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Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong Paperback – October 16, 2007

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James W. Loewen (Author)
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James W. Loewen (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars 1,295 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 464 pages
  • Publisher: Touchstone; Revised edition (October 16, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0743296281
  • ISBN-13: 978-0743296281
  • Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,295 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsA Must Read for any Student of American History
By A Customer on August 6, 2001
Format: Paperback
As a conservative white male who views revisionist history quite skeptically, I did not expect much from this book. As a student of American history, I understood what a woeful job our textbooks and (unfortunately) our teachers do in teaching the actual history of this country, but I never expected both the depth and the level of scholarship Mr. Loewen presents in this book. It is well researched, well written and much needed. Having grown up near an Indian reservation, my own personal studies in original sources confirm how accurate Mr. Loewen really is. The book is hardly "political correctness" run amuck as suggested by one review. And his point is not to paint America as evil or bash Christian Europeans as two other reviews would lead us to believe. This type of simple minded attack does not tell us anything about the book, but rather betrays the reviewers' own entrenched viewpoints - viewpoints that certainly will not be changed by exposure to the truth. In fact, the criticisms make Mr. Loewen's point almost better than he can as to why history is taught in feel-good myths rather than truth. Yes, Mr. Loewen treats certain issues and not others. He tells us he is doing so several times throughout the book, and makes apologies for it. This is not intended to be a replacement for a full history of the United States. Mr. Loewen makes good and valid suggestions as to such replacements. It is not even intended to be a complete coverage of all the things our history texts get wrong. He would need several more volumes for that, and even then would get some of it wrong. For those who actually read the book (and many reviewers obviously did not), he admits all of this. Mr. Loewen's book is an important start. But it is only a start.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsWhy kids hate history (but shouldn't have to)
By History Man on May 5, 2009
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
This is a real eye-opener to anyone who thinks they learned about U.S. history in high school. Loewen spent eleven years reviewing the 12 most commonly-used U.S. history textbooks and found all to be seriously wanting. Textbook publishers want to avoid controversy (so, apparently, do many school systems), so they feed students a white-washed, non-controversial, over-simplified version of this country's history and its most important historical figures.

To make his point, Loewen emphasizes the "dark side" of U.S. history, because that's the part that's missing from our education system. So, for example, we never learned that Woodrow Wilson ran one of the most racist administrations in history and helped to set back progress in race relations that had begun after the Civil War. Helen Keller's socialist leanings and political views are omitted and we only learn that she overcame blindness and deafness. John Brown is portrayed as a wild-eyed nut who ran amok until he was caught and hanged, rather than an eloquent and dedicated abolitionist who uttered many of the same words and thoughts that Lincoln later expressed.

Loewen's book vividly illustrates the maxim that "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Ignorance of our real history also renders us incapable of fully understanding the present and coming to grips with the issues of our time. For example, from the Civil War until around 1890, real racial progress was underway in the United States and civil rights laws were Federally enforced in the South. The military was integrated and former slaves had the right to vote, serve on juries and as witnesses in trials, own property and operate businesses.Read more ›
39 Comments 879 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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5.0 out of 5 starsHonest History Does NOT Diminish America in Any Way
By Maginot on January 15, 2003
Format: Paperback
In this superb book, James Loewen argues what most Americans have understood since childhood, namely that our American History textbooks, are, boring, theme-driven, inaccurate and largely ineffective at imparting the richness of their subject. While the book�s title and argument may seem like a leftist gerrymander, they are not. Loewen, a professor of Sociology at the University of Vermont (who spent several years analyzing ten high school American History textbooks totaling more than 8,000 pages), is not out to reverse the traditional cast of heroes and villains in American history. Instead, Loewen advocates an honest and inclusive history that simply reveals events as they actually happened. While this may expose some dark truths about �heroic� people and events in American history, and may cast historical �villains� in a new light, Loewen does not believe it will cause students to despise their country. On the contrary, he argues that revealing conflicts and problems that our text books ignore or conceal will make American history come alive and will almost certainly enhance students� appreciation for their country. Ironically, while many textbook editors and teachers fear that altering their inaccurate and theme-driven content will cause students to despise their country, they miss the fact that this is precisely what the specious, vapid nature of the textbooks already accomplishes. Some of Loewen�s interesting observations are contained below:
COLUMBUS
Columbus was almost certainly not the first European to discover or colonize North America. He tortured and mutilated the native population of Haiti and eventually exterminated it by working the inhabitants to death searching for gold. All of these facts are available in the journals of Columbus and his colleagues.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsInformative, Substantial, and Well-Written

I enjoyed this book.

It is, first, well-composed for a book of its type, with a clear, functional format that is appropriate to the subject matter. Read more

Published 8 days ago by Aaron
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat Read!!

History is written by the victor - what a fabulous perspective, especially from the American Indian genocide.

Published 8 days ago by Jane in the Pines
5.0 out of 5 starsthis is a great book, period

In my opinion, this is a great book, period. It has been proven to shine a light on some of the distortions found in many of today's History books. Read more

Published 9 days ago by h@ppyg0lucky
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

This book is very good, it has a lot if information that I never knew about our American history.

Published 11 days ago by victor
2.0 out of 5 starsPiece of s***

Long, long winded,sometimes interesting and original but the party is too evident thruout. Would have been much more powerful if shorter ,less laced with references and less... Read more

Published 14 days ago by William Hoover
5.0 out of 5 starsOutstanding book! So much deep content in an entertaining ...

Outstanding book! So much deep content in an entertaining, engaging and easy-to-read style! The book pulls back the covers on the American History texbook industry and broadly... Read more

Published 19 days ago by Mrs.Baz 12345
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

great

Published 23 days ago by largemarge
5.0 out of 5 starsOn becoming a thoughtful consumer of "history"

This book changed the way I consume history.

Of course there are the quibblers who try to impose different sets of "facts" to show this book is "wrong. Read more

Published 25 days ago by Terrence Walsh
3.0 out of 5 starsThree Stars

Good book. Nice approach to the lies and myths. A little too textbook-y at time.

Published 27 days ago by Matt Davis
5.0 out of 5 starsAn alternative history

The other side of the coin. History rewritten

Published 1 month ago by Amazon Customer

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