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Lies My Teacher Told Me
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong | James W. Loewen
Since its first publication in 1995, Lies My Teacher Told Me has gone on to win an American Book Award, the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship, and to sell over half a million copies in its various editions.What started out as a survey of the twelve leading American history textbooks has ended up being what the San Francisco Chronicle calls an extremely convincing plea for truth in education. In Lies My Teacher Told Me, James W. Loewen brings history alive in all its complexity and ambiguity. Beginning with pre-Columbian history and ranging over characters and events as diverse as Reconstruction, Helen Keller, the first Thanksgiving, and the Mai Lai massacre, Loewen offers an eye-opening critique of existing textbooks, and a wonderful retelling of American history as it shouldand couldbe taught to American students.This 10th anniversary edition features a handsome new cover and a new introduction by the author.
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Melreedauthor
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Decided to pick this up after a while. I know I disappeared, but things got hectic. Time to get back to relaxing. 😁😁😁

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Leftcoastzen
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He passed away on the 19th. One of the good guys . This book was significant to me.Wrote one about Sundown towns still on my TBR. https://www.npr.org/2021/08/23/1030442282/james-loewen-author-of-lies-my-teacher...

JamieArc I got to see him speak on Sundown Towns at a conference. I won‘t ever forget it. 😞 3y
Leftcoastzen @JamieArc wow , I bet that was pretty amazing. 3y
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JamieArc @Leftcoastzen It was. He was a great speaker (not surprising - he was a teacher after all). 3y
Zoes_Human His book changed my life in the 90s. This is a loss to humanity. 3y
Leftcoastzen @Zoes_Human He was among the best . Huge influence on me too.I was really angry about propaganda versions of history, or at the very least, the many omissions. 3y
40 likes1 stack add6 comments
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bookishbitch
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Pickpick

Quite excellent. We are teaching our kids a very white washed, dumbed down one dimensional version of our history. This is doing them, and our country, no favors. This is a very dense read. I learned so much and I wish I had a history teacher that didn't rely on terrible text books like the ones referenced. A great read if you want to learn more true history, and how to think critically. I wish all history teachers read this one. Highly recommend.

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LisaLovesToRead
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Panpan

This book was painfully long. It made good points, but there were too many unnecessary ones in between. I‘m glad I stuck with it, and felt like I had to finish it once I started it. I would not recommend it or suggest anyone else suffer. 😊

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bookishbitch
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Domestic terrorism isn't patriotic. As a matter of fact it makes you a traitor. Step away from the YouTube conspiracy videos and educate yourselves.

TheBookHippie 👏🏼thank you. ✊🏼✌🏻 4y
Chrissyreadit 👏🙌👏 4y
Lauram 👏👏👏👏 4y
16 likes3 comments
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bookishbitch
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"The antidote to feel-good history is not feel-bad history but honest and inclusive history."

8 likes1 stack add
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violabrain
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Pickpick

Wow, this book was really eye-opening for me! The way US history is traditionally taught in the United States is nothing less than outright propaganda.

12 likes1 stack add
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WriterAtHeart
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Mehso-so

Finished this one off at the beach today #womenreading . Not really my type of nonfiction, but I read the whole thing and learned some stuff. @Julie548, I will be sending this your way on Monday when I return home.

@Melismatic @TheReadingMermaid

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Nitpickyabouttrains
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Pickpick

I picked up this book because it was featured on the npr codeswitch podcast. It was super interesting. The author reviewed history text books and found incorrect information and missed events. He talks about how history is taught in the US and I defiantly learned a lot.

tpixie Cool! 6y
rather_be_reading stacked! 6y
25 likes6 stack adds2 comments
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JFB
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Pickpick

I've been meaning to read This for years and finally got to it via audible. Very thoughtful, passionate and well-supported book. Anyone who cares about American history and how it is taught in high schools ought to read this book.

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crhealey
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Book and a brew this dreary Sunday morning

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crhealey
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Now serving salad with a side of social justice! #workingontheweekend #alwayslearning

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Metaphoric
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Just read an article about this book and plan to read it soon. American History is seriously whitewashed to reflect only the good (if any in certain circumstances) and none of the bad things we‘ve done since the United States creation and the road taken to get there. Since then, it‘s more of the same. The US collective memory is ridiculously shallow - and we don‘t learn from our mistakes. https://apple.news/AZTisJGKxTBykS_WJFwkx9g

Michollio My AP History teacher had us read a few chapters out of this book 😆 6y
10 likes1 comment
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Annacferg

If we look Indian history squarely in the eye, we are going to get red eyes. This is our past, however, and we must acknowledge it. It is time for textbooks to send white children home, if not with red eyes, at least with though-provoking questions.

