BOOK REVIEW: Miracles and Massacres by @GlennBeck

If you have not finished your Christmas shopping this year, and you have a reader that you must shop for, might I suggest a trip to your local book buying destination for a copy of Miracles and Massacres. I have read about everything Beck has ever put out with the exception of his first couple of books. This by far is his greatest book yet, and a form that I wish more conservative authors and historians would write in.

Miracles and Massacres is a collection of twelve untold stories from American history. When I say stories, I mean they are told as stories. This book is not written as some boring history book. Instead, it is narrative non-fiction at its finest. All stories in the book are told from the third person omniscient narrative point of view.

Beck mentions something in the Author’s Note that I think is worth noting:

“Ultimately, that’s what history really is: an ongoing story that is far more exciting than anything a Hollywood screenwriter could ever come up with. I tried to embrace this in this book by writing history in a way that feels like you’re reading a thriller novel rather than a history book.”

AMEN! I spend a lot of time book talking historical fiction books to my students. Why? Because history IS best told as story. One of my favorite things is watching a young reader pick up one of these well written historical fiction novels and tell me, “Mr. Palmer this is really good!” I have seen so many kids who could care less about history become engrossed by the story. While historical fiction is useful, I think narrative non-fiction is far more powerful, and we need storytellers to utilize this form more.

Aside from the format, another great thing about this book is the fascinating stories that Beck and his team (yes, this book was not solely written by him) tell. With every chapter, I had a harder and harder time deciding which story was the most interesting. I finally settled on the fact that I couldn’t pick one. They are all great!

The book has been a decent success, once again putting Beck on the New York Times Non-Fiction Best Sellers list. (As a side note, as of today, I find it entertaining that four of the top five books on the list are written by conservatives. And we’re the stupid ones…) Also, Beck recently mentioned that he received a note from a Yale physics professor who has made the chapter on Edison and Westinghouse required reading.

I’m in full agreement with Mr. Beck as he mentions in the Author’s Note:

“America is not a bad or evil country…Along the way, however, we’ve made plenty of mistakes. Ignoring them, or worse, covering them up, is not only ignorant, it’s dangerous. A country that does not learn from its history is doomed to repeat it.”

I couldn’t agree more, and it is my hope that more authors will tell the story of America’s past in this form.

This book is very well sourced. The back of the book has a brief explanation on how every story was constructed. Because of this, I actually think this book would be very appropriate in the high school history classroom (after all,, a Yale professor thinks it is appropriate). Just a thought, but one might consider donating a copy to your high school student’s history classroom or school library.

Rating: 5/5 stars