On the subject of Historical Myth Busting, there's a very good and fun to read book
called "I Love Paul Revere, Whether he Rode or Not!" By Richard Shenkman.  I read it
for a history class when I was in high school; each chapter sets up a historical
"fact", i.e. Prohibition didn't keep people from consuming alcohol, 18th century
Caribbean pirates were bloodthirsty, savage barbarians (or, conversely, high-minded
democratic and civilized); all the American colonists zealously supported the War for
Independence, etc, then he evaluates them in terms of the actual evidence, debunking a
lot of these "truths" as myths.  A very good read, certainly along the lines of what
you're discussing. . .


Kris Farmen
Northern Land Use Research, Inc.
Fairbanks, Alaska