Yes 🙌🏻🙌🏻

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Annacferg

“Most textbook authors protect us from a racist Lincoln. By so doing, they diminish students‘ capacity to recognize racism as a force in American life. For if Lincoln could be racist, then so might the rest of us be. And if Lincoln could transcend racism, as he did on occasion, then so might the rest of us.”

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kalinichta
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Unpacking books in the new apartment, and came across this one that I don't recall having and have no idea when, where, how, or why I obtained it. Please tell me I'm not the only one this happens to.

#bookloverproblems

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Mowen036
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When someone tries to tell you that you don‘t need to take US history classes to get your history degree. You have said history degree and took over 6 classes of US history. She learned fast to not say it again.

wanderinglynn What? How could you get a history degree and NOT take U.S. history? Was she high? 6y
Mowen036 @wanderinglynn I think she might have been. She was trying to prove a point about what‘s not being taught in schools today and went a little too far. 🙄 (edited) 6y
thegreentealibrarian That's really weird... I had a minor and had to take at least three. 🤓 6y
20 likes3 comments
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Annacferg

“Five-sixths of all Americans never take a course in American history beyond high school. What our citizens “learn” in high school forms much of what they know about our past.” Yikes 😬

Trashcanman Hello @Annacferg, pleased to meet you 7y
2 likes1 comment
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Annacferg
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Oh boy. I‘m so excited to read this!

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Librarybelle
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I‘m always amazed at the historical facts avoided in school history classes. It wasn‘t until further college level classes and my own reading that I learned the truth about so much, mostly focusing on American history. This book will tell #nolies ...a look at where the history texts got the history wrong, or perhaps glided over the truth. I have an older edition of the pictured cover and have pages through it - interesting! #marchintooz

Lizpixie Aussie schools are the same. The things my children don‘t know constantly dismays me.😢 7y
72 likes6 stack adds2 comments
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babydee323

I now loathe Woodrow Wilson thanks to the first chapter... on to Christopher Columbus!

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Nerdfins
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Pickpick

When my niece and nephew are old enough, I will be giving them a copy of this book. I did learn new things from it, but I suppose it‘s sad that I wasn‘t surprised at the whitewashing and how toned down history textbooks are. The book doesn‘t go into a ton of depth on all issues, like women, lgbtq or hispanic history, but it‘s enough to infer why books stay neutral or leave them out all together.

Hoopiefoot A teacher gave me a copy of this when I graduated from high school. It‘s one of my favorite books. 7y
Nerdfins @Hoopiefoot Did you read the updated version yet? This one is updated to include 9/11 and the Iraq war. And what publishers have and haven‘t done since the first book. 7y
SpeculativeFemale I need to get the updated version. I read this in college, when the author visited my university, before 9/11 even happened. 7y
Hoopiefoot @Nerdfins I haven‘t. Need to check it out! 7y
11 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Nerdfins
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I may not be showing any symptoms, but I‘m not 100% and I‘m worried about exposing the ladies at my weekly knit group to the flu so I‘m staying home today and finishing this book. Loki is keeping me company, Luna is somewhere else causing mischief. #catsoflitsy

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Nerdfins
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My husband caught the flu last week, I‘m feeling a bit off today, and I forgot to get my flu shot this year. I‘m keeping my fingers crossed that taking Tamiflu will help me! Meanwhile I‘ll just keep reading with my snuggle kitties. #catsoflitsy

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Nerdfins
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I know this picture is supposed to be an example of class differences show in advertising, but it mostly just made me want one of my favorite beers. 🤤🍺 #beer

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Nerdfins
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I was craving beet lemonade all day. Core Life Eatery is sooooo good! And I don‘t feel like garbage after eating there. #food

Bookish_AF Beet lemonade?? What is this madness ?!! 🧐😜 7y
Nerdfins @nestlera It is amazingly delicious! They also have things like apple cayenne green tea, but my non-spicy tongue would hate it. 7y
12 likes2 comments
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Jacobwakeup
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Historic #antiracism

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Jacobwakeup
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I started reading this on Hoopla. Still prefer the physical to e-books.

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Jacobwakeup
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I'm upset with myself for not having read this sooner.

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Rachel.Rencher
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History book haul!

So, I was watching Mad Men and saw the episode where everyone was in a panic over the Cuban Missile Crisis. I has to ask Lucas what that was, because I genuinely had no idea as it was never covered in school. Needless to say, he looked at me like I was insane.

