Miracles and Massacres: True and Untold Stories of the Making of America

There are many great history books (and many more that are not so great) that cover American history. Some focus on just one story, one event, one decade, or one era. Others take a broader view and try to cover it all, from Christopher Columbus to President Obama.

As I began looking through some of these books, two things struck me: First, most of them are about as exciting as an Al Gore speech; and second, none of them leave readers understanding just how complex and nuanced our history really is. My goal in writing this book was to solve both of those problems.

I’m a huge history nerd, but I don’t study the past so that I can memorize dates or names to pass a test; I do it because I love the stories. 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 that in this book by writing history in a way that feels like you’re reading a thriller novel rather than a history book. By immersing you in the action I believe you’ll come to see people and events in a much more vivid and real way than you ever have before. (When you’re finished, I urge you to read the section “About the Writing of This Book” so you can get a better sense for the writing and research process involved.)

The next challenge with this project was how to choose the right stories. As I searched (and reviewed the thousands of submissions that came in from fans), I adhered to a few guiding principles. I wanted to find stories that:

1. Were lesser known, or that could be told in a brand-new way;

2. Had a clear message or lesson that was relevant to today;

3. Acknowledged that our history is not all heroes—there were plenty of villains as well.

It’s that last point that I want to dwell on for a moment, because I think this is where so many other books go wrong. America is not a bad or evil country—we truly are an exceptional nation with a miraculous past. In less than 250 years we went from being subjects of a king to being the greatest, most compassionate superpower the world has ever known.

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.

That’s why stories like the Battle of Wounded Knee, the My Lai massacre, and Tokyo Rose are in this book. They are stories about times when America was not at her best. By studying them, talking about them, and, ultimately, learning from them, it’s my hope that we will never make the same mistakes again.

Of course, our history is full of great accomplishments as well—people and events that have influenced and inspired us and changed America forever. The rest of the stories were chosen to remind us where we’ve come from and the lessons we’ve learned along the way. The first Barbary War, for example, gave America a glimpse at the ruthlessness and brutality of Muslim jihadists. The ensuing wars shaped our future foreign policy by teaching us that you don’t negotiate with terrorists and that lasting peace can come only through strength. The Battle of Athens, Tennessee, reminds us about the importance of standing up for our rights and the rule of law—especially when it’s those we’ve entrusted with power who are at fault.

Then there are the stories that exemplify the American spirit: the courage and selflessness of Jack Jouett; the heroism of Hugh Thompson and Jose Melendez-Perez; and the redemption sought by Al Capone’s lawyer, “Easy” Eddie. Taken as a whole, the twelve stories in this book represent the full American experience: the miracles, the massacres, and all of the gray area in between.

After this book was finished, I finally sat back and had a chance to read all the stories together. It was only then that I realized that all of them can be put into one of three categories: The good guys win; the good guys win, but it takes a while; or the good guys lose because people put their trust into politicians instead of each other.

I hope that the stories in that final category—the German Saboteurs and the Battle of Wounded Knee, for example—remind people why we should rely on ourselves, our neighbors, and our God, but never on our government.

Laos Deo,