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Lies My Teacher Told Me 1st Edition

by James W Loewen
Lies My Teacher Told Me 1st Edition

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ISBN13: 9780684818863
ISBN10: 0684818868
Condition: Standard


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Awards

1996 American Book Award
Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

Winner of the 1996 American Book Award and the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship

Americans 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 that not one does 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.

Review

Jon Wiener

The 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."

Review

Sandy Lydon

San Jose Mercury News

"Every history teacher in the land (including Professor Gingrich) needs to read this book."

Review

Publishers Weekly

"Readers interested in history, whether liberal or conservative, professional or layperson, will find food for thought here."


About the Author

James W. Loewen

James W. Loewen is professor of sociology at the University of Vermont. He is coauthor of the first integrated state-history textbook,

Mississippi: Conflict and Change, and creator of The Truth About Columbus: A Subversively True Poster Book for a Dubiously

Celebratory Occasion.


Table of Contents

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Something Has Gone Very Wrong

1 Handicapped by History: The Process of Hero-making

2 1493: The True Importance of Christopher Columbus

5 The Truth about the First Thanksgiving

4 Red Eyes

5 "Gone with the Wind": The Invisibility of Racism in American History Textbooks

6 John Brown and Abraham Lincoln: The Invisibility of Antiracism in American History Textbooks

7 The Land of Opportunity

8 Watching Big Brother: What Textbooks Teach about the Federal Government

9 Down the Memory Hole: The Disappearance of the Recent Past

10 Progress Is Our Most Important Product

11 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 Them

Notes

Appendix

Index


4 5

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating 4 (5 comments)

`
virginiapeiffer , July 03, 2020 (view all comments by virginiapeiffer)
THE REASON FOR THE #1 IS BECAUSE HISTORY HID A LOT OF LIES...EXAMPLE...BLACKS WERE SOLD TO TRADERS IN AFRICA BY THEIR OWN PEOPLE...WHY? WHY DID THEY DO THAT? YET NOW THE BLACKS ARE ARGUING THEY ARE ""NOT FREE LIKE WHITES, NOT ALLOWED TO VOTE? THIS COUNTRY IS CALLED ""UNITED STATES OF AMERICA"", SO WHY DID'NT HISTORY TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT THEIR SLAVES IN THEIR FAMILY LINES?? NOW THE UNITED HAS NO REASON TO BE IN OUR COUNTRY BECAUSE BOTH SIDES CAN'T GET ALONG AND HISTORY NEEDS TO BE REDONE AND THE TRUTH BE PUT IN PLACE..YOUR BOOK SHOULD HAVE THIS INFORMATION ABOUT THE LIES ABOUT HISTORY...

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crowyhead , October 18, 2007 (view all comments by crowyhead)
This book is extremely enlightening, and the author's tone is both witty and informative.

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`
Brook , June 13, 2007 (view all comments by Brook)
To use a recently-learned 'textclamation' I picked up from playing World of Warcraft... ZOMG!!! This book is amazing, disturbing, depressing, and fascinating all at once. Loewen doesn't just tell you what your teacher left out; he also explains why it was left out in the first place. Either because of the teacher's own bias, the economics of textbook publishing, or politics of 'faith,' there are numerous factors unrelated to a child's education that influence what he or she will be taught in American schools. This is a must-read for anyone that aspires to independent thinking.

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`
Margaret FalerSweany , December 19, 2006
As a teacher, I was frustrated with how little my students knew of America's history. The Vietnam War was in 1952; Abraham Lincoln was president in the 1700s! Lies My Teacher Told Me provides an excellent analysis of why American History textbooks are bland, inaccurate, and even blatantly wrong. He shows us how vibrant individuals like Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Columbus have been turned into 1-dimensional, perfect heroes. His discussions of race, women's rights efforts, and progress--which permeate the book--sculpt an exciting tale of the shaping of American attitudes. Much of what is happening in current political scenes can be seen as replicating the actions of previous eras. Much of the rhetoric we hear today can be found in the poorly written history our children have learned from textbooks that try to offend no special interest group. My copy has now been read/heard by seven people, each who has found it exhilarating to read and passed it along to another. I'm hoping it eventually returns to me.

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`
mchapman2 , August 11, 2006
This is a very good book...and I can see why it's not been well received by some. Thought provoking books seldom are. Some are burned...one needs to look no further than Nazi Germany for proof. I highly recommend this book. Mike

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780684818863
Binding:
Trade Paperback
Publication date:
09/01/1996
Publisher:
SIMON & SCHUSTER TRADE
Edition:
1ED
Pages:
384
Height:
9.28 in.
Width:
6.18 in.
Thickness:
.66 in.
Grade Range:
General/trade
Number of Units:
1
Copyright Year:
1996
Series Volume:
104-231
UPC Code:
2800684818865
Author:
James W. Loewen
Author:
James W Loewen
Subject:
General education.
Subject:
Thanksgiving Day in textbooks.
Subject:
History
Subject:
Textbooks
Subject:
United states
Subject:
Indians of North America in textbooks.

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