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1.03k reviews for:
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
James W. Loewen
4.04 AVERAGE
1.03k reviews for:
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
James W. Loewen
4.04 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
Essential, infuriating reading. Loewen points out that U.S. history textbooks present things like wars and recessions as events that just happen to America. Textbook editors have embraced the role of cheerleader for the country. In textbooks, slavery wasn't so bad, Woodrow Wilson wasn't racist, Helen Keller wasn't a socialist, U.S. presidents didn't own slaves, native Americans had unstable societies, MLK didn't have much to say, American brutality against civilians wasn't a feature of the Vietnam War, the Iraq War had a positive outcome, climate change doesn't exist, and the United States is a beacon of peace and economic opportunity.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Truly essential reading for every walk of life.
challenging
informative
medium-paced
very interesting and good information but at times the tone was so holier-than-thou mansplainy that i started crashing out. it was written like if ricken from severance and my ex collabed
This book would have ranked higher except for one thing: even in my quick perusal at the bookstore before I tracked down a copy at the library, I could tell that most of the "lies" were either things that were now common knowledge, things that I had uncovered with very little research, or "lies" that weren't really lies but were Democratic or Republican spins on the same event.
History may be written by the victor, but all I really came away from this book with was a sense that history was being written by people who wanted to shock and rock the boat, not people who actually cared about what really happened.
History may be written by the victor, but all I really came away from this book with was a sense that history was being written by people who wanted to shock and rock the boat, not people who actually cared about what really happened.
I didn't find anything in here that I didn't already know...though I expected to. It is not lies the book suggests so much as it is conveniently omitted facts. Facts which everyone ends up finding out about later in their education anyway. This is basically elementary school history textbook omitted facts or exaggerated truths we're talking about. Not any profound cover ups. Darn. What a disappointment.
The book was good, but not exactly what I wanted. I assumed there was going to be a larger collection of topics surveyed, for one. The issues that were covered had much more detail than I thought necessary. When he talks about Helen Keller, he basically does a condensed biography of her life after the Annie Sullivan miracle. Not that that isn't interesting, but it seems unnecessary in reference to the point (she was a communist and also fought for women's rights). I wouldn't think each subject should take up more than a page or two. The excessive explanations of each topic led me to skim through most of the pages, only breaking for the parts that jumped out.
Wow!
I was educated primarily in the United States, yet I learned many new things reading [b:Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong|296662|Lies My Teacher Told Me Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong|James W. Loewen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1255592395l/296662._SY75_.jpg|15653]. It is sad, yet validating, to realize how many other people also dislike history. For me history classes always seemed like an endless string of dates, wars and generals to memorize. I would learn the for the test and promptly forget them. As an adult I have learned things that seem contradictory to what I “learned” in school, which is what brought me to this book.
If you are truly interested in learning about the history of the United States of America, please read this book.
I was educated primarily in the United States, yet I learned many new things reading [b:Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong|296662|Lies My Teacher Told Me Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong|James W. Loewen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1255592395l/296662._SY75_.jpg|15653]. It is sad, yet validating, to realize how many other people also dislike history. For me history classes always seemed like an endless string of dates, wars and generals to memorize. I would learn the for the test and promptly forget them. As an adult I have learned things that seem contradictory to what I “learned” in school, which is what brought me to this book.
If you are truly interested in learning about the history of the United States of America, please read this book.