48 Liberal Lies About American History: (That You Probably Learned in School) [Paperback]

Larry Schweikart (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 25, 2009

Over the last forty years, history textbooks have become more and more politically correct and distorted about our country’s past, argues professor Larry Schweikart. The result, he says, is that students graduate from high school and even college with twisted beliefs about economics, foreign policy, war, religion, race relations, and many other subjects.

As he did in his popular A Patriot’s History of the United States, Professor Schweikart corrects liberal bias by rediscovering facts that were once widely known. He challenges distorted books by name and debunks forty-eight common myths. A sample:

• The founders wanted to create a “wall of separation” between church and state
• Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation only because he needed black soldiers
• Truman ordered the bombing of Hiroshima to intimidate the Soviets with "atomic diplomacy"
• Mikhail Gorbachev, not Ronald Reagan, was responsible for ending the Cold War
America’s past, though not perfect, is far more admirable than you were probably taught.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Sentinel Trade; Signed by Author edition (August 25, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595230564
• ISBN-13: 978-1595230560
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (105 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,451 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > History > Historical Study & Educational Resources > Historiography

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Textbooks have long served as a main battlefield in the culture wars and the latest salvo comes from Schweikart, a history professor at the University of Dayton (A Patriot's History of the United States), who examines leading American history texts and other books that he sees as purveying a distinctly slanted view of American history—one that portrays the United States as oppressive, imperialistic, and evil. Each lie is deliberated in a brief essay. A chapter on the notion that FDR knew in advance that the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor focuses largely on countering Robert Stinnett's Day of Deceit. The belief that Columbus was responsible for killing millions of Indians (drivel) is, he says, based on faulty statistics. In examining the belief that Richard Nixon sent burglars into the Watergate office complex, the author accepts G. Gordon Liddy's account of events over John Dean's. Regarding the Rosenbergs, Schweikart cites Soviet documents proving they were indeed spies. Schweikart marshals an arsenal of statistics and scholarly studies, and while his own biases will limit his reach, he offers an object lesson in the need for scrupulous balance in the writing of history textbooks. (Sept. 4)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Larry Schweikart is the co-author of A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery to the War on Terror, and is a professor of history at the University of Dayton. He has written more than 20 books on national defense, business, and financial history.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Sentinel Trade; Signed by Author edition (August 25, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595230564
• ISBN-13: 978-1595230560
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (105 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,451 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > History > Historical Study & Educational Resources > Historiography

More About the Author

Larry Schweikart, a former rock drummer who opened for "Steppenwolf," is a professor of history at the University of Dayton. In addition to some of the books mentioned here, he has authored over 50 academic articles, dozens of book reviews, and has been a regular guest on "Fox and Friends."

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Liberal lies? July 5, 2011

By CGScammell TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Kindle Edition

I have to admit that reading some of these essays had me wondering. I used to see myself as a liberal-minded teen but most of these "lies" I had never heard of before. Maybe my upbringing wasn't quite so liberal afterall. Most of this has to deal with how Scheiwkart titles his chapters. "The Mexican and Spanish-American Wars were Imperialist efforts drummed up by Corporate Interests?" or "Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK because he was a deranged Marine and not because he was a Communist?" "Early America was Home to few Gun Owners?" Say what? These may be liberal mindsets but certainly not anything I have heard of before. But maybe I should seak out alternative history or conspiracy theory sites to find these winners.

There are a few theories Schweikart mentions that I do agree with, but these are really unimportant to American history. What is important is how a historian defends his theories, and he does a decent job with that simply because most of his alleged liberal claims have never been mainstream to begin with, or have been successfully disputed long ago. His writing style is good, (very readable) and this book deserves a read. My question is "where did he come up with some of this stuff?!"

236 of 319 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great articles that will give you fresh insight into 48 issues in American History September 8, 2008

By Craig Matteson HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

While I think the title of the book is needlessly provocative, I think this a very useful book for anyone who has been subjected to the kind of indoctrination that passes for history education in too many of our public schools and colleges. If you are looking for some quick information on these four dozen issues, this can help you pass on some solid information that probably runs counter to what your friends believe is so. I said the title is needlessly provocative because not all liberals buy into the points of view this book argues against. However, Larry Schweikart is correct that there is a general cultural agenda that supports the liberal view of things. He starts off each article with two or three short quotes from liberal histories that are countered in that article.

