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Lies My Teacher Told Me : Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen (1996, Trade Paperback)
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- Buy It NowLies My Teacher Told Me : Everything Your American History Textbook Go - GOOD
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About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherTouchstone
ISBN-100684818868
ISBN-139780684818863
eBay Product ID (ePID)306829
Product Key Features
Book TitleLies My Teacher Told Me : Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
Number of Pages384 Pages
LanguageEnglish
Publication Year1996
TopicGeneral, Ethnic Studies / Native American Studies, United States / General
IllustratorYes
GenreSocial Science, Education, History
AuthorJames W. LÖWEN
FormatTrade Paperback
Dimensions
Item Height0.7 in
Item Weight14.6 Oz
Item Length9.2 in
Item Width6.1 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceTrade
LCCN96-020050
Dewey Edition22
ReviewsJon WienerThe Nation"One of the virtues of Loewen's book is that in addition to highlighting some subjects the textbooks neglect, he also examines the topics they emphasize.", Sandy LydonSan Jose Mercury News"Every history teacher in the land (including Professor Gingrich) needs to read this book.", Publishers Weekly"Readers interested in history, whether liberal or conservative, professional or layperson, will find food for thought here."
Dewey Decimal973
Table Of ContentContents AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Something Has Gone Very Wrong1 Handicapped by History: The Process of Hero-making2 1493: The True Importance of Christopher Columbus5 The Truth about the First Thanksgiving4 Red Eyes5 "Gone with the Wind": The Invisibility of Racism in American History Textbooks6 John Brown and Abraham Lincoln: The Invisibility of Antiracism in American History Textbooks7 The Land of Opportunity8 Watching Big Brother: What Textbooks Teach about the Federal Government9 Down the Memory Hole: The Disappearance of the Recent Past10 Progress Is Our Most Important Product11 Why Is History Taught Like This?12 What Is the Result of Teaching History Like This?Afterword: The Future Lies Ahead -- and What to Do about ThemNotesAppendixIndex
SynopsisWinner of the 1996 American Book Award and the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist ScholarshipAmericans have lost touch with their history, and in this thought-provoking book, Professor James Loewen shows why. After surveying twelve leading high school American history texts, he has concluded thatnot onedoes a decent job of making history interesting or memorable. Marred by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies, these books omit almost all the ambiguity, passion, conflict, and drama from our past. In ten powerful chapters, Loewen reveals that: The United States dropped three times as many tons of explosives in Vietman as it dropped in all theaters of World War II, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki Ponce de Leon went to Florida mainly to capture Native Americans as slaves for Hispaniola, not to find the mythical fountain of youth Woodrow Wilson, known as a progressive leader, was in fact a white supremacist who personally vetoed a clause on racial equality in the Covenant of the League of Nations The first colony to legalize slavery was not Virginia but Massachusetts From the truth about Columbus's historic voyages to an honest evaluation of our national leaders, Loewen revives our history, restoring to it the vitality and relevance it truly possesses.
LC Classification NumberE175.85L64 1996
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Ratings and Reviews
Most relevant reviews
- Oct 02, 2016Top favorable review
An Objective Look at History
As a retired teacher and still a ravenous reader of the past and present, I found the "Lies My Teacher Told Me" interesting and highly informative. I found the "plague" section that reduced the population of the Native Americans highly disturbing yet closely related to all of the talk of today about 'population reduction' and 'over population'. It seems the power group in charge always has 'God' on their side while ex[terminating any group the power structure wants to eliminate. This absolves them of any guilt or shame with their treatment of these 'subhumans and heathens'. The times have changed but the tactics and methods remain tried and true. I always marveled at how fellow teachers could spend weeks and weeks on the Revolutionary War and Civil War but allow little time and background to the two major wars of the Twentieth Century. Then, they completely skipped the last fifty years! They just 'couldn't get to it'! The author explains that well. Current memories, no matter how foggy, blur the facts of the present, while nostalgic fantasies of the past present themselves as facts, needed to be memorized and regurgitated.Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
- Mar 15, 2017Top critical review
Not what I expected.
This book is much more an indictment against historical teaching than it is being about American history. There is also a heavy slant against the "white narrative" that this author believes to be reason that American History is portrayed so poorly. This book is as much an allegation of "white oppression' as it is about the problem the author has with what he believes to be the problem with American Historical curriculum. If you are looking for a book about history, discover something else and pass on this book.Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
- Sep 19, 2018
Gotta be careful with history you teach the kids!
It's hilarious to read how the Pilgrims robbed the Indians of corn, beans, etc, and even stripped a corpse in a grave. Many similar examples -- which were left out of the textbooks. Reading what happened is more fun than the "sanitized" version of history we and our kids got. The book reinforced my opinion that history is what historians write that it is, and there are controversies we never hear about.Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
- Sep 05, 2018
Well worth reading!
Not the most entertaining book I've ever read (a bit more like a textbook), but definitely one of the most educationally interesting. I continually find myself being amazed. 😳Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
- Mar 13, 2019
Great book. I recommend it highly.
This book is a great way to for people to re-evaluate history and how we are taught history. It's focus is to really look at what is being taught... not just accept what a history book teaches. Very thought provoking.Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
- Jun 16, 2020
Perfect
This book is well written and easy to read and informs us of parts of American history most people do not know. I think it should be in every classroom in America.Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
- Mar 22, 2021
Lies My Teachers Told Me
This is how US History should be taught...the truth! Our "Texas Approved" history textbooks with whitewash or dumb down our history to make it non-confrontational. One needs to read our History in non-textbooks to obtain the real story which does not often view the US in a great light.Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
- Apr 19, 2025
Used, with a few highlights and bended p...
Used, with a few highlights and bended pages, which I don’t mind. In fact, I love that. It means this book was recycled instead of discarded.Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
- Dec 14, 2021
A walk down what's wrong with history as taught in American schools.
One of my favorite books. I have a store and I cherry-pick titles for the book section. I put this in both among the "progressive" books, and in among the hunting and extractive industries books (just to be ornery).Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
- Jan 17, 2018
Shame on Them
Or maybe they didn't know. Great read. Put new insight on things I learned...or not.Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
