In "Lies My Teacher Told Me", sociology professor James Loewen conducts a detailed examination of American history and the reasons why high school students not only detest the subject but also emerge from class with a poor understanding. His conclusion - the textbooks are at fault.

In the 1992 version of this book, Loewen closely inspected the 12 most commonly used history textbooks and uncovered that their true objective was not to comprehensively educate American students about their history but rather to achieve the following: to present events in a manner that prevents students from feeling bad about the less-than-noble actions of our ancestors; to create glossy heroic images of major historical figures without any hint of human complexity; to formulate the concept of continuous progress, thereby reducing students' awareness of existing social inequalities; to include every possible factoid that might make the book more appealing to people in different locations, and most importantly, to completely avoid offending any group that might have the power to prevent the textbook's adoption and thus reduce sales.

The ultimate result of this is textbooks that are both mind-numbingly dull and extremely incomplete. Loewen endeavors to rectify the latter by vividly highlighting the horrors of our past that are omitted from these books, ranging from the brutal enslavement of natives by Columbian explorers to the upsurge of racist suppression of blacks after the Civil War to the underhanded actions of a government that often acts at the behest of special interests rather than the broader citizenry.

When addressing facts such as the slave ownership of the founding fathers and the blatant racism of Woodrow Wilson, Loewen points out what literature students have always known - complex, conflicted humans make for far more interesting subjects than one-dimensional superheroes. However, by neglecting to discuss the shadowy aspects of both our history and the people within it, our textbooks convey the idea that history is a set of uninteresting facts to be learned and perfect heroes to be emulated rather than a constantly evolving compilation of interconnected and often conflicting ideas and the people who grapple with them. By denying students the ability to view history in this way, textbooks also deprive them of the ability to learn how to consider competing ideas, analyze their strengths and weaknesses, and in the process, discover how to think for themselves.

At a time when so much of America seems to have lost touch with even the most fundamental facts of the present, let alone the distant past, Loewen's book is of utmost importance for anyone not only interested in our nation's past but also in its future.

That being said, this is not an easy book to read. In an attempt to provide balance to the mindless positive propaganda of our textbooks, Loewen delves so deeply into the most heinous aspects of the American past that I often found this book difficult to endure. It's not that I was unfamiliar with the basic atrocities he presents (although I did learn a great deal that I hadn't known before), but the fact that he presents them in such a relentless litany, with only a passing reference to anything positive about America, left even a liberal like me longing to hear something positive about my country. After reading this book, I can envision how incredibly captivating and stimulating a history book that includes both the good and bad sides of America would be and how far it would go in enabling the US citizenry to make better decisions about our future, but unfortunately, this is not that book.

I read the 2007 edition, which addressed the changes that have occurred in the 15 years since the original was published. Although some minor improvements have been made, the current impact on the problem is minimal compared to its magnitude, especially at a time when right-wing fundamentalists on Texas textbook adoption boards are exerting such a significant influence on what students in the rest of the country will and will not read. Until the textbook that Loewen envisions has been written, this will remain a crucial counterweight to conventional American history.

Turkey Day Coverup Unmasked and...

If simply correcting a significant portion of American history were the sole function of this book, it would still merit five stars. Indeed, you will uncover a wealth of information that your high school history teacher and textbook (especially the latter) failed to disclose. Perhaps your teacher adhered strictly to the book out of a justifiable sense of self-preservation. [Why risk getting fired for teaching content that didn't sit well with the local authorities or right-wing citizen groups?] In my case, for instance, my teacher never mentioned the epidemics that nearly wiped out the Native Americans even before the beloved Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock. How did Squanto come to speak English? Was Christopher Columbus truly the first to know that the Earth was round? Did he actually discover America? Was Reconstruction a colossal failure due to Black inexperience and (Northern) White greed? How many times did the US dispatch military forces to intervene in various Latin American countries? Why were millions of African-Americans so motivated to elect Obama? Was it merely because he resembled them? Consult your (actual) history books. Was Woodrow Wilson such a paragon of virtue? How come I never learned that a sitting US president was inducted into the Ku Klux Klan right in the White House? (Harding) Whoa, man! If these few rather radical departures from your textbook pique your curiosity, hold on tight! You're going to learn a great deal more by reading LMTTM. Some claim that the author is too left-wing. Well, we were bombarded with the right-wing version as children, and I believe that's still the case. It's high time we heard a different perspective. Moreover, history isn't just a compilation of facts; it's also a matter of interpretation. You might not like Loewen's interpretation, but you must come up with a better one to discredit it - one that still adheres to known facts but offers a different slant. If you're prepared to do this in the average American high school history course, I'll be very surprised. My high school history book was full of dogmatic statements, and we had countless quizzes on the material. The USA could do much better, unless you believe that thinking is a dangerous activity.

"And that ain't all," as the song goes. Loewen did more than just his homework. He analyzed 12 popular US history textbooks for eleventh graders and demonstrated how they consistently prioritized colorful tales and personalities over actual facts. He showed how they evaded serious issues that might have made us think - racism, social class, capitalism, labor history, immigration, and gender inequality (to name just a few). Most of them presented feel-good history, attempting to create patriots who believed that America was the ultimate success among nation-states, the International Good Guy. While feeling bad about your country isn't a great thing for kids, a bit of truth never harmed anyone because if you think you live in "God's Country," there's no other explanation for why others don't like us except "jealousy" or simple "ill-will." You won't be able to understand what's happening now because you have no idea about the controversies of the past. Loewen contends that Americans dislike history because it's so phony as presented, so willfully ignorant of actual conditions, and because the textbooks are overly sentimental when they should be incisive. He says that the memorization of thousands of useless facts turns kids off. Personally, I think the reason Americans are so dismal in history stems from factors beyond just textbooks, so I differ somewhat from the book on this point. Still, there's no denying that his portrayal of the textbooks (and fact memorization) is accurate. And it's not just a long rant about what's wrong. He also offers numerous suggestions, which you can take or leave. Frankly, this is one of the most instructive books I've read in a long time on any subject. I'm certain it's the one book you need if you're wondering why kids today can't understand what's going on in the country or the world. And why should we single out kids? We all had those textbooks. Read this one.

A 363-page difference


In 'Lies My Teacher Told Me', James W. Loewen conducts a critical examination of the content within 12 textbooks commonly utilized across high schools in the United States. His aim is to reveal how the teaching of American history is selective, whitewashed, uni-dimensional, and nationalistic.


Loewen delves into the competing role of textbook authors, who are tasked with both educating readers and instilling a sense of patriotism. He demonstrates how this tension leads to a plethora of learning resources that are overly optimistic and selectively highlight and/or omit historical facts in order to "heroify" the United States and its (White) historical figures.


The issues of bias in our education systems and the myth of objective knowledge are two of my personal favorites to explore. Naturally, I was excited by the promise held by the title of this book. However, unfortunately, the text did not quite meet my expectations. The methodology and delivery lacked organization, which, I assume, made it less accessible for readers who did not already believe that our "knowledge" is shaped by racist bias. Moreover, aside from the term "heroification" and a few specific examples, 'Lies My Teacher Told Me' failed to introduce any novel ideas to readers who were already aware of the bias present in the curriculum.


Ultimately, I believe that Loewen's work is of incredible importance. However, it potentially could have been more impactful as a concise journal article rather than a 383-page book. This would have allowed for a more focused and streamlined presentation of his ideas, making them more accessible and engaging for a wider audience.