Book Review of “Myth America: Historians Take On The Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past”

Resident Ken Weeden will review the book Myth America: Historians Take On The Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past by Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer [New York: Basic Books, 2022] on Tuesday, February 21, 2023 at 7 PM in the Auditorium.

Myth America asserts that serious discussions of the many grave political, economic and social issues we face today are hampered by an increasing barrage of lies and myths, often about our past. The authors intend to revitalize our understanding of American history, based on historical scholarship.

Kruse and Zelizer, both historians at Princeton University, assemble an impressive number of well-published historians and legal scholars who cover a wide range of issues and document that many have roots in our past. For example, they untangle falsehoods about the dangers of socialism and how the feminist movement supposedly set out to undermine motherhood and family values. They examine big government programs such as the New Deal and the Great Society to see if they failed in the end.; and they explore how claims of voter fraud have been used for well over a century to pass voter suppression laws to keep some citizens from voting. The list goes on: American exceptionalism, immigration, the American empire, white supremacy and confederate monuments.

The public’s lack of understanding of American history has been well documented. Hopefully, Myth America is one step in correcting that.

Kevin M. Kruse, a professor of American history and author, was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts.
Julian Zelizer is a professor of political history at Princeton and has authored and edited several books.

Resident Ken Weeden, a former history teacher, has taught courses for ELLIC and presented several book reviews. Other special interests include world travel and social justice.