By: Jonathan Harris
On the whole, I give Thomas E. Wood’s The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History two thumbs up. It’s by far the most helpful, informative, and interesting installment in the Guide series I’ve reviewed so far. First of all, Woods is smart. I mean really smart. He’s probably one the smartest men out there right now when it comes to cultural, political, and economic history. He’s also original. Well, there are people who agree with him. In fact, you’ll find that if you go back to the historical period he writes about, most people, or at least a sizable amount, agree with his modern-day conclusions. You just never hear about them because they were typically the silent majority (i.e. they weren’t the newspaper owners, history book writers, victors in their own causes or wars). So Wood’s bringing up their right conclusions on controversial questions such as Should we have fought WWI? or Were Jim Crow laws racist? will serve to be a new tune to your ear. Every student, after taking their high school history course, should read this book to gain a broad overview of everything they missed, and to wet their appetite toward further study.