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Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen
goobdiddy's review against another edition
4.0
Wow, I wish I'd read this back in school! This is a collection of case studies on how American history textbooks have ignored actual facts in favor of painting leaders and actions in a favorable light.
The biggest impact for me was finding out what a racist piece of crap Woodrow Wilson was. I actually did a paper on him in middle school, and thought he was so awesome with the League of Nations and all that. Turns out he was a massive tool, who kicked all non-white people out of federal service.
The chapters on the treatment of indigenous Americans are also rather eye-opening (I got this book at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian).
The book is very dense, with tons of endnotes, but should probably be a required read for all Americans. Definitely worth it if you have kids, so you can check out their textbooks and see if they're worth the paper they are printed on...
The biggest impact for me was finding out what a racist piece of crap Woodrow Wilson was. I actually did a paper on him in middle school, and thought he was so awesome with the League of Nations and all that. Turns out he was a massive tool, who kicked all non-white people out of federal service.
The chapters on the treatment of indigenous Americans are also rather eye-opening (I got this book at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian).
The book is very dense, with tons of endnotes, but should probably be a required read for all Americans. Definitely worth it if you have kids, so you can check out their textbooks and see if they're worth the paper they are printed on...
greypierce's review
4.0
A great book. Sets history straight, sort of. A great book for students interested in historical memory.
boopointeshoes's review
The author greatly misrepresents indigenous people and beliefs. FYI: Wasichu means he who takes the best for himself or he who is greedy. It’s an insult. It was not the indigenous people looking up to the colonizers admiring their things.