This book is a compilation of people and incidents in American history that most people either don’t know about, or have learned incorrect information about. These short essays range in time from before the founding of the country, up to about the most recent turn of the century. Ayres is an investigative reporter, so he does not assume something is correct until he has checked out the sources of the information. Some of these corrected stories I had already heard about – Washington didn’t really chop down a cherry tree as a boy. But others were new to me.
The book is divided into five chapters: Stories Lost between the Pages; America’s Forgotten Heroes; The Underside of History; Little-Known Facts about Famous People; and Myths That Became History. For the second chapter, I have lived in Boston, so I had heard of William Dawes, but Sybil Ludington and several others that actually did what Paul Revere is reputed to have done are not as well known, even there. Paul Revere just had better PR. And I had never heard that Jonas Salk was not respected by other scientists.
Some of the most interesting stories are the ones where we know part of the story, but not necessarily all of the details. For example, apparently they were drinking something rather stronger than tea before the Boston Tea Party! I do understand why that detail is not in elementary school textbooks. A couple of the incidents Ayres chronicles are only possibilities, not documented facts. For example, there was someone who claimed to be John Wilkes Booth a number of years after he is supposed to have died. While it’s not a bad thing to keep asking questions, sometimes there is no way to make sure you have the correct answer.
If this was your family, how would you research them? While this is not your standard history book, there is an excellent bibliography. This is a resource I sadly tend to neglect. But if you have an interest, or think any of the stories Ayres touches on would have impacted your family in any way, the bibliography is the place to go to find out where he got his information, and where you can learn more.