Product Description

A fascinating examination of American history textbooks used in high schools across the USA. James Loewen exposes the real truths behind everything from the first Thanksgiving to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #324029 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 464 pages

Customer Reviews

People read it!
I am Russian. In my short lifetime (i'm 28 only) they have re-written Russian/Soviet history textbooks already two times, changing black to white arbitrarily, whatever suited the government better.
No nation wants to look bad. But producing fairy tales and lying to yourself is not a way out. And after acknowledging all sides of your heritage you are not going to be any worser. Quite the opposite, i think.

Everything You Know (And Don't Know) Is Wrong
The author's argument in this fascinating book is that high-school history textbooks in the U. S. - which he identifies as an instrument of social conservatism - should become more accurate and thereby become an instrument of positive social change. It's a rather specialised topic (one that might not seem of particular interest to someone who is not involved in public education in North America) yet leads to a compelling and very enjoyable book for the general reader.

Much of the book is taken up not with direct "lies" told by textbooks, but with the idea that in suppressing the truth about American history these books have suggested things that are false. To an extent, the book presents first the mythologized America of the textbook (and popular culture) and then debunks these myths with established historical information. I'd like to pretend that through general knowledge I knew most of the "corrections" but in fact most of them came as much as a surprise to me as they would have done to someone who had only had a high school education in U. S. History. I'd give some examples, but you'll have more fun reading them for yourself.

The book is not flawless. Loewen is an ideological writer, and the version of history that he advocates (one that emphasizes the positive role played by ethnic minorities, for example) is as guilty of regarding History as an instrument for social indoctrination as the one that he attacks. In Britain - where to the best of my knowledge History has not been confused with Social Studies since (at latest) the decline of the British Empire - his own assumptions may seem odd.

There are other minor blemishes. A late chapter on the Iraq War seems to have been written more with the desire to hammer another nail into the coffin of the Bush regime than to strengthen the argument of the book. Moreover, Loewen is somewhat optimistic (though perhaps broadly right) in assessing how effective some of his teaching methods might be in the classroom.

Nevertheless it is difficult to contend with two of his conclusions: that History teaching at school must become more accurate; and that students should be taught to understand that not every issue in History can be settled decisively by reference to agreed facts.

Those interested in revisionism, or those who enjoy seeing strips torn off the Stars & Stripes, will find much to enjoy in this book, but beyond this constituency it is also a thought-provoking study of how societies express social values through history and legend. The book is an easy, enjoyable read, which probably goes some way to explaining how a book on historiography turned into a major bestseller. It is also meticulously researched and could form the basis of broader and more specialised reading in its subject. Highly recommended.

I was really excited about reading this book, but.....
I have just finished this book and have to wonder if I've been duped. It's a catchy title so that may have gripped me. First, I understand that to give a complete book's research for each of the subjects highlighted would make the finished product huge and probably put off a lot of readers and lose the publisher and author money. But I get the feeling that he is somewhat guilty of what he is accusing our history books of doing; picking out the bits they like and running with them, without giving enough information about some things to understand the full story. Second, we are expected to come to the same opinion as the author and I don't know why that is so important to him, but it's obvious to me that is what he is after. I thought the idea of the book was to give us the information to form our own opinions, seeing as most of us weren't there or that the information was not easily obtained through the media, etc. He complains that books we have available are wrong, but how does he know the books and articles he references are correct and why is his bias so blatant? There is truth in the statements that "History is written by the victors" and "There are two sides to every story." Give me both sides, please.

I've got a fairly open mind and I'm not afraid to admit when I'm wrong, but I'm not sure this was the book I wanted. I wanted unbiased facts and I didn't get them.

In summary: Much ado about information on subjects obtained by doing a bit of research yourself.