The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History

By: Thomas E. Woods Jr.

Narrated by: Barrett Whitener

Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Everything, well, almost everything, you know about American history is wrong because most textbooks and popular history books are written by left-wing academic historians who treat their biases as fact. But fear not; Professor Thomas Woods refutes the popular myths in The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History.

Professor Woods's audiobook reveals facts that you won't be, or never were, taught in school. It tells you about the "Books You're Not Supposed to Read" and takes you on a fast paced, politically incorrect tour of American history that will give you all the information you need to battle and confound left-wing professors, neighbors, and friends.

©2004 Thomas E. Woods, Jr. (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Contrarian view

Very interesting book. Come with an open mind. You may not agree with every assumption he makes, but it’s definitely very eye opening.

Right way perspective of history

I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to gain a historical account from a conservative author.
While I do not consider myself conservative, I did enjoy its interpretation of American history.

One sided yet informative

I found this book to have a tremendous amount of new information – information that I had not known or considered. Somewhere around the middle of the book, however, the author turns. He becomes cynical of any Democratic administration while ignoring similar criticisms that could be levied against Republican ones. I will give examples later but first let me describe some annoying things.

The person who is reading the book imposes an accent supposedly imitating the person he is quoting. This is exceedingly annoying and totally unnecessary.

The author introduces a new topic by saying “guess what?” This is kind of annoying and unnecessary too.

Many times the author supports his point of view with statistics presented in percentage terms. Anyone familiar with numbers knows that percentages can be very misleading. A small percentage of a very large number can still be a large number and a large percentage of a small number can still be a very small number. Saying a particular part of a budget has been increased by 25% is useless unless you know what the number actually is and how it compares to the total budget dollars.

The phrase “a book you’re not supposed to read“ is often used. But the author, Woods, doesn’t explain who is saying that although he is implying that it’s the “Liberals.” I’ve heard of religious institutions saying that but not political ones - at least not in the US. The exception is the more recent statements by people who are in or support the Republican Party in reference to books about the racist past of our country.

The author does make a reasoned argument to his preferred way of interpreting the Constitution which is either “textual” or “original.” However, he categorizes his approach as being “an honest interpretation of the Constitution.” So a way that is different from his is automatically dishonest?

The author tears away at some of the most revered Presidents including Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. I should add that he does so in a reasoned manner and much of the information, although startling to me, seems plausible. Likewise, his treatment of the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, World War II and the general opinion of the “heroes” - from all sides and countries - of those periods is challenged. Once again, the author presents sound reasoning for his conclusions.

Nevertheless, after a while the author’s approach started to wear on me. I realized that I was reading a book that is presented more like a lawyer would present a case as opposed to a historian. The book is more about persuasion than it is about providing information. It is almost totally one-sided, especially from about midway of the book on.

The author rakes the more recent Democratic Presidents over the coals. Franklin Roosevelt, John F Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and especially Bill Clinton are skewered - both their policies and their characters. OK, I guess they’re fair game as long as you do the same for all the Presidents. What about Nixon - especially Nixon - Reagan, Bush? No criticism, no airing of dirty laundry, no biting sarcasm for them. Hardly a mention except for Reagan whom he praises. “Reagan defeated Communism.” Wow! What a simplistic statement, as are a lot of the Reagan quotes that the author repeats. I expect a broader, more inclusionary approach from a historian. But, this author is not a historian - at least not the way he writes in this book. He’s a huckster trying to sell his viewpoint and his book. “…Politically Incorrect…” is really not a fair title of the book but it is a way of selling the book.

Woods doesn’t mention President Reagan and his involvement with Oliver North and the Nicaraguan Contra’s fiasco but he fiercely criticizes several of Clinton’s international “failures.” I’m all for shedding light on some information that has been hidden in the past but do it across the board!

If Woods were a true libertarian he also would criticize state governments as strongly as he criticizes the federal government. Libertarians are supposed to be for the individual. What about a federal government that is protecting the rights of an individual against the prohibitions administered by a state government? That certainly is worthy of a discussion.

