<DIV>With the entry of the Tea Party onto the political scene, the U.S. Constitution has become a political battleground, with liberals and conservatives trading fire over its meaning and intent. Amid all the hubbub, historian Ray Raphael was struck by how much <I>both sides</I> got wrong, and how falsehoods have largely overtaken history in Americans’ understanding of the nation’s most important document. In <I>Constitutional Myths</I>, he sorts out truth from fiction, juxtaposing what historians know about the Constitution with what most Americans (and politicians) <I>think</I> they know about it.<BR><BR>The surprising misconceptions Raphael corrects in <I>Constitutional Myths</I> include:<BR><BR>? The Framers embraced limited government.<BR>? The Framers were enlightened and disinterested statesmen, not politicians pushing special interests.<BR>? The Constitution promoted democracy and promised equality.<BR>? The Founding Fathers gave us the Bill of Rights.<BR>? The Constitution provided the ?final answer” and must forever endure.<BR><BR>Raphael offers readers an accessible new understanding of the Constitution?one that is sure to provoke and entertain Americans across the political spectrum.<BR></DIV>