolutely loved this book purely on the different view point of some pretty well known aspects of US History. It presents some very interesting statistics to support all of its claims. This book is clearly biased, which is the only reason I don't give it 5 stars, but they are biases that are not overly confrontational, at least in my opinion. It was extremely interesting to read about certain time periods that are often taught one way in US History courses that I can clearly remember in my own education, to have those ideas completely flipped around in this 'guide'. From the construction of the constitution and what the founding fathers' initial intent was to the impact of the 1920s through FDR up to Clinton, this book brings a lot of different view points over these pivotal eras of US History. Whether you're looking for a different view point on US History, or just a fascinating read to have you second guessing your own US History knowledge, this book will definitely get you thinking! Definitely recommend...especially if you have a libertarian leaning!

Another enjoyable book by Tom Woods. This really is the "history you SHOULD have learned in school" book. He starts from the beginning of the first European settlers and goes right into the Reagan/Clinton era. Probably the most that I learned was the section on World War I. It is very interesting how war hungry some of the Presidents were and how vocal they were about it. The fact that Woods uses a lot of quotes shows that these aren't just conclusions drawn from connecting dots but letting the actors of history speak for themselves. That's probably the biggest strength of the book throughout. Although there are, at times, conclusions and some assumptions it is balanced with clear moments of history that are there in the open. It's just not clear why you didn't learn about this in school. I also enjoyed the reading suggestions at the end of each chapter. Final Grade - A

[Audio:] Great book. Main thing I liked about this is its states' rights approach to our history. It does a very good job of showing how far we've drifted from a state-centered country to a federal government dominated country.

I like these PI Guides, and have found their substance pretty well corroborated by other sources. This one provided me with the understanding that the South had felt it had been disadvantaged by the industrial North, quite aside from the question of slavery, and that the idea of secession was a well recognized condition of the formation of the Republic. Recommended!

For an alternate point of view of what really happened in American history, and what the text books often leave out, you can't do better than Thomas E. Woods' "The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History".