Lies My Teacher Told Me -- James Loewen
OK -- Hold on, this one is strange.... I really enjoyed this book. It is about some of the things that American History textbooks get wrong, and there was a lot of material with which James Loewen could work. Loewen surveyed 12 leading American History textbooks and pointed out several of their glaring misconceptions. The 1st chapter, Handicapped by History, discusses the missing information about Helen Keller, and others who were (and are) associated with great reforms, and social revolutions, but who also did some very radical things that might cast a different light upon them if they were well known. Loewen goes on to cover Columbus, all the way up to the Vietnam War. I would recommend this book to any history lover, or even the casual historian who wants to gain a deeper understanding of what -- and who -- formed the nation in which we are living....UPDATE: Loewen has published a new book since this one called Lies Across America: What America's Historic Sites Got Wrong. I think it looks pretty good, but I haven't read it. You can read about it here.
posted by offshelf @ 9:53 AM
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1 Comments:
Another great book for anyone interested in historical perspectives is one written by Howard Zinn titled "A People's History of the United States". While many people have scorned Zinn for his perspective I think it's important to move beyond the glamour of our country's historical life and toward the human and sometimes quite inhumane side of what was required to build a better society. None of us is without fault but the original design of our nation has allowed, eventually, the balance of economics/power to provide us with safer, healthier, longer and happier lives than exists in most of the world. While some of our history is sad or even guilt ridden, in the end, I think we, all are proud of the result and have great hopes that our way of life will endure.
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