Historical Fiction and the Fiction we call History

Most of you are familiar with the book Lies My Teacher Told Me.  Some of the more infamous historical corrections made in this book include the truth about Christopher Columbus and the attempt to wipe out entire populations through genocide.

As a former history teacher, I can assure you that no one is talking about Christopher Columbus as a syphilitic drunken rapist as part of their state mandated social studies curriculum (or at least I hope not.)

The bottom line is that everything you were taught as a child is simply not true.

Fast forward to2015.

Over the past year I have been introduced to some very nice people who have a very strong agenda.  To put it bluntly, these people represent the ultra conservative branch of the current Republican party.

Through a series of conversations I was asked if I had ever considered writing a book about the attack on Benghazi.

No.  I had not.

I was informed that there was a market for such a book and that my new acquaintances would be excited to see what I could come up with on the subject.  So I sat down and began toying with an idea and eventually did write such a book.

Shadow of Benghazi.

While my new acquaintances LOVED the title and the foreboding implications they were less excited by the contents.  You see, I write fiction.  I've never had any interest in writing nonfiction nor has it ever occurred to me to do so.  Thus, Shadow of Benghazi classifies nicely as "historical fiction."

This apparently is not what my new contacts had in mind.  In fact, they apparently thought I was writing some scathing "hidden truth" book about what "really" happened in Benghazi.

Or, to be more specific, what they WANT to believe happened in Benghazi.

In other words, this group wanted an over the top "tell all" about the sins of a certain former Secretary of State and presidential candidate.

They wanted something they could hold up as "the real truth."

Now let's analyze that for a moment.

How would a book that relied on a preconceived notion of guilt be "the truth" in any form?

The answer quite simply is it would not.

Thus leads us to the thin line between History and Historical Fiction.

Many of the books being published today have a very strong political agenda.  Now, don't get me wrong, so do most history textbooks.  The whole point of Social Studies Education in this country is to instill a certain amount of civic pride and loyalty in our students.  In truth, the victor not only gets the spoils, but they get the right to record their own version of history.  If you have any doubt of this, then hop online and look up a retelling of what we call the American Revolution as told by a history textbook written in Great Britain.  In Germany, the textbooks make no reference to the Nazi Party or Adolf Hitler.

NO REFERENCE!

They tell us that we aren't supposed to lie to our kids.  Yet we tell them a magical bunny leaves a basket on Easter Sunday and that Santa is watching to see if they are naughty or nice.  While these "stories" may be harmless in the long run let me remind you that we also have a federal holiday named after Christopher Columbus.

There is enough lying and hypocrisy in what we teach as "History" in this country.

So I refused to add to it by writing a book that would classify as nonfiction and might be used as propaganda against a political candidate (regardless as to my own views of that person.)

In closing, I hope that everyone that reads Shadow of Benghazi enjoys it for what it is: HISTORICAL FICTION.

There was no Sgt. James Thatcher on duty at the Embassy the night of the attack.

There is no government conspiracy (that I have any knowledge of anyway) to cover up any truth.

Shadow of Benghazi is a STORY.  The characters are MADE UP.

That, boys and girls, is what we call fiction.

Thanksgiving, ISIS and "Us vs. Them"

"I get so tired of this 'Us versus Them' mentality."

I overheard this statement while sitting at a sports bar surrounded by other men in a variety of team jerseys all rooting for their teams to defeat one opponent or another.

"God do I hate the Cowboys."

"The Packers suck."

"Why does Jacksonville even have an NFL team."

So much for hating "Us vs. Them" eh?

From our formative years we are taught to pick sides and compete in an "Us vs Them" format.  Whether it be Pee Wee sports or video games or a simply backyard football game on Thanksgiving day, we are conditioned to identify some other group as our enemy and to attack them based solely on this "Us vs. Them" way of thinking.
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While I can't disagree with hating the Dallas Cowboys or the Green Bay Packers, I did have a moment of harsh realization as another television set buried in the far corner of that same sports bar displayed yet another terrorist attack overseas.

The ultimate "Us vs. Them."

Given a few days to consider all of this I have come to the following conclusion:  we as a people don't really want "World Peace."

Let that sink in for a second.

Sure we all say that we want to see World Peace in our lifetimes...then we take our children to their youth football or soccer leagues and coach them from the sidelines to destroy the opponent.

Now don't get me wrong, there are many positives to youth sports...this post is not an attack on organized athletics.  My point here is that as a society we often perpetuate this "Us vs. Them" strategy into every walk of life.  I've seen it in the workplace, at clubs and social gatherings, heck even at your own church.  Our competitive natures get the best of us and the next thing you know friendships are damaged or even worse.

We all have that relative we try to avoid for this same reason.  That may not seem like a competition but too often it is one.

So I say to each and every person who is reading this blog, let us take this coming Thursday, this Thanksgiving to truly be thankful for each other and set aside our competitive differences and just enjoy our loved ones.

Let's all take a day off from "Us vs. Them."

Or...at least until kickoff...