America's past a tale of racism, sexism, and bigotry? Is it the story of the con- I quest and rape of a continent? Is U.S. history the story of white slave owners who perverted the electoral process for their own interests? Did America start with Columbus's killing of all the Indians, leap to Jim Crow laws and Rockefeller crushing the workers, then finally save itself with Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal?

The answers, of course, are no, no, no, and NO.

One might never know this, however, by looking at almost any mainstream U.S. history textbook. Having taught American history in one form or another for close to sixty years between them, Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen are aware that, unfortunately, many students are berated with tales of the Founders as self- interested politicians and slaveholders, of the icons of American industry as robber- baron oppressors, and of every American foreign policy initiative as imperialistic and insensitive.

The authors of A Patriot's History think that an honest evaluation of the history of the United States must begin and end with the recognition that, compared to any other nation, America's past is a bright and shining light. America was, and is, the city on the hill, the fountain of hope, the beacon of liberty. They utterly reject "My country, right or wrong" what scholar wouldn't? But in the last thirty years, academics have taken an equally destructive approach: "My country, always wrong!" Schweikart and Allen reject that too.