I am glad that I read this book because it is filled with information that is new to me. It’s really a shame that the author is so bitter. Regardless of your political perspective I think it’s a worthwhile read, or listen. Just try not to respond emotionally to some of the things the author says. Let it sink in and extract the usefulness.

I certainly look forward to a future book that Woods could write about Trump, Trumpism and the Trump administration and hope that he would use the same critical eye and bitter tongue that he has used when examining Democratic Presidents. But, alas, think that it is highly unlikely.

infotmative but always on the same side.

needs careful cross-check to be believed. but certainly an eye opener to the root causes of US society polarization

Amazing

This book is so good, I would recommend every American to read it.
I will recommend it to all of my family and friends.

Ma Foi!

The best part is the Books You're Not Supposed to read. A whole lot of "that's not how it happened!" the best sources of support are the pre-20th c. sources, in my opinion.

Good Run Thru History 101

Good Basic Book on US History from the "what really happend point of view". The book will leave you asking your self "Is that the truth" and "I relly need to study that more".

awesome

excellent and interesting rendition of the history they don't want you to know. I listened to this in this in one sitting it was so interesting and well done.

As the title warns, openly, unashamedly one-sided

I thought I knew my American history pretty well, but this book has lots of interesting and surprising correctives and counter-arguments to offer on every topic it addresses. It makes its points clearly and concisely, and might prove rather useful in arguments with liberal friends.

However, be warned, it is just what its title indicates. When it takes up the Civil War (which, it persuasively notes, was not technically a “civil war”) and the various events that led up to it, the book is unashamedly pro-South and pro-Confederacy (though not, of course, pro-slavery, except to point out that, under better circumstances, it might have died out on its own). The chapter on the First World War reads like an apology for the Kaiser, going on and on about the cruelty of Britain’s “starvation” embargo (which, like it or not, was a major factor in bringing the war to a close) and the arrogance, fanaticism, hypocrisy, and even madness of Woodrow Wilson but mentioning nary a word about poison gas, the Zimmermann telegram, or the genuine German atrocities in Belgium (as opposed to the creations of British propaganda). It is nuanced about Warren Harding, predictably pro-Coolidge, and even more predictably anti-New Deal. It finds kind things to say about Joe McCarthy and (correctly) details Franklin Roosevelt’s attempts to move the U.S. into a war with Nazi Germany, even as he assured the nation that he’d keep it out of war. These things are worth pointing out to those unaware of them, even though some of us may be extremely glad that FDR did what he did. (Lynne Olson’s “Those Angry Days” is a good examination of the subject.)

Needless to say, the book is pro-isolationist. I actually did a double take when I heard the narrator say “In 1937, when Japan and China went to war…” That’s like saying “When Russia and Ukraine went to war.”

Though not as duplicitous as FDR, the sainted JFK makes a good target, ditto the expensive failures of LBJ’s Great Society. Those more familiar with what “politically correct” means in today’s world will be pleased that the book takes on Brown v. Board of Education, forced busing, Head Start, affirmative action, racial preferences, and the assault on meritocracy. Unfortunately, the book came out in 2004, so that the latest woke outrages aren’t included. (Charles Murray is cited as the author of “Losing Ground," but there’s no mention of “The Bell Curve” or of his most recent work, “Facing Reality,” the very essence of politically incorrect truth-telling.)

Again, this Politically Incorrect Guide does precisely what it sets out to do. It carefully cherry-picks facts that support its point of view, as well as the most persuasively partisan quotes from statesmen, journalists, and historians. You won’t get a full, balanced picture, but you’ll certainly get a useful corrective to unsettle, or at least question, some conventional pieties.

P.S. The reader, Barrett Whitener, is excellent, though I wish he’d toned down the occasional foreign accents. The chance to do that sort of thing is clearly irresistible to professional readers.

Robotic Performance - Amazing Historical Information

Even though the performance was robotic, the plethora of interesting historical information was enough to keep you engaged and satisfied.

The politically incorrect series always leaves me with a well rounded and overall better understanding of the topic.

A MUST listen. Walks you through pieces of history most other books/documentaries avoid or side step.