A big thank-you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for giving me a copy of this book for an unbiased review.

2/5 - It was okay.

This book offers a deep dive into the pattern of misinformation use throughout American history. It focuses on specific events, such as the presidential assassinations of JFK and Lincoln, the contentious presidential race of 1828, the similarities between cigarette lobbying and climate change deniers, yellow press journalism, etc. These case studies illustrate how individuals, politicians, and institutions have used misinformation to sway public opinion and enact policy favorable to their cause.

The premise of the book is fascinating, but it fell short in three distinct ways:

1. Wordiness and repetitive arguments replete with an overabundance of examples, which made the book difficult to follow at times
2. Failure to include examples from modern times (there was a note by the writers stating that this was due to the fact that modern events are still too fresh to be analyzed but they still could have been noted, especially as the title alludes to modern events)
3. Not including a chapter or section about how the reader could improve media literacy and distinguish between falsehoods and true facts - there was a short allusion to this in the concluding chapter, but no dedicated section, which would have been very valuable

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the section on cigarette lobbying and its connection to the climate change debate. I was especially interested by the tactics employed by both climate change deniers and cigarette lobbyists to confuse the scientific discourse. I was also fascinated to learn that neither Kennedy nor Lincoln were particularly well-liked by the public at the time of their deaths, and that their assassinations became PR opportunities for their respective parties. Most importantly, it was fascinating to learn that misinformation has a significant lifespan - anywhere from five to 75 years in regards to the case studies provided - so it is critical for consumers of any kind of media to be skeptical regarding the information they have access to.

Overall, I think this book was important to read and I would recommend it to others. However, I would now like to read more content regarding how exactly false facts can be identified and what role they play in the modern political arena.

Fake News Nation is a good reminder that what we're seeing today in the United States--rampant lies and misrepresentations of information from all areas of life--is nothing new. Taking us through several case studies, such as the conspiracy theories that surrounded the assassinations of both JFK and Lincoln to the deliberate suppression and spin of the tobacco companies to promote smoking as a social good, Cortada and Aspray ultimately show that although the way in which fake news is spread is newer and faster, American fake news is as old as the country itself.

Although I did enjoy the in-depth history lessons about the Spanish-American war propaganda as well as a reminder of how and why climate change continues to be deemed a hoax, the best part of the book was the conclusion where the authors discussed how we need to address the fake news. It turns out that more education is key, and as an educator, I approve. We teachers are absolutely integral to helping the next generations understand how to navigate all of this information at our fingertips. I've always considered that the most important part of my job.

Overall, some parts of the book were a bit repetitive and tedious, but I definitely recommend this book to anyone who's lamenting the rise of fake news and wonders what can be done to combat it.