''The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History'' is a work of paleoconservative literature covering various issues in

U.S. history The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of Settlement of the Americas, the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Native American cultures in the United States, Numerous indigenous cultures formed ...

Thomas E. Woods Thomas Ernest Woods Jr. (born August 1, 1972) is an American author and Libertarianism in the United States, libertarian commentator who is currently a senior fellow at the Mises Institute.Naji FilaliInterview with Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Harvard P ...

, published in December 2004. This book was the first in the ''

Politically Incorrect Guide Regnery Publishing is a politically conservative book publisher based in Washington, D.C. The company was founded by Henry Regnery in 1947, and is now a division of radio broadcaster Salem Media Group. It is led by President & Publisher Thomas Sp ...

'' series published by

Regnery Publishing Regnery Publishing is a politically conservative book publisher based in Washington, D.C. The company was founded by Henry Regnery in 1947, and is now a division of radio broadcaster Salem Media Group. It is led by President & Publisher Thomas Sp ...

, who view the series as covering topics without consideration for

political correctness ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...

. The book was present on '' The New York Times'' best-seller list for many weeks.'' New York Times'' "Bestseller List" ( Paperback non-fiction), 9 January 200

/ref>

Background and contents

The book challenges modern notions of History of the United States, American history; the author argues, among other viewpoints, that America's founding fathers were conservatives, the War on Poverty made

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

worse and that hundreds of American liberals had ties to the Soviet Union during the McCarthy Era. It also contests the cost-effectiveness of government projects, especially the Transcontinental Railroad. Woods acknowledges

Clyde N. Wilson Clyde Norman Wilson (born 11 June 1941) is a retired American professor of history at the University of South Carolina, a paleoconservative political commentator, a long-time contributing editor for ''Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture ...

and Donald Livingston as having helped to develop his book.

Reception

The book was promoted on Fox News, and was listed on the '' New York Times'' Best Seller list for non-fiction books, reaching 8th place in January 2005. In an editorial in the ''Times'' that month, Adam Cohen said "it is tempting to dismiss the book as fringe scholarship, not worth worrying about, but the numbers say otherwise." Cohen described the book as "a checklist of arch- conservative

talking point A talking point, often used in the plural, is a pre-established message or formula used in the field of political communication, sales and commercial or advertising communication. The message is coordinated ''a priori'' to remain more or less inv ...

s" which opposed civil rights and promoted discredited theories such as nullification.

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

senior fellow Max Boot published a critique of the book in '' The Weekly Standard'' in February 2005. Boot labeled Woods' pro- secessionist views as a " Bizarro world". Boot also criticized Woods for what he saw as ignoring African-Americans' struggle for civil rights and ignoring the fact that

Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has frequently been used as a given ...

's intervention in the Balkans stopped a potential genocide. Also in February,

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

columnist

Cathy Young Catherine Alicia Young (born Yekaterina Jung russian: Екатерина Юнг; born February 10, 1963) is a Russian-born American journalist. Young is primarily known for her writing about feminism and other cultural issues, as well as about R ...

agreed with some of the book's views of

free-market economics In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

, but harshly criticized Woods' handling of the topic of slavery: "Unfortunately, whatever solid arguments this book has can only be tainted by association with Woods's ultra-

reactionary In political science, a reactionary or a reactionist is a person who holds political views that favor a return to the ''status quo ante'', the previous political state of society, which that person believes possessed positive characteristics abse ...

extremism." Historian David Greenberg in March dismissed Woods as a "hitherto unknown assistant professor" and his book as "a brisk tour of U.S. history from

Colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 a ...

to Clintonian times, filtered through a lens of

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

dogma, circa 1939" that is " incorrect in more than just its politics" and that "would be tedious to debunk." Law professor Eric L. Muller has been frequently cited as a critic of the book, linking its views to the

neo-Confederate Neo-Confederates are groups and individuals who portray the Confederate States of America and its actions during the American Civil War in a positive light. The League of the South, the Sons of Confederate Veterans and other neo-Confederate organ ...

organization the

League of the South The League of the South (LS) is an American white nationalist, neo-Confederate, white supremacist organization, headquartered in Killen, Alabama, which states that its ultimate goal is "a free and independent Southern republic". The group def ...

. Woods was one of the founding members of the League of the South. Judge James Haley praised the book in the conservative ''Weekly Standard'' as "a compelling rebuttal to the liberal sentiment encrusted upon current history texts."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Politically Incorrect Guide To American History, The 2004 non-fiction books American non-fiction books English-language books Regnery Publishing books Politically Incorrect Guides Historical negationism Pseudohistory