Lies My Teacher Told Me
by James W. Loewen · first published 1994
65% recommend35% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Eye-opening look at the myths and omissions in US history textbooks, backed by footnotes and primary sources; covers labor, civil rights, and Native American history. Suits anyone rethinking what school taught them.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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 a
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…caricatures, and we forget that, were we to see the complete picture, our modern-day "villains" may not look so different (for better or for worse!) [1] I believe Loewen talks about this in his excellent book Lies My Teacher Told Me (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lies_My_Teacher_Told_Me) [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller#Political_activiti... [2] Naturally, this presumes that you either disagree with socialist politics…
on “Einstein's list of conditions for staying together with his wife” ↗Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me: http://sundown.afro.illinois.edu/liesmyteachertoldme.php Worthy read.
on “What Not To Write On Your Security Clearance Form” ↗A readable introduction to the bits of US history that high-school textbooks delicately gloss over is Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me. Includes not only an intro to labor history, but also to civil rights history, and American Indian war-of-extermination history, and of course the charming US imperial history of the 20th century. (Not…
on “Restore the Fourth” ↗…spent for me. Here are some of my top books this year. - Currency Wars, James Rickards - The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein - What Technology Wants, Kevin Kelly - The Art Of Happiness, Dalai Lama - Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Loewen - The Four Agreements, Miguel Ruiz - Man's Search For Meaning, Viktor Frankl - Understanding Power, Noam Chomsky - The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander - Good To Great, Jim Collins…
on “Ask HN: book suggestions in non-tech fields (e.g. psychology, philosophy…)” ↗No mention of James Loewen's "Lies My Teacher Told Me," which fills in some of the blanks they mention in Zinn's narrative, overflowing with both footnotes and primary sources, going out of its way to point out alternate explanations and the reasoning behind…
on “Undue Certainty: Where Howard Zinn's a People's History Falls Short (2012) [pdf]” ↗The word "many" leads me to believe that this is the author's opinion without substance, and even with evidence at best ad populum. I recently read "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by J. Loewen [1], and it hits on just this, being the "heroification" of American leaders. I wouldn't doubt that this is what was the popular teaching in K-12 US. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/074...
on “How the Berlin Wall Really Fell” ↗Also great is James W. Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong.
on “Amazon rainforest was home to millions of people before European arrival” ↗…post-Enlightenment era in Europe, much of English history, the late 19th century, 20th century issues of labour, race, drugs, culture, immigration, women's rights, and more, was tremendously elided. * James Loewen, Lies my Teacher Told Me: Everything your American History textbook got wrong is a good start. http://www.worldcat.org/title/lies-my-teacher-told-me-everyt... * Howard Zinn's A People's History has its own biases, but they're…
on “Facebook deletes Norway PM's post as 'napalm girl' row escalates” ↗Bargaining for Advantage : Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion Lies my teacher told me : everything your American history textbook got wrong Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life Thinking, Fast and Slow
on “Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?” ↗Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong http://toptalkedbooks.com/books/aRnlEw/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-... http://toptalkedbooks.com/books/_5tcQA/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-...
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite history books?” ↗You might be interested in Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen. He's a sociologist but he brings up this point when talking about the different possible discovery dates fo the Americas by the Japanese, Africans, Polynesians and others at one point…
on “A Map of Native American Tribes” ↗https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lies_my_teacher_told_me By James W. Loewen. Or J.S. Mill: https://old.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/6x7u6a/on_the_...
on “Declassified U-2 spy plane photos are a boon for aerial archaeology” ↗…by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies, these books omit almost all the ambiguity, passion, conflict, and drama from our past." "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong" - James W. Loewen https://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything-dp-16...
on “Is History Written by the Winners?” ↗As an American, I highly recommend "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James Loewen. And since you are reading 1776 then you might also like "John Adams" by David McCullough.
on “Ask HN: What are you reading these days?” ↗…places like Oklahoma, where land was often promised, it offers no easy way of distinguishing between tribes who historically inhabited the land and those who were promised land there. I'd also recommend Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen. It's a great book on how textbooks distort history and also busts a ton of myths. Also An Indigenous People's History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. If your local library…
on “Ask HN: What is the best online course you took recently?” ↗