Not so!

Description

As he did in his bestselling They Never Said It, Boller provides us with a cornucopia of historical correction, debunking myths that range from the trivial - for instance, George Washington did not have false teeth made of wood (they were made of ivory) - to the pernicious (FDR did not know in advance that the Japanese planned to bomb Pearl Harbor). Boller doesn't simply debunk each myth, but instead provides us with much fascinating history surrounding each case, so that the reader is treated to intriguing discussions of many singular episodes in American history, including the Kennedy assassination, the McCarthy hearings, the events leading up to Pearl Harbor, and Watergate. And finally, if the book provides many eye-opening surprises and amusing passages, there is also a serious side of Boller's exploration of American myth. As he shows, much misinformation has been cooked up for political or ideological reasons. By debunking these tales, Boller warns us to question what we hear and what we think we know about America and about our leaders, past and present.

First Sentence

In daring to sail westward in 1492, hoping to reach the Indies, Christopher Columbus was challenging the prevailing belief of his day that the earth was flat.

Subjects

Other Editions

• Not so!: popular myths about America from Columbus to ClintonOxford University Press1995-01-01
• Not So!Oxford University Press, USA1995-10-05
• Not so!Oxford University Press1996-01-01
• Not So!Oxford University Press, USA1996-08-07