The Politically Incorrect Guide
The Politically Incorrect Guide is a book series by Regnery Publishing presenting conservative or what the publishers of the books consider, politically incorrect beliefs on various topics. Each book is written by a different author and generally presents a conservative or libertarian viewpoint on the subject at hand. The series was the brainchild of Jeffrey Rubin, then editor of the Conservative Book Club, Regnery's sister company within Washington, DC-based Eagle Publishing.
Content
Each Politically Incorrect Guide contains the following:
- "Guess What" sections, which oppose common liberal viewpoints.
- "PC Myth" which discusses widely believed ideas that the authors see as completely false and what they believe to be the truth.
- Boxed texts
- "A Book You're Not Supposed to Read", depicted with a pig at the top of each box, lists books that challenge politically correct opinions about topics covered in the Guide.
- "Pig" which lists quotes from notable authors supporting the opinions given. A picture of a microphone is featured at the top of each box.
Some books have variations on this theme, such as:
- "Muhammad versus Jesus" quotes in The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam, which tells that Muhammad preached violence and Jesus nonviolence.
- "What They Don't Want You to Learn From..." in The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature.
- "A Book Atheists Want to Burn" instead of "A Book You're Not Supposed to Read" in The Politically Incorrect Guide to The Bible.
- "Books the Viet Cong wouldn't want you to read" in The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Vietnam War.
- "Books a Yankee Wouldn't Want You To Read" in The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War.
Reader-selected expansion
One feature of The Politically Incorrect Guide series is the ability for readers to vote (through Regnery's associate Human Events) on topics they would like to see covered in future books. The top three selected topics in a 2006 readers' poll[1] were: the United States Constitution, The Bible, and Capitalism. Books in the series for all three topics have since been published.
Series
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. (December 2004) ISBN 0-89526-047-6
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (And the Crusades) by Robert Spencer (August 2005) ISBN 0-89526-013-1
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science by Tom Bethell (November 2005) ISBN 0-89526-031-X
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to Women, Sex, and Feminism by Carrie L. Lukas (May 2006) ISBN 1-59698-003-6
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design by Jonathan Wells (August 2006) ISBN 1-59698-051-6
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature by Elizabeth Kantor (November 2006) ISBN 1-59698-011-7
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to the South (and Why It Will Rise Again) by Clint Johnson (January 2007) ISBN 1-59698-500-3
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and Environmentalism by Christopher C. Horner (February 2007) ISBN 1-59698-501-1
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism by Robert P. Murphy (April 2007) ISBN 1-59698-504-6
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution by Kevin R.C. Gutzman (June 2007) ISBN 1-59698-505-4
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to Hunting by Frank Miniter (September 2007) ISBN 1-59698-521-6
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible by Robert J. Hutchinson (October 2007) ISBN 1-59698-520-8
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Middle East by Martin Sieff (January 2008) ISBN 1-59698-051-6
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization by Anthony Esolen (June 2008) ISBN 1-59698-059-1
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War by Harold William Crocker III (October 2008) ISBN 1-59698-549-6
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal by Robert P. Murphy (April 2009) ISBN 1-59698-096-6
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers by Brion McClanahan (June 2009) ISBN 1-59698-092-3
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties by Jonathan Leaf (August 2009) ISBN 1-59698-572-0
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Vietnam War by Phillip Jennings (February 2010) ISBN 1-59698-567-4
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism by Kevin D. Williamson (January 2011) ISBN 1-59698-649-2
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to the British Empire by H. W. Crocker III (October 2011)
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents: From Woodrow Wilson to Barack Obama by Steven F. Hayward (February 2012)
Criticisms
The Panda's Thumb, which supports mainstream science and the consensus on evolution, reviewed The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design providing analysis on nine of the 17 chapters and called it "not only politically incorrect but incorrect in most other ways as well: scientifically, logically, historically, legally, academically, and morally."[2] Chris Mooney has criticized The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science, calling it "the Incorrect Guide to Science". [3] Some historians also took issue with The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War criticizing its "cherry-picked research and one-sided judgments of figures" [4] and accusing it of advocating Neo-Confederate ideas. [5] Politically Incorrect Guide authors Kevin Gutzman, Robert Murphy, and Clint Johnson have all appeared on The Political Cesspool, a Neo-Confederate radio show[6].
The usage of the term politically incorrect is seen by some as not meaningful in any significant way. "Political correctness is one of the brilliant tools that the American Right developed in the mid-1980s as part of its demolition of American liberalism", according to Will Hutton of the Observer in the United Kingdom. [7]
Translations
Three of the books have been translated into Spanish:
- Guía Políticamente Incorrecta del Islam (y de las Cruzadas) ISBN 8496836075 - translation of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (And the Crusades)
- Guía Políticamente Incorrecta de la Ciencia ISBN 84-934669-9-9 - translation of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science
- Guía Políticamente Incorrecta del Calentamiento Global (y del Ecologismo) ISBN 8496836174 - translation of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and Environmentalism
Two books had been translated into Italian:
- Guida (politicamente scorretta) all'Islam e alle crociate ISBN 8871807227 - translation of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (And the Crusades)
- Le balle di Newton ISBN 978884981640-2 - translation of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science
References
- ^ Politically Incorrect Votes are in
- ^ "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design Review". Panda's Thumb. August 19, 2006. http://www.pandasthumb.org/archives/2006/08/the_politically.html. Retrieved 2006-11-04.
- ^ Yes, Virginia, There is a War on Science
- ^ http://www.hpronline.org/current-issue/books-and-arts/186
- ^ http://www.onepeoplesproject.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26:hate-has-its-conferences-what-was-seen-at-cpac-2009&catid=39:stupid-right-wingers
- ^ "Political Cesspool guest list". http://www.thepoliticalcesspool.org/guestlist.php. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
- ^ Words are important Mr. Blunkett
External links