The 10 Big Lies About America, Michael Medved, Crown Forum (2008).

This book paints our country as under attack, both from within and without, in a manner that threatens its future.

Consider the opening vignette about a letter in 2007 from officious bureaucrats that admonished all teachers and staff in the Seattle public schools to avoid "teaching about Thanksgiving in traditional ways." Heaven forbid, for example, that children should be permitted to forget that "for many Indian people, `Thanksgiving' is a time of mourning, of remembering how a gift of generosity was rewarded by theft of land and seed corn."

As a corrective to the foregoing, Michael Medved begins by addressing the "big lie" that "America was founded on genocide against native Americans." Well researched and balanced, his essay makes clear that the charge is wildly exaggerated. Yes, there were some bloody battles, but the Indians were often as much at fault as the settlers. Many more Indians perished due to infectious diseases than in attacks by white soldiers. The displacement of the technologically backward indigenous population was inevitable, and the record of similar invasions in other areas of the world is no better (and often worse) than what happened in the U.S.

The other nine issues addressed are: "the crime of slavery," religion, cultural unity, big business, economic downturns, American imperialism, the two-party system, "war on the middle class," and irreversible moral decline.

Each essay stands on its own, so readers can skip around and focus on the areas they find most interesting. That's just as well, because the quality of the essays is uneven.

In general, Medved does well with political and social issues. His explanation of why third parties are far less effective than working within the two-party system is first rate. The essay on moral decline usefully points out that concerns about this topic have been a staple in America for centuries and the rise and fall of moral values tends to be cyclical.

The treatment of economic issues is less effective. Thus, "the war on the middle class" essay cites many statistics designed to demonstrate that life is getting better and better for just about everyone except people who have made "bad choices." No doubt, other statistics could be cited for the opposite conclusion. Even if the middle class has indeed been holding its own in material terms, moreover, the faster progress of people in the top echelon (often for reasons that cannot be explained in terms of merit) has occasioned real and understandable resentment.

The author concludes that America can be a uniquely great nation for many years to come if we just remain confident in ourselves. Perhaps, but this book falls far short of a comprehensive analysis of the issues that would need to be addressed in order to stay on top.