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Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen
moiscool's review against another edition
challenging
informative
5.0
I wish I had read this in high school but I’m glad I read it now. Reminded me of how much i love history, and also put into perspective how indoctrinating the American school system is
peebee's review against another edition
4.0
Book number one of my "Holy shit, there are people who might conceivably agree with me when I go off on a tirade" reading list. Describes why most people don't know what the fuck they're talking about, and why I want to punch the news in the face.
spiderfelt's review against another edition
While much of the content was interesting, I could not care about which textbook author perpetuated which falsehood, omitted this detail or attributed that deed to the wrong person. I preferred reading an Indigenous History of the United States to fill in the history that didn’t make it into my courses.
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 against another edition
4.0
A great book. Sets history straight, sort of. A great book for students interested in historical memory.
boopointeshoes's review against another edition
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.