This book collects an illuminating treasury of stories edited out of your textbooks. It explains why the Fourth of July isn't really our Independence Day. It dispels the myth of Paul Revere's ride. It reveals nineteenth-century political mudslinging that labeled Andrew Jackson a murderer and his wife an adulteress. It even unveils the only vice president ever to compose a number-one pop hit. For generations, history classes reduced the American story into a dry litany of dates, names, and places. Now, Thomas Ayres fills in the gaps, supplying the messy details, reclaiming the overlooked heroes, and correcting the facts you thought you knew.

Subtitle from container. Unabridged.