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

Have you ever wondered why American history is so dry and all and you hated it when you had to study it in high school? That's because most of the people who wrote it didn't care about it weren't that interested in it. Glenn Beck is different. He loves American history and wants to share it with you as much as he possibly can that you might enjoy it as much as he does. Glenn Beck has a radio program and a TV program and he said outstanding scholar in American history but think if you saw him on the street he was just anybody. Glenn Beck collects all sorts of American memorabilia and world history memorabilia. In this book he is telling a number of true stories of some of the most exciting aspects of our history of the making of our country. Some of them are wonderful and favorable to our country and some are horrible and chose the dark side of our country. One of the great stories is about it ride during the Revolutionary war were an officer road to save the revolution by writing to tell Thomas Jefferson about an attack that was coming and so getting the information to George Washington so he could counteract it in time, which he did, thank heavens or we wouldn't be here today as Americans. Other stories show the dark side of American history like the prosecution of Tokyo Rose. She was a woman who was an American who was captured during World War II by the Japanese I was forced to make broadcasts against the Americans he did these but she did them in such a way that she was inspiring the troops in the Pacific when she would talk to them on the radio in the evenings, but the Japanese not knowing English well thought she was being derogatory towards the Americans. During World War II there were five different Tokyo Rose women at least broadcasting, but this one the true Tokyo Rose was a guaranteed American hero but when she came back to the United States she was prosecuted as a trader and imprisoned for many years eventually Pres. Carter pardoned her, but that was a long time after the fact that she suffered greatly in the meantime This is an absolutely fantastic book that brings out so many good things and bad things about our country that you just need to learn this is a must-read for all Americans. Hopefully that will start having young people read this in junior high or high school soon. That would be a fantastic choice for all young people and all Americans. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who needs to learn American history and the truth of it the good the bad and the ugly.

Glenn Beck, the author, nationally syndicated radio host, and creator of TheBlaze news network, is concerned about how our history has been neglected in our schools. And he aims to do something about it. So, in part, he has written this book, which approaches history not just from the what, when and where of events but also from the how and why. Is he successful? Yes, he is. This is engaging history of 12 American stories that have repercussions today in the legal, social, and political fabric of our nation. And it is done in a style that makes you want to know more and puts you there. As Beck states in the last section of the book called Our Fading History: "I want people to read these stories and feel as if they were there beside the characters. I don't want people to just read about Tokyo Rose in a textbook, I want them to understand who she really was and why she made the decisions she did. Only once you have that context can you judge whether history has treated her properly." There are numerous surprises in these pages that will at times horrify readers and at times inspire them. Most of them end with a lesson in morality that should be remembered and followed. Unfortunately, all of these stories have been relatively unknown. For example, do we really know how important Patrick Henry and George Mason were in constructing the Bill of Rights? Or why William Eaton and the threat of overwhelming force were important in forcing the Barbary pirates of the early 1800s to sue for peace from President James Madison? And how come Nikola Tesla was important for the proliferation of electricity in our country? Why were General Nelson Miles and Major Samuel Whiteside the only ones in the government or Army to realize the truth of the Wounded Knee massacre? Why was Peter Burger, a defector from a group of Nazis saboteurs hidden in America during World War II, treated horribly when he essentially destroyed their mission? Who was Iva Toguri and why was she, as Tokyo Rose, actually doing the enemy harm? Why is Athens, Tennessee, in 1946 important for every American’s protection from governmental tyranny? What are the lessons of the My Lai massacre, and who was Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson? How was Jose Melendez-Perez, a customs agent in the Orlando, Florida, airport, instrumental in the altering of the 9/11 terrorist attacks? All of these questions and many more are answered in Beck’s book. He has done a ton or research, and all of those notes are located at the end. There is also, at the end, an excerpt from a publication written in 1828 by Arthur J. Stansbury about the Constitution and the functioning of the federal government that was written as a simple guide for use in the public education system. It is something that every American should know but doesn’t. It spells out in a concise way the implications of that document. And it has many lessons for the problems we face today. In short, this book is a worthy read. It’s also hard to put down.

