As someone who learned a lot of this so-called "bad history," this book rights a lot of wrongs. A TLDR re-education for people raised learning questionable, revisionist history from some of the country's smartest essayists.

I tried to get through this but the first essay alone was way too academic for me that I had trouble understanding it.

edited by Princeton History Professors Kevin Kruse and Julian Zelizer, each chapter of Myth America unpacks, historicizes, and debunks an American myth. chapters include the topics of immigration from Erika Lee, empire from Daniel Immerwahr, socialism from Michael Kazin, the New Deal from Eric Rachway, the Lost Cause from Karen L. Cox, and many additional chapters relating to contemporary politics by Glenda Gilmore, Lawrence Glickman, Elizabeth Hinton, Kathleen Belew, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and more. introduction historicizes myth-making: the media environment and the Right’s assault on truth. the contributors’ chapters transcend that context. myths involving exceptionalism, “vanishing” Native Americans, hidden empire, and the Lost Cause have consistently infiltrated the full political spectrum. Myth America takes a stab at unpacking and debunking them.

I recieved a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I appreciate what this book is trying to accomplish. Trying to prove a less idealist point of view on America. I think this book would be more meaningful for someone who is not already well informed on the topic included in this book.

I thought this book was good for what it was. This is not my usual genre that I enjoy, but the topic really pulled me in. I like the essay format of the book, but quality seemed off between them. The book is more Leftist, which I prefer…

Another great read from Kevin Kruse and Julian Zelizer that follows in the footsteps of their previous publication Fault Lines. The historians take on popular controversial topics such as confederate monuments, police violence, voter fraud, etc. draws the reader in and provides a framework for making comparisons to what we hear in the modern news cycles. Special shoutout to the final chapter by Carol Anderson who has written quite a few excellent books in recent years regarding voting and the impact of race and the 2nd amendment.

Thanks to Net Galley for the digital advanced reader copy!

I am familiar with both Kruse and Zelizer and their work on post 1973 history. Really like the concept of this collected set of essays on everything from American Exceptionalism to police violence. This is a great edition for someone wanting to cut through a lot of the research to understand key ideas in American historiography. They all stand equally to me, although there are some historians that I was looking forward to reading over others. The risk in these works is that it is usually unbalanced, with some very strong and then some very weak entries. Kruse and Zelizer found the best people for the topics that are in this book, and expertise, along with clarity is what this book offers the best. I feel this is a book that casual readers may be attracted to (although, any conservative Trump supporters will be turned off immediately by the introduction, but in all fairness, the America First chapter was the one I think I learned the most through). As a well-read history teacher, I can't say there was a lot that I had not known or considered, but I think for undergrads, this is a great look at history by breaking down concepts that we think we know, or, those that students may just not have background information on to adequately explain.

Think America is all bright lights and show? Incorrect. America does have its share of fables that make it what it is. This book is loaded with them,