Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of American History

This entertaining look at the myths Americans live by debunks everything from the sanctity of the Founding Fathers to the notion that concern for defendants' rights is a recent development. Shenkman, coauthor of One Night Stands with American History , begins with our presidents and disabuses readers of the idea that poor boys can grow up to occupy the White House (there have been few). He goes on to a multitude of subjects, including sex, war, the frontier, education, art, pointing out along the way that prostitution flourished in the Victorian era, that the defenders of the Alamo did not all perish in the battle and that in the antebellum South not all whites backed slavery. The book is occasionally eye-opening and always fun. (Nov.)