Founding Myths: Stories that Hide Our Patriotic Past

Could Not Finish at 30%

I'm sorry, but I just can't do it. I made a personal goal to myself to drastically reduce the number of ‘not finished' books this year. Sadly, I will have to break that rule, and say that this will not be one of them. Now, this isn't really due to the author or his writing per say. When this book came out in 2004, many people loved America and everything she stood for. With the War on Terror at an all time high, many people probably wanted to show they were patriotic in every way, including remembering the stories that were false in American history, especially stories that were set during the American Revolution. Raphael proves that many of the stories we know are false and that we need to remember them for how they actually were. He also goes in depth to show how these myths persisted in the first place.

This is an admirable goal at the time, but now, over a decade on, it seems unnecessary. Many recent popular books and documentaries tell these tales rightly, and I think that if you are a student of history, you won't find many surprises here. However, if you are not, you might find some benefit here. The only reason that I received this book and own it is so I can use it later as an official source if I have to for a school paper or in education as a teacher. In the end, since I know many of these things already, I have decided to move on to more interesting books. If I were to have finished this book, I give it a three out of five. Nothing is really wrong with this book, but, for the serious history lover, there is nothing really astounding here either.