That's Not in My American History Book: A Compilation of Little-Known Events and Forgotten Heroes

That's Not in My American History 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 l...