The results from last week’s History News Network poll are in and it’s David Barton winning by a nose.
HNN this morning published the final results of an online poll that asked readers to vote for what they felt was the least credible history book currently in print. By nine votes, Barton’s “The Jefferson Lies” took the distinction over runner-up “A People’s History of the United States,” by Howard Zinn.
Of “The Jefferson Lies,” Warren Throckmorton and Michael Coulter, who have written their own book on Jefferson, wrote in an email to HNN:
David Barton claims he is setting the record straight with this book, but that claim is far from reality. Barton misrepresents and distorts a host of Jefferson’s ideas and actions, particularly his views and practices regarding religion, slavery and church-state relations. As Jefferson did with the Gospels, Barton chooses what he likes about Jefferson and leaves out the rest to create a result more in line with his ideology. In fact, there were so many problems with his book that we wrote an entire book in response.
Barton loves publicity. Chances are he doesn’t mind this kind of publicity, either.
Wonder if his “book” is available @ our local library? (I’d hate to plunk down cash for it….)
Comparing David Barton to Howard Zinn is very unfair. Zinn was a distinguished historian, and his book is a landmark work of popular history writing.
It’s like comparing Isaac Newton to the corner fortune-teller.
Yeah, I didn’t quite get the Zinn thing, myself.
What’s wrong with Zinn? What’s the nature of the poll, such that Zinn would even be present in a list emanating therefrom? I’m confused.