ordered for Kindle

Another book about Reagan's legacy; this one joins the somewhat more slowly growing accumulation on the left that attempts to set the record straight. This has some good material, and is focused almost solely on his domestic policies, but I find the weaknesses overcome the strengths at times. For instance, the simplistic mis-reading of Adam Smith that shows he failed to do correct research. His failure to address the fact that, after the first tax cut, Reagan actually presided over regular TAX INCREASES. This is actually perpetuating the legend that the right has been building around him, rather than dealing accurately with the hype and clearing the air. There were several other mistakes of this sort that I noted, most of them not quite so large or far-reaching, but enough to render the book suspicious in many ways, including the author's annoying habit of committing the fallacy of the golden mean. He seems to think that all who are not centrists are extremists, and that the only correct point of view is in the middle. This is simply an example of sloppy thinking. There are better books on the topic; this one can be missed. ( )