by Glenn Beck
First published 2014
Glenn Beck uncovers the complete stories behind America's most recognizable names. Charles Ponzi created more than just a financial scheme. Radio's true inventors include forgotten pioneers Edwin Armstrong and Lee de Forest alongside the celebrated Marconi. Walt Disney envisioned EPCOT as his world-changing project, not the theme parks we know today. Beck examines ten figures who shaped America, separating visionary entrepreneurs from skilled fraudsters. President Woodrow Wilson participated in a major national deception. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz lived a story more compelling than their television show. Socialist author Upton Sinclair went to extreme lengths to protect his reputation decades after writing The Jungle. The book profiles spy Alger Hiss, innovator Steve Jobs, and codebreaker Alan Turing among others. Beck argues that understanding these complete histories, rather than the simplified versions taught in schools, changes how readers view contemporary issues. He presents both unsung heroes and hidden villains as complex people rather than historical footnotes.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, non-fiction, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: complex-characters, hidden-villains, unsung-heroes
Period: 1st-Grade, 2nd-Grade, 19th-Century, 20th-Century, 21st-Century
320 pages · Hardcover · Threshold Editions