Review: Overflowing with Factual Errors
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 05 19, 2013
I was surprised at both the number and the extent of the factual and historical mistakes that found their way into a final, published book.A few examples of huge errors that jumped out at me:Theodore Roosevelt, according to the author of this book, was responsible for the emergence of a big federal government in the United States in 1920. Beyond not giving any examples of what specifically Roosevelt was supposed to have done to have caused this big government trend to begin or why the author felt it to be true, there is no way that Roosevelt could have been the cause of anything in 1920 since he died in 1919. Theodore Roosevelt was president from 1901-1909 and had long been out of service to the federal government by the time of his death. It couldn't be a case of the author confusing Theodore with Franklin Roosevelt either since the latter didn't take office as president until 1933. Strike One.The author further writes "In 1871 Hamilton wrote..." referring to a passage allegedly written by Alexander Hamilton. As with the Theodore Roosevelt error, this could not possibly be true since Hamilton was killed in 1804. Strike Two.According to the author Thomas Jefferson founded the Republican party. No, Jefferson and his followers formed the Democratic Republican party which later became simply the Democratic party. The Republican party did not emerge until the mid-19th century with Abraham Lincoln becoming the first president elected from that party long after Jefferson's death. Yes, the parties have traded platforms over the intervening decades, but it still doesn't make Jefferson the founder of the Republican party. Strike Three.There are other problems with this book, not the least of which there are no references cited for any of the quotations or events. The only exception to the lack of citations is a section of the book which contains dialog from an HBO mini-series, John Adams, which supposedly illustrates a fictional conversation between Jefferson and Hamilton. A television show meant for entertainment is hardly a credible source. The author also is confused over the correct use of the word "capitol" and the standard rules of capitalization for titles and subtitles.Not recommended unless you wish to use this book as part of a game to see who can find the most errors.