Who Gets to Tell the Story of America?

Volume IV serves up fiction, myth-busting, and a whole lotta food.

There’s a line when someone talks about history that eventually goes something like: History is written by the victors.

I have grown to despise this statement because it’s simply not true. The quote, or anything close to it, is not attributed to anyone—not Winston Churchill, not Abraham Lincoln. I have a book about the best 100 speeches in history, and not one declares that those in power shape history.

History isn’t molded by the victors of any given moment. It’s shaped by whoever is determined enough to develop a narrative, repeat it, and make someone else believe it.

The current administration is intentionally pursuing how history is shaped. Even just the other day, the president created a fantasy world where his uncle spoke to him about the Unabomber, because, as the president wanted us to believe, his uncle taught the killer in college. None of it is true, but people will accept it!

Now, remember, I’m not a historian. I just try to present some funny insight into my view of history, but the fact remains that history is written by people who want to influence it.

So, for this latest edition of Words, Words, Words, I review three books that are all grounded in the question of who gets to tell America's story. We see that it is dependent on who does the talking.

So, let’s dive into a novel steeped in myth, another about racial history in a fictional Texas town, and a scholarly takedown of the Confederate lies.