Critics of this book complain he doesn't tell the whole story, yeah, well, that's exactly his point. You're supposed to already know the standard public school text book version of history and he is writing to supplement that understanding with points of view you might not have been exposed to.

The most interesting parts for me were regarding the lead-up to the "War of Northern Aggression" and the Reconstruction period. I've never before heard a compelling argument that had the North let the South secede slavery would still likely have ended in the south within a few years. No massive war and 600k casualties required. The book also throws the reconstruction era "radical Republicans" in a very negative light that I've never heard about before except in "Gone with the Wind."

I admire his focus on logical interpretations of the U.S. Constitution as it is actually written, and not the made-up version as misunderstood by modern courts and liberals.

IMO it would have been better to end the book a few decades earlier and avoid the recent-history political commentary regarding Clinton and recent history that is still somewhat unsettled in the official narrative.

The standard liberal historical narrative is so flawed that one book can hardly be expected to refute it all. Woods contents himself with sticking a joyful thumb in the eye of a few inviting targets. A light and enjoyable read for conservatives, but probably not for liberals, who may have no idea that their own heartfelt views even have competition. Good for high school and college students whose studies usually include only liberal interpretations.

This book is an awesome read for those of you who don't believe everything you heard in the 8th grade. Spanning the early settlements on the American Continent, this book shatters some commonly held myths perpetuated by our current indoctrination centers and even most college courses. Thomas Woods holds a degree in History from Harvard and makes good use of his vast knowledge on the subject in this book, often sighting books "you;re not supposed to read" as great examples. My favorite thing about economics is the facts often defy popular opinion, and they are counter-intuitive most of the time. If you are like me and take a skeptical look at most subjects, this book is for you! One of my favorite examples from the books is where Woods lampoons the idea that monopolies and "predatory pricing" somehow lead to poor conditions to consumers. In his example, Woods details the case of DOW Chemical company and how their German, cartelized, competitors threatened to flood the US market with cheap chemicals if DOW didn't cease his operations in Europe. In classic American free market defiance, DOW went right ahead and carved a major market share from the cartel in Europe. His competitors started to flood the American market using predatory pricing (ie selling your product at a loss to drive you competition out of business) to which DOW responded by buying up their lower priced product through secret purchasers and re-sold their own product back to the Europeans at half his own cost. BRILLIANT! Anyway, that is just one story of many that you'll find in this book. I couldn't put it down!!!

The thing about history, is that there is what happened, and then there is the *story* about what happened. Historians tend to pick and choose what to recount, and in the process try to present their version of the story. Everybody that witnesses what happened can come back with a different story. This book presents a very different set of stories that shed new light on what happened during the civil war, and other events afterwards, up until today. I don't buy all of the conclusions, and his attitude makes me uneasy, but this was worth reading if only to see that there are other stories out there.

I had an interest in this book since Thomas Woods is a regular blogger on Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty site. He brings some interesting facts to light in this book and it would probably be a lot more interesting to me if I was more educated about American history in the first place. I did find some of the things about the Civil War (really not a civil war since the South wanted to be separate) and WWII to be particularly fascinating based on things I remember being taught in high school.

I'm just giving this one two stars because even though I consider myself a conservative, the overly conservative tone of this book seemed a bit over the top. I also thought some of the quotes and reasoning were a stretch at several points in the book. It had a bit of a choppy flow at times.

This book, while unpopular in more liberal-minded circles, provides a lot of insight into some of the more significant events in our Nation's history that are often overlooked in most of our high school history books. The book describes how far our Nation has fallen from what it was originally intended to be. For me, at least, this is a very discouraging reality. I am an admirer of what the Founders originally put forth into this country via the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. However, many people find that they are of little use in today's Western 21st century 'modern' society. Regardless of how you feel on the matter, the reality is that the farther this Nation has fallen from the founding principles, the worse our condition has become. So, my review is simply this; I enjoyed this book because it emphasized valid and factual examples of how we have fallen. I don't believe the author was intentionally trying to be a 'downer', but he was intending to wave a caution flag in the air for those that are historically illiterate. I'd recommend this book to those, liberal or conservative, that desire to get a better understanding of how we are perpetually failing as a Nation.

In this book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History by Thomas E. Woods Jr., the author presents information showing that, although we have trusted that their history professors and high school teachers were giving students honest and accurate information it has become quite clear that liberal professors have misinformed our children for generations. The author takes on the most controversial moments of American history and exposes how history books are drafted by academics who are heavily biased against God, democracy, patriotism, capitalism and most American family values. He reveals the truth behind many of today's prominent myths including: The First Amendment prohibits school prayer; The New Deal created great prosperity; What the Supreme Court says, goes. With this book Professor Woods attempts set the record straight on these and other issues related to American history that have been misrepresented by liberal professors today. The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History is all you need for the truth about America—objective and unvarnished. As Mark Twain famously said: “What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so.”

Interesting Quote:

"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes...Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage rather than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."

-Thomas Jefferson, quoted by Thomas Woods, the Politically Incorrect Guide to American History


"'We might have done nothing,' [President Hoover] said in 1932. 'That would have been utter ruin. Instead we met the situation with proposals to private business and to Congress of the most gigantic program of economic defense and counterattack ever evolved in the history of the Republic.' The result was ongoing economic catastrophe."

-Thomas Woods, the Politically Incorrect Guide to American History

Excellent guide. Explains what was really behind issues such as the causes of the Civil War, anti-trust legislation, World War I, the Depression, Civil Rights legislation, and the Great Society. The problem has never been big business, conservative values, etc..., but big government interfering in the economy and personal lives of citizens.

This book is part of the P.I.G. book series. It focuses on American heroes that the authors think have been forgotten or undervalued in our current society. They remind us of heroes such as George Washington, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Buzz Aldrin, john Paul jones and Gen. Custer. They cover some forgotten heroes in history-George Patton, Robert E. Lee to name a few. The last chapters cover the "Frauds" of history-for example The Kennedys and FDR.
This book has some interesting facts and reminds us of historical figures like George Westinghouse and Juliette Gordon Low(founder of Girl Scouts), who we have learned about in the past but had forgotten or didn't know much about what they did to advance the U.S.

Plus any book with a review from Rocker Ted Nugent can't be all bad.

Quite a cool book. Not that I'm that familiar with the American History, but it sure does say some stuff I've never heard of and certainly stuff you don't expect many to go around repeating :P Thumbs up for such histories!

I'm barely ten pages into this book and I already want to throw it. I know it's not a "real" piece of historiography, but how can you call yourself a historian AND NOT USE ENDNOTES?? That bibliography at the end? A joke; thanks for making it nearly impossible to follow up on all your claims. And no primary sources either; this is obviously written for those who wouldn't bother to check the source material.

Colour me unimpressed.