Lies My Teacher Told Me
3949711
222920127
2008-07-01T19:13:52Z
72.78.242.5
/* Awards and honors */
{{Expand|date=September 2007}}
'''''Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong''''' is a 1995 book by [[James Loewen]]. It critically examines twelve popular [[United States|American]] [[History of the United States|history]] [[Historiography|textbooks]] and concludes that textbook authors propagate [[fact]]ually [[Lie|false]], [[eurocentric]], and [[Mythology|mythologized]] views of [[history]]. In addition to critiquing the dominant historical themes presented in textbooks, Loewen presents a number of his own historical themes that he says are ignored by traditional history textbooks. A new revised and updated [[hardcover]] edition was released on [[April 1]], [[2008]].
==Introduction==
Loewen introduces the book by discussing why he wrote it, and what is wrong with textbooks. "Textbooks keep students in the dark about the nature of history...[They] employ such a godlike tone, it never occurs to most students to question them...As a result of this, most [[high school]] seniors are hamstrung in their efforts to analyze controversial issues in our society" (p.16).
==Loewen's ideas==
Loewen proposes that when history teachers elevate [[Lists of Americans|American historical figures]] to the status of [[hero]]es, they unintentionally give students the impression that these figures were part of an unattainable past. In other words, the history-as-myth method teaches students that America's greatest days are behind it. If textbooks and teachers were honest about historical controversies and the flaws of America's heroes, Loewen proposes that students would be left with the impression that America is a nation forever learning and improving and that its best days are still to come. Loewen suggests history textbooks should rely more heavily on primary sources.
==Sources==
The twelve textbooks Loewen considers are:
* ''The American Adventure'' (1975)
* ''American Adventures'' (1987)
* ''American History'' (1982)
* ''[[The American Pageant]]'' (1991)
* ''The American Tradition'' (1984)
* ''The American Way'' (1979)
* ''The Challenge of Freedom'' (1990)
* ''Discovering American History'' (1974)
* ''Land of Promise'' (1983)
* ''Life and Liberty'' (1984)
* ''Triumph of the American Nation'' (1986)
* ''The United States: A History of the Republic'' (1991)
==Awards and honors==
It is the winner of the 1996 [[American Book Award]] and the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award<ref>[http://www2.asanet.org/sectionrem/awards.html Call for Nominations - Section Awards], Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities of the American Sociological Association</ref> for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship.
The book is mentioned in the cover of the [[Rise Against]] album, ''[[The Sufferer & the Witness]]''.
==See also==
*''[[A People's History of the United States]]'' by [[Howard Zinn]]
[http://www.amazon.com/dp/1595583262 Amazon.com]
==References==
<references/>
Page numbers refer to James W. Loewen, ''Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your History Textbook Got Wrong'' (1996), ISBN 0-684-81886-8.
[[Category:1995 books]]
[[Category:History books]]
[[Category:Educational materials]]
[[Category:Curricula]]