Thomas F. (hardtack) -
If you are into American history, you should read this book, as you'll have fun picking out all the errors. Instead of "More Shocking Secrets," much of it was boring trivia, and most of that the author took license with so as to make it turn out the way he wanted. And although the book was published in 2007, the author obviously couldn't take the time to confirm his stories with anything written after the 1950s.
I could list dozens of examples to back up the statements above, but here are just a few.
John Quincy Adams is mentioned as the second President of the United States. Actually, he was the sixth. His father, John Adams was the second.
The Hessians at Trenton weren't drunk after riotous Christmas Eve partying as the author states. They were just tired after being called out to formation several times during the night in anticipation of an attack.
But I was totally 'shocked' to discover strict Puritan leader William Bradford's grandson, eight times removed, was Hugh Hefner. Wow! Why weren't we taught this fascinating information in school? Probably because it is meaningless!
The author leads you to believe former Union General Thomas Meagher was killed in 1867, for his political beliefs, by members of the American Know-Nothing party. But that party was only active for a short time in the 1850s and disappeared by 1860. This is only one of the many "shocking secrets" related to the American Civil War which the author gets wrong, either completely or in part.
The author mistakenly credits Horace Greeley with originating the phrase "Go west, young man, go west."
One of the "shocking secrets" I really had to laugh at was the author's statement that Sam Clemens took his pen name of Mark Twain from his service as a 'leadsman' on a river boat. He give Clemens the job of tossing out a lead-weighted rope to gauge the depth of the river. "Mark Twain" meant the depth was 12 feet. Clemens was never a leadsman. Instead, he started his river boat career as an apprentice river boat pilot and then as a pilot.
For my last example, the author has World War II Japanese forces attacking and occupying several Aleutian islands as a prelude to seizing Alaska and then invading the continental United States. I'm sure this was 'shocking' to the Japanese, who only meant the attacks on the Aleutians as a diversion for their attack on Midway Island, where they hoped to lure the American Fleet to its destruction.
Summing up, I suspect the author wrote this book on a weekend. According to the book's bio, the author was named History Teacher of the Year by the Daughters of the American Revolution. This tells you something about that organization.
I could list dozens of examples to back up the statements above, but here are just a few.
John Quincy Adams is mentioned as the second President of the United States. Actually, he was the sixth. His father, John Adams was the second.
The Hessians at Trenton weren't drunk after riotous Christmas Eve partying as the author states. They were just tired after being called out to formation several times during the night in anticipation of an attack.
But I was totally 'shocked' to discover strict Puritan leader William Bradford's grandson, eight times removed, was Hugh Hefner. Wow! Why weren't we taught this fascinating information in school? Probably because it is meaningless!
The author leads you to believe former Union General Thomas Meagher was killed in 1867, for his political beliefs, by members of the American Know-Nothing party. But that party was only active for a short time in the 1850s and disappeared by 1860. This is only one of the many "shocking secrets" related to the American Civil War which the author gets wrong, either completely or in part.
The author mistakenly credits Horace Greeley with originating the phrase "Go west, young man, go west."
One of the "shocking secrets" I really had to laugh at was the author's statement that Sam Clemens took his pen name of Mark Twain from his service as a 'leadsman' on a river boat. He give Clemens the job of tossing out a lead-weighted rope to gauge the depth of the river. "Mark Twain" meant the depth was 12 feet. Clemens was never a leadsman. Instead, he started his river boat career as an apprentice river boat pilot and then as a pilot.
For my last example, the author has World War II Japanese forces attacking and occupying several Aleutian islands as a prelude to seizing Alaska and then invading the continental United States. I'm sure this was 'shocking' to the Japanese, who only meant the attacks on the Aleutians as a diversion for their attack on Midway Island, where they hoped to lure the American Fleet to its destruction.
Summing up, I suspect the author wrote this book on a weekend. According to the book's bio, the author was named History Teacher of the Year by the Daughters of the American Revolution. This tells you something about that organization.