This review is of the Audiobook version of Miracles and Massacres. Overall, this is an excellent publication. I am not a fan of history as taught in schools - rote memorization of names, dates, locations. What the history classes lack is the real reason why we study history: For the stories. Stories that teach us not just "who, when, and where" but also the "how" and the "why". I had only one history teacher in school that presented history as more than just a list of names and dates; I learned far more in that history class than all of the others combined. Not only did I learn about history, but I learned about morality, consequences, and very difficult choices. Miracles and Massacres reminds me of that high school history teacher. Here is well researched history presented in an engaging, entertaining way. You will hear the dates, yes, but they are of secondary importance to everything else. The chain of events is given center stage here. The decisions that are made, why the figures of history made them, and what the consequences were. This is how history should be taught in order to prevent ourselves from repeating it. If you yourself are generally turned off by history, or if you have a child in school that can't stand the class, try Miracles and Massacres and see if that changes your mind. I will be buying a copy as a Christmas gift for me niece. For those who have bought this publication and are enjoying it, I also recommend looking into the "Hardcore History" podcast series by Dan Carlin. They are very similar in nature, and Dan does an exceptional job of being very fair and presenting a very human perspective to history. The history in Miracles and Massacres is all American, and it shows us at our very best and at our very worst. Glenn and Dan should get together. The result would be phenomenal. The only reason I rated this four stars is that the Audiobook narrator does very poor accents. It was a bit distracting. When he uses his natural voice however, the reading is quite good. Also, there was no booklet or track listing included with the compact discs. If you want to find a particular story you will be unable to do so. Here is a track listing: Disc 1: 1. Introduction 2. Author's Notes and Dedication 3. Jack Joulett, the Ride That Saved America 4. Shay's Rebellion, Part 1 5. Shay's Rebellion, Part 2 Disc 2: 1. Shay's Rebellion, Part 3 2. Shay's Rebellion, Part 4 3. The Virginia Convention, Part 1 4. The Virginia Convention, Part 2 5. The Barbary War, Part 1 Disc 3: 1. The Barbary War, Part 2 2. The Barbary War, Part 3 3. Edison vs. Westinghouse, Part 1 Disc 4: 1. Edison vs. Westinghouse, Part 2 2. Edison vs. Westinghouse, Part 3 3. The Battle at Wounded Knee, Part 1 4. The Battle at Wounded Knee, Part 2 Disc 5: 1. The Battle at Wounded Knee, Part 3 2. Easy Eddie and the Hard Road to Redemption, Part 1 3. Easy Eddie and the Hard Road to Redemption, Part 2 4. The Saboteurs, Part 1 Disc 6: 1. The Saboteurs, Part 2 2. The Saboteurs, Part 3 3. Who Is Tokyo Rose, Part 1 4. Who Is Tokyo Rose, Part 2 Disc 7: 1. Who Is Tokyo Rose, Part 3 2. The Battle of Athens, Part 1 3. The Battle of Athens, Part 2 4. The My Lai Massacre, Part 1 Disc 8: 1. The My Lai Massacre, Part 2 2. The My Lai Massacre, Part 3 3. The Missing 9/11 Terrorist, Part 1 4. The Missing 9/11 Terrorist, Part 2 5. Closing / Simon and Schuster Advertisement Once you start, you will have a very hard time stopping.

I have become a real Glenn Beck fan. Love him or hate him, there is no doubt where he stands on the important issues of the day. If you love history and more so if you love the truth, read this book. It is the story of America, the greatest nation that has ever existed on earth. I am a first generation American. My parents left Cuba in the 1940s and I was born in NYC. I visited Cuba before and after Castro. My father use to tell his bothers and in laws to leave Cuba as their only hope for true freedom was the US. He left because he realized this nation offered him the only chance he had to improve his life and that of his family. I thank him and God everyday of the courageous decision he made, you see he was an American citizen by birth and when he came to the US, WWII had just started. He enlisted in the Army was wounded and we he got out, he brought his bride to America. He started his family in this country and for that I am eternally grateful. I have seen tyranny and injustice up close and personal. I have had members of my family persecuted and imprisoned for the great crime of wanting to leave the island hell hole that is Cuba. The US is no saint as a nation....Lord knows we have many sins, but overall no nation has offered more liberty to the common man and fought on foreign soil to others could defeat tyrannical regimes than than the US. Glenn's book gives one a peak into the good, the bad, and the ugly of what has made America. A country that the world cannot afford to lose, for once it is gone where does one go to find liberty and the dignity of the individual.

Glenn Beck is a very knowledgeable historian. He clearly does his homework and presents history in a way that makes it easy to learn and fascinating to read. Blessings always, Mr. Beck

Nonpartisan stories of what happened in each incident. Fascinating and readable. Not dry at all. I highly recommend it. Tragic but inspiring.

The 12 stories told here are politically neutered. Notably absent is political commentary by Mr. Beck. With the disclaimer given that I am a big fan of the author, I will say his writing style for historical events does an incredible service to the issue of fading American history. These stories each stand alone to bring alive many events we may have heard of but never really looked beneath the surface of. There are some imagined events which serve only to frame some of the stories. These serve as a foil to the real facts which are not made up. All story elements are clearly cited at the end as to whether it was real or imagined. After devouring these stories, I gave the book to my 13 year old daughter who reads and comprehends much faster than I do. The only negative I can say is that there are not 112 stories. It would truly be a shame if this were not made into a multiple volume series. I usually don't post book reviews but felt compelled to do so by this one.

I have only begun to really appreciate America’s past history, as we are in the process of making new history in so many ways. In 50 years what will Americans say about us living in these times? A Presidential race with many different views of how America should be led? What are we doing about the “undeclared war “ with ISIS and Radical Islam, which America has been at war with almost as long as America was founded? Mr. Beck wrote about events that not many people know of today but were spotlighted in their time. Miracles and Massacres has 12 events in America’s past, which some could be torn from today’s headlines. After reading this fascinating book, it’s hard to believe that my American Government can hide massacres be politically motivated to hide or deny the truths. We need to hold our leaders to the truth and keep America from falling into ruin as other cultures have done. Miracles and Massacres is a very good collection of American events that if we look at them today, we should have the courage to stand up for what’s right. After reading this book you will be wanting to create more miracles and less massacres.

This book had me riveted for 2 days straight! I love history. This book was a refreshing take on some amazing rarely talked about events in American history. It's historical fiction, and yet not! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Enjoyed the stories and some interesting ones that had never heard before. It is a worthwhile read for all ages and a book you don't need to try and read cover-to-cover instead it can be read a chapter every day.

A master at writing.