Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen
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Summary
This national best-seller and American Book Award winner is an entertaining, informative, and sometimes shocking expose of the way history is taught to American students. James W. Loewen, a distinguished critic of history education, puts 12 popular textbooks under the microscope. What he finds is a proliferation of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, misinformation, and flat-out lies filling the pages.
After discovering this fact in "Lies My Teacher Told Me," I asked my colleagues about it and not a single person had any idea that there was any controversy surrounding Betsy Ross and the first flag. It may not have any direct impact on topics like economics, international relations, or human rights, but it definitely leaves you feeling foolish. At 60 years old, it's like finding out that Santa Claus isn't real all over again.
But the myth about Betsy Ross is just the beginning of the misinformation we're fed about American history. It only gets worse from there. From Christopher Columbus to Woodrow Wilson to our involvement in wars, the history we were taught is embarrassing, inaccurate, and even dangerous.
"Lies My Teacher Told Me" is hands down one of the most enlightening and educational books I've ever read. It's a must-read for anyone interested in current events and curious about why the rest of the world doesn't see the United States the way we do.
While I wasn't particularly fond of the narrator and there were moments where the book seemed to get caught up in educational politics, the information provided is so crucial that these annoyances were simply minor frustrations.
This audiobook is incredibly engaging and the narrator does a fantastic job. However, it's not the best choice for listening in the car because you'll likely find yourself wanting to take notes on things to further investigate later. While I was listening to this book, I ended up borrowing a bunch of history books from the library and had a blast discussing the author's perspectives with my friends. It's particularly interesting to explore the idea that you can still be proud of a country that has a history of questionable actions. I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I discovered that even British books censor Helen Keller's political views, and I was genuinely disturbed by the quotes from Columbus' letters. This book offers a truly thought-provoking and entertaining take on history writing.
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