Miracles and Massacres: True and Untold Stories of the Making of America

Author: Glenn Beck (in case you couldn't tell since his name is twice as big as the title....it annoys me when authors do that)
Pages: 256
Rating: PG-13 (the title tells you why. Massacres)

Summary:
Thomas Edison was a bad guy— and bad guys usually lose in the end.

World War II radio host “Tokyo Rose” was branded as a traitor by the U.S. government and served time in prison. In reality, she was a hero to many.

Twenty U.S. soldiers received medals of honor at the Battle of Wounded Knee—yet this wasn’t a battle at all; it was a massacre.

Paul Revere’s midnight ride was nothing compared to the ride made by a guy named Jack whom you’ve probably never heard of.

History is about so much more than memorizing facts. It is, as more than half of the word suggests, about the story. And, told in the right way, it is the greatest one ever written: Good and evil, triumph and tragedy, despicable acts of barbarism and courageous acts of heroism.

The things you’ve never learned about our past will shock you. The reason why gun control is so important to government elites can be found in a story about Athens that no one dares teach. Not the city in ancient Greece, but the one in 1946 Tennessee. The power of an individual who trusts his gut can be found in the story of the man who stopped the twentieth hijacker from being part of 9/11. And a lesson on what happens when an all-powerful president is in need of positive headlines is revealed in a story about eight saboteurs who invaded America during World War II.

Miracles and Massacres is history as you’ve never heard it told. It’s incredible events that you never knew existed. And it’s stories so important and relevant to today that you won’t have to ask, Why didn’t they teach me this? You will instantly know. If the truth shall set you free, then your freedom begins on page one of this book. By the end, your understanding of the lies and half-truths you’ve been taught may change, but your perception of who we are as Americans and where our country is headed definitely will.

My Thoughts: I thought this book was fascinating. If you like history at all, you'll enjoy this collection of stories as well. They are written as stories, not a collection of facts, and if you really care, at the end of the book, Beck lists which parts of the stories were fabricated for the sake of creating a coherent story line, and which parts are solid fact. I appreciated this, and thought it was pretty interesting.  

My husband didn't like the fact that each story is told from varying viewpoints, and it switches back and forth. I didn't mind it, but just wanted to put that out there.

Personally I learned quite a bit about history from this book, and how the US is certainly not perfect. That being said, I don't think Beck was trying to turn our country into some secretive bad guy, I just think he wanted to expose stories that the government tried to hide or at least gloss over for a while. There are also several stories about bravery and heroism that you just may not have heard of.

My personal favorite story was "Saboteurs: In a Time of War, the Laws are Silent." During World War II, Germany decided to send 8 "spies" over to America to bomb some key factories and bridges and hopefully make things more difficult for the US. The Nazis chose these "spies" based on the fact that they had previously spent time in the United States and would easily blend in to the environment. Unfortunately, they didn't think to check the loyalties of these men, who had no intention of following through with their mission. After a Nazi sub dropped the men off a few miles off the US coastline in the middle of the night, one of the men went straight to the FBI and told them everything, including that he and his comrades had no hard feelings towards the US and that they would like to help the US win the war. However, the United States felt that its citizens needed the morale boost from hearing that 8 would-be saboteurs were captured and kept from their mission. The men were arrested and put in prison, and ultimately, 6 were executed, including one man who was actually a US citizen. The other two were sentenced to 30 years in prison, but only served about 6 of those years. The war ended and a new president freed them and sent them back to Germany.

To me, the ultimate lesson I gained from this book is that you can't always trust every news story or press release you hear. People in power are very good at twisting the truth and convincing unsuspecting listeners that an entirely different truth exists. In at least two of the stories, the American people were convinced that the government was doing the right thing, blissfully unaware of the truth.

But you may get a different message. Like I said, not all the stories are about mistakes. I would give this one a read. It's very interesting, and a pretty easy read too, since the stories are told in a novelistic fashion.