Hello, I’m Italian and I’m reading what I understood to be a classic in American HIstory. I’m throug 100 pagesi in and I have the feeling that the author is a bit too partisan and unbalanced. Sometimes I feel that he had already decided what happened and then he tries to find facts that confirm his prejudices.
Hence, I’m asking if someone out there knows another book about the same subjecst that is not at all celebratory toward America, actually I’m looking for a book that is very critic and severe toward America, but at the same time that is more balanced. Any advice?
(Sorry if this message could sound confused or badly written, I’m not mother tongue and, also, the feeling toward the book is there but still blurry, but there’s something about this book that doesn’t convince me.)
Saying you’re looking for a critical alternative sounds strange to this American. Here, that book is the critical alternative. It’s the counterpoint to all the toxic conservative propaganda we’re spoonfed daily. Propaganda that tells us that straight, white, Christian, American men are not only the saviors of democracy, but also the Universe, that God, guns, and money will save us all. That book tells the stories we’re taught to deny. If it doesn’t convince you, it’s because it goes against everything America wants you to believe. If you’re just looking to be mad, turn on Fox News. They’ll tell you plenty of things that are “wrong” with America.
And you don’t see how what you just wrote here could be seen as biased? I think OP’s looking for something outside that point of view you just espoused.
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im an american and had never heard of this book before so i had to look it up. it seems extremely impressive that someone would undertake such a breadth of american experiences through its entire history. however, i also saw a lot of criticism that matches what you described. ill give you the same advice id give anyone studying any history: no book is perfect. if you really want to know as much as you can, you’ll have to read a ton of books from a ton of different sources. plenty of people love criticizing america, its very easy to do, but most authors wont try to write with such the breadth that this guy has, due to it often including bias and poor sources. its an easy thing to do poorly. if you want a factual overview of american history, id go for a textbook. you can then deep dive into anything that interests you. if you are interested in varying perspectives, there are plenty of african american, native american, feminist, etc. books. you can look up plenty of different book lists online. just look up the author/book before you leave, as there are plenty of frauds. hope that helps! whats gotten you interested in american history?
Yes, you are right. But it seemed very quiet there.
I do care aboutwhat is almost true. One gathers the facts and in the end gives an interpretation
Sure.
As I said it doesn’t matter and I am tired of pretending otherwise. Just pick a book that agrees with what you think already and read it. We are a post-truth society. You read his alternative history because you wanted confirmation now you want other books that also confirm you. Since the plural of anecdotes is data, the plural of opinion is alternative facts, the plural of lies is our truth.
Meh you might as well keep reading him. Fake history sells better than real history. He took his alternative facts, fit them into his model, and did it in an entertaining way. And this is of course justified because some history class somewhere supposedly was too cheerful.
Lets stop pretending that we care about what is true and what is not.
