Reviews for Two Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Textbooks Didn't Tell You About the American Civil War

The average rating for Two Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Textbooks Didn't Tell You About the American Civil War based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-10-08 00:00:00 Perry Vine Once upon a time, there was a stupid smart girl. That is, she did really well on all those "How Smart Are You?" tests; but she often had trouble in school, because she couldn't learn anything unless she was genuinely interested in it. Eventually, she dropped out and wandered around until she signed with a literary agent, because it turns out that learning about stuff you're really interested in can be a paying proposition if you promise to write a book about it afterwards. But she felt a little distressed by all the gaps in her education. Her knowledge of American history was especially spotty. She saw no way around this, though, because she simply could not talk herself into being interested in her own country -- not when places like England and Japan were so much cooler. Meanwhile, a writer named Steve Sheinkin was making a successful writing career for himself. Like our stupid smart girl, he did a lot of research. Unlike her, he thought American history was pretty nifty. So he was hired to write school textbooks on the subject. There was a catch, though. He had to leave out all the cool stuff he found in the course of his research. All the interesting, very human stories that made history come alive had no place in textbooks. Otherwise kids might get excited and engaged and maybe even learn something. So Mr. Sheinkin dutifully wrote boring textbooks. But he held on to the fascinating anecdotes he kept finding. They piled up all around him until his family started to complain. (Tripping over an anecdote in the middle of the night can be very painful -- almost as bad as stepping on a Lego brick barefoot.) He realized he had to do something with his treasures. But what? Finally, he got the idea of writing history books that people didn't have to read. They just could if they wanted to. "But why would we want to read about American history?" the stupid-smart girl and others like her demanded. "Because...coolness?" Mr. Sheinkin suggested. "Prove it," they said. "Okay," Mr. Sheinkin said. And he did. He told stories of female Confederate spies who hid coded messages in their long hair, and slaves with names like Dangerfield Newby who fought for freedom. He told of girls who dashed across battlefields unharmed though their dresses were sliced through by bullets, and men whose ridiculous haircuts made their fellow soldiers laugh even in battle. He told of women leading bread riots in the South, and men leading race riots in the North. He told of white soldiers who pinned their names and home addresses to the backs of their coats before major battles so their families could be notified of their fates, and black soldiers who kept the American flag flying high even when they were wounded by gunfire. And the stupid-smart girl learned that history, even American history, is only boring when the good bits are left out. And she even managed to learn a little about it, though it would never be her favorite subject. And they all lived happily ever after. (Except all those Civil War spies and soldiers and civilians, who eventually died.)

Review # 2 was written on 2008-08-28 00:00:00 Ajay Challa History was never my strongest curriculum area. It was just list after list of names, places, and dates that tended to jumble together as the lists grew. Nothing was ever "alive" enough for me to gain an actual understanding of the events--what happened, who was involved, and, most importantly, why things happened. Steve Sheinkin has changed that, first with King George: What Was His Problem? and now with Two Miserable Presidents. Combining historical fact with little-known anecdotes, quotes from letters and journals, and bits of trivia, he has--for me, at least--caused Civil War names to evolve into actual personalities, turned the places into more than background scenery, and changed a list of "events leading to the Civil War" into "ohhh, that makes sense, now I get it." And trust me, that is quite the accomplishment. I would finish a chapter, then look at my husband and ask, "Did you know that more Americans died in the one-day Battle of Antietam than have died on any day in history before or since? Did you know the Emancipation Proclamation didn't actually free anyone? Do you know why Southerners hate William Tecumseh Sherman with a white-hot, passionate hatred?" Because I didn't know those things. You probably do, but I didn't. Now, if I, as class Valedictorian (huzzah, huzzah) can struggle with understanding major American history events like the Civil War, it is possible that some of our students today struggle as well. They need someone to help them genuinely understand that history if they're really going to learn it. Sheinkin's collection should be placed firmly in the hands of every Social Studies and History teacher. And if you know a kid (from age 9 to 99) who is studying the Civil War, buy him or her this book. Read through it with him; you'll both enjoy it. Some of the stories are humorous, some heartbreaking, but all memorable. And with every page you turn, your student's understanding will grow.