Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Detective work

I love history. But too many times, that's what it truly is, a story. Lately I've been delving into the actual facts of the American Revolution. Many of those facts are wrong. Or what we think are the facts. Case in Point: Paul Revere. Without the Raiders. (Bad sub reference, but hopefully someone gets it.)

How instrumental was he in warning the colonists the British were coming? Not very, actually. He was caught just a few miles into his ride. Or how about who fired the first shot at Lexington and Concord? We did. Well, a colonist did.

Anyway, I'm considering taking all this compiled info and making it into an entertaining (to a history geek like me) read. Yup, someday I'll sit down and try to write a short, factual as possible account of the American Revolution. Or make it into a series.

I like how even in these info times, so many events are wrongly reported. Which amazes me, because it should be easy to say "Uh, no actually this happened, so let's end the game of telephone." but it never seems to happen. That's alright, I like being able to annoy people when they're wrong. Because I'm spiteful.

Time to eat, but lord knows what that statement could blossom into in today's media...

1 comment:

David Amulet said...

There is a good short book on this, called simply "The American Revolution" (I think), by Gordon Wood. Stripped down history, just the facts and a bit of interpretation.

I have always loved history but never of the U.S. kind. Only recently have I even learned the U.S, presidents and some of their stories.