Hugh Trevor-Roper, the dean of British historians, has written, “A nation that
has lost sight of its history, or is discouraged from the study of it by the
desiccating professionalism [or unprofessionalism!] of its historians, is
intellectually and perhaps politically amputated. But that history must be true
history in the fullest sense.” After the eleven years of research and writing that
went into the first edition of this book,^23 and thirteen more years of study since,
my own quest to know what truly happened in our American past has only
begun. After reading all this way, so has yours. Bon voyage to us both!