A gold-mine for bar bettors....Shenkman’s jam-packed grab-bag of topsy turvy Americana amuses and shocks.” - Kirkus Reviews
“Facts go only skin-deep, but they can prickle memorably, which is why books like this, disabusing us of our cherished bunk, are useful and fun.” - New York Times Book Review
“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. 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.” - Publishers Weekly
“Mr. Shenkman leaves no hero untouched, no American value unsullied.” - Wall Street Journal
“A treasure trove....Shenkman shows the many ways myths have a rose-tinted past.” - Los Angeles Times