Time to self-educate!

Lucas.Rencher I love history! 7y
TrishB I do that all the time !! That's what books are for - fillung in the gaps 😀 7y
Leniverse Yikes! Makes you wonder what else they didn't cover in school, doesn't it? You might be in for a lot of interesting self-education here once you start digging. 😁 7y
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ReadingEnvy We skipped the 70s in history in my school. So ... Same 7y
christineandbooks Yep, same here. That's one of those topics we didn't cover. Probably because it had just happened not so long ago. But I was a kid when it was happening so I didn't have a clue then either. Reading definitely helps me fill in gaps. Oh, and homeschooling my own kids. 7y
bitterbear The people's history was amazing... 7y
SpeculativeFemale My high school history classes stopped at the Cold War. Luckily some of the other teachers apparently notice the gap in our history program. I learned about the Vietnam conflict and the Cuban Missile Crisis through things we read for my English class in high school. 7y
Rachel.Rencher @Leniverse It does, but I already know it's a lot! In highschool I got a little bit about Chinese dynasties, World War 2 and the American Revolution. Basically nothing in between. College wasn't much better, so now that I've graduated I'm ready to take initiative. Let me know if there's any books you'd recommend! 😃 7y
Rachel.Rencher @SpeculativeFemale It's funny you say that, because I learned a lot more about history in my Lit classes. My prof would always give us the backstory about what we were reading, so those classes always felt well rounded. 7y
SpeculativeFemale @Rachel.Rencher Same here. Actually, because of the classes I preferred and took more of, I'm a bit better with British history than I am with American! 😶 7y
LibrarianJen I majored in history in undergrad. I approve of John Keegan. We used his book on the Second World War in one of my classes. The program I was in used a lot of literature both fiction and non fiction as sources. I read more in undergrad then I did in grad school for library science! 7y
Rachel.Rencher @LibrarianJen Oh, very cool! Are there any other books you'd recommend? 7y
LibrarianJen I might have some recommendations, but it mostly depends on when and where in history your interested in or want to know more about. 7y
Rachel.Rencher @LibrarianJen I really enjoy US history because it feels relatable. I didn't get much history in school outside of the Revolution and World War 2. So, really anything! 7y
LibrarianJen Unfortunately I only took 1 American specific course and it was Civil War era. I definitely like Keegan for WW1 and WW2. To start with the American Cilil War I would suggest 7y
LibrarianJen For more world conflicts you might look into Martha Gellhorn. She was a war correspondent for a long time. I would suggest 7y
LibrarianJen Those will give you a general overview of history and politics and people's perspectives from the time periods. 7y
108 likes3 stack adds17 comments
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SpeculativeFemale
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My #starsandstripes pick today is a book that changed my entire view of American history when I was in high school. It challenged the nationalistic view of history I'd been spoon-fed, while making me think critically about the things I learned.

#jubilantjuly
@RealLifeReading

34 likes3 stack adds
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Brie
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Great nonfiction about the American history that textbooks get wrong, ignore, sanitize, etc. from Columbus to Native Americans to presidents. #maybookflowers #lies

RealLifeReading Interesting! 7y
57 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Chrys
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As I am going to Washington DC in April I decided I should brush up on my history.

SarahRotenberry I read this many years ago and still think of it often - may have to give it a re-read soon 8y
12 likes1 comment
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Mixedreader
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Joining my #BookRiot fam in #riotgrams and posting a #shelfie from my office. Very slowing building books in my office. The problem is I end up taking them home! #bookstagram #professorlife #jamesbaldwin

bitterbear What's #riotgrams all about? 8y
Mixedreader @bitterbear #riotgrams is an Instagram/Litsy photo challenge by @bookriot 8y
bitterbear Thank you! 😊 8y
26 likes3 comments
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TrishTheBibliophile
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Piggybacking off @radishandhare with #BooksToReadDuringATrumpPresidency ....Because it's important to be able to delineate between what really happened and what you're told.

books_cats_art Yesssssss 8y
TheNextBook Stacking!! 8y
megnews Great book! 8y
94 likes11 stack adds3 comments
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JSW

Thinking about the years of colonialism, manifest destiny, slavery, conquest, and general fuckery that people have participated in. Vowing to do better with the time I have. #diversity

13 likes3 stack adds
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JSW
Pickpick

Essential reading. #DiversityMonday

13 likes1 stack add
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wistfulthinking
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This book contains a LOT of information so I am reading it little by little. However, I recommend it to anyone who is interested in History and reading Nonfiction. This book is now a very popular read. There are even classes taught that use this book as the required reading.