Publisher cancels David Barton book on Jefferson over errors

A Nashville-based publisher is recalling a controversial best seller about Thomas Jefferson by evangelical leader and historian David Barton because it contains historical errors, The Tennessean reports.

Barton's book, The Jefferson Lies, claims to expose liberal myths about the nation's third president, but a group of conservative scholars says Barton's take on Jefferson is factually untrue, The Tennessean's Bob Smietana writes.

A group of ministers from Cincinnati also called on Thomas Nelson Publishers to cancel the book.

Casey Francis Harrell, director of corporate communications for Thomas Nelson, tells the newspaper that it had gotten several complaints about the book and found enough errors to cancel it, halt new shipments and recall unsold copies.

Online retailers have also been asked to stop selling the e-book version.

"Because of these deficiencies, we decided that it was in the best interest of our readers to cease its publication and distribution," Harrell says.

Barton stands by his book, the newspaper reports, and says Nelson never mentioned any concerns about the book, which was published in April and made The New York Times best-seller list.

"All I got was an e-mail saying it was canceled," he says. "It was a complete surprise."

Barton adds that other publishers had made offers on his book and he hopes to sign a new contract soon.

Barton is president of WallBuilders, a Texas-based conservative group that says it wants to reclaim America's forgotten Christian history.

An early press release for the book, put out by Thomas Nelson in May, portrayed Barton as battling revisionist history to tell Jefferson's true story, The Tennessean notes.

"History books routinely teach that Jefferson was an anti-Christian secularist, rewriting the Bible to his liking, fathering a child with one of his slaves, and little more than another racist, bigoted colonist — but none of those claims are actually true," the press release claimed.

World Magazine, run by former George W. Bush adviser Marvin Olasky, recently published an online news story about conservative historians who also think Barton made errors, the newspaper reports.

One was Glenn Moots, professor of political science at Northwood University in Michigan, The Tennessean reports. He is quoted as saying Barton was well-intentioned but should have been more careful to get the details right.

"It doesn't help any of us if the story isn't told in an accurate manner," he said, according to the newspaper.

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