''Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past'' is a book of essays by 20 leading historians and other academics debunking popular beliefs regarding events in

American history The history of the present-day United States began in roughly 15,000 BC with the arrival of Peopling of the Americas, the first people in the Americas. In the late 15th century, European colonization of the Americas, European colonization beg ...

, as well as more contemporary issues. The book was published by

Basic Books Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1950 and located in New York City, now an imprint of Hachette Book Group. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and his ...

in early 2023. Edited by Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer, historians at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, the book focuses on more recent research challenging narratives promoted by conservative sources on subjects such as America's founding in the late 18th century, the South's rebellion during the 1860s, the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

of the 1930s, the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, the Reagan "revolution" of the 1980s, and charges of

voter fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

during the early 2020s. Its essays also cover a range of social and political issues, including

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

, American socialism, and

police violence Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...

''Myth America'' opens with an introduction by the book's editors Kevin Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer and includes the following essays by recognized authorities on American history: #

American Exceptionalism American exceptionalism is the belief that the United States is either distinctive, unique, or exemplary compared to other nations. Proponents argue that the Culture of the United States, values, Politics of the United States, political system ...

— David A. Bell # Founding Myths —

Akhil Reed Amar Akhil Reed Amar (born September 6, 1958) is an American legal scholar known for his expertise in U.S. constitutional law. He is a Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, where he is a leading scholar of originalism, ...

# Vanishing Indians —

Ari Kelman Ari Kelman (born 1968) is Chancellor’s Leadership Professor of History at University of California, Davis. Until 2016, he was the McCabe Greer Professor of History at Penn State University. His fields of specialization are the U.S. Civil War, ...

Immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

— Erika Lee # America First —

Sarah Churchwell Sarah Bartlett Churchwell (born May 27, 1970) is a professor of American Literature and Public Understanding of the Humanities at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, UK. Her expertise is in 20th- and 21st-century American literatur ...

# The United States Is an Empire —

Daniel Immerwahr Daniel Immerwahr (born May 21, 1980) is an American historian and author. He is the Bergen Evans Professor in the Humanities at the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences at Northwestern University and associate chair of the history department. H ...

# The Border — Geraldo Cadava # American Socialism —

Michael Kazin Michael Kazin (born June 6, 1948) is an American historian and professor at Georgetown University. He is co-editor of ''Dissent'' magazine. Kazin is the son of literary critic Alfred Kazin and step-son of structural engineer Mario Salvadori. H ...

# The Magic of the Marketplace —

Naomi Oreskes Naomi Oreskes (; born November 25, 1958) is an American historian of science. She became Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University in 2013, after 15 years as Professor of H ...

and Erik M. Conway #

The New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression, which had started in 1929. Roosevel ...

—

Eric Rauchway Eric Rauchway (born 1969 or 1970) is an American historian and professor at the University of California, Davis. He received his B.A. from Cornell in 1991, and his Ph.D. from Stanford in 1996. Rauchway's scholarship focuses on modern US political, ...

# Confederate Monuments — Karen L. Cox # The Southern Strategy — Kevin Kruse # The Good Protest — Glenda Gilmore # White Backlash — Lawrence B. Glickman # The

Great Society The Great Society was a series of domestic programs enacted by President Lyndon B. Johnson in the United States between 1964 and 1968, aimed at eliminating poverty, reducing racial injustice, and expanding social welfare in the country. Johnso ...

— Joshua Zeitz #

Police Violence Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...

— Elizabeth Hinton #

Insurrection Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

— Kathleen Belew # Family Values Feminism — Natalia Mehlman Petrzela #

Reagan Revolution Ronald Reagan's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 40th president of the United States began with First inauguration of Ronald Reagan, his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Rep ...

— Julian E. Zelizer #

Voter Fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

— Carol Anderson

References

External links

Was James Madison Truly Father of the Constitution?
, Akhil Reed Amar,

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, 2022 2023 non-fiction books 21st-century history books American history books Basic Books books Essay anthologies History books about the United States {{US-hist-book-stub

Contents

References

External links