The articles cover notions of America's role in the world since the founding, the issues in the various wars we have fought, what FDR knew about Pearl Harbor, Truman and the Atomic Bomb, the JFK assassination, Reagan, key liberal causes such as Sacco and Vanzetti, the Rosenbergs, the Scopes Trial, Columbus and the death of millions of Indians, that pesky wall between Church and State, Women's Rights in early American, the Settling of America and the Indians, and the Robber Barons. Modern issues such as Iraq, 9/11, Global Warming, Media Bias, Educational Bias, and the social theories about our Constitution are also covered. Schweikart admits that saying that the 9/11 conspiracy nuts are liberal is a stretch, but he says he wanted to head off the kind of shoulder shrugs modern texts give to the JFK assassination conspiracy nonsense.

The articles are all relatively short and pack a punch.... I am absolutely positive that it will annoy liberals a great deal and some of them will attack the book without bothering to read it. I guess that is a side benefit of the book. Its real point is to push back against what some are trying to make dominant and accepted without critique. Of course, wanting to indoctrinate students is a matter of faith rather than scholarship or education.

If you home school you will definitely want that as an addition to your readings in American History.

You will also want to look at Schweikart's `A Patriot's History of the United States".

A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery to the War on Terror

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI Read more ›

26 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars History and Economics Backed Up With The Truth October 10, 2009

By Frank

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

It is really sad that a book such as this needs to be written. One of the striking fallacies of Keynesian economics is the benefits of deficit spending. Milton Friedman (who is quoted in this book) and Ludwig von Mises completely destroyed Keynesianism years ago. But unfortunately there are many other flat out lies or exaggerations that are taught as fact in our schools and colleges today through either blatant political, economic or social bias/envy that are even today being implemented by government policy. One major lie that is covered is that tax cuts decrease tax revenues! Anyone who has read anything on economics outside of the buffoon Keynes knows that tax cuts spur economic growth and produces more income for the government, while tax increases decrease job creation and tax income. This was proven during the second Reagan term and into Bush's term until Bush and Congress raised taxes. Political beliefs have nothing to do with it, it is pure economics.

There are many other points covered in here (obviously 47 more) that are covered by the author. He'll even make you laugh out loud with his comments about the lunacy of some of the 'thinking' of liberal history and textbook authors.

149 of 205 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Check an old encyclopedia December 15, 2008

By CeeCee

Format:Hardcover

We still have an edition World Book Encyclopedia published in 1984 and one published in 1965. It is interesting to verify his complaints about modern text books. The re-writing of history is most disburbing. Find an old encyclopedia and check it out for yourself unless you are old enough to actually remember some of the events of the 1940's till today like I am. Many of us are still around who remember when the nasty lies about the USA were told by our enemies; not by our text books, movies, etc. After verifying facts for yourself, please take action to break this pattern of self-destruction. Please confront your local school boards when you find lies in text books. Hit the text book publishers in the "pocket book." One test is that if a text gets Reagan right, it might be OK. Surely you are old enough to remember those actual events!

121 of 168 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 48 Lies is a Great Book for Students (and Teachers) September 10, 2008

By Burton W. Folsom Jr.

Format:Hardcover

Professor Schweikart has written a valuable and timely book. He takes on rampant political correctness in the writing of history texts and comes through with a five star performance. He is an expert on U. S. economic history but his breadth is apparent when he takes on standard leftist biases in diplomatic history as well as political history. One interesting thing Schweikart notices is that often a liberal slant will emerge on a topic and become entrenched in the texts. Then other historians will test the liberal idea and find many facts to contradict it. However, the history texts do not make the corrections and the bias is passed on to future generations. Schweikart shows this to be the case in the view of the motives in writing the Constitution and also in the Sacco and Vanzetti case (among others). Schweikart is an expert on economic history, but is very capable when exposing biases on Ronald Reagan, JFK, and LBJ. His emphasis is on modern U. S. history, but he is also excellent describing the first Thanksgiving, Thomas Jefferson, and the Mexican and Spanish American Wars.