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Lies my teacher told me : everything American history textbooks get wrong /

by Loewen, James W [author.]; Stefoff, Rebecca [writer of adaptation.]; Loewen, James W.
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookPublisher: New York : The New Press, 2019.Edition: Young readers' edition.Description: xviii, 282 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.ISBN: 9781620974698; 162097469X.Subject(s): United States -- History -- Textbooks -- Juvenile literature | United States -- Historiography -- Juvenile literature | Indians of North America in textbooks -- Juvenile literature | Thanksgiving Day in textbooks -- Juvenile literature | Racism in textbooks -- Juvenile literature
Contents:
Introduction : Why I wrote this book -- and other questions answered -- The problem with making heroes -- What did Columbus really do? -- The truth about the first Thanksgiving -- Through red eyes -- Invisible racism -- John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and invisible idealism -- The land of opportunity -- Keeping an eye on the government -- Seeing no evil in Vietnam -- The disappearance of the recent past -- History and the future -- Does this way of teaching history work? -- Afterword : The future lies ahead -- and what to do about them.
Summary: Criticizes the way history is presented in current textbooks, and suggests a fresh and more accurate approach to teaching American history.Summary: Loewen examined leading high school American history texts, and concluded that not one does a decent job of making history interesting or memorable. In this edition, adapted for young readers, he helps students develop a deeper understanding of our world. He begins with Native American history, and covers diverse events up to the present day.
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Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Status Date due Barcode
Books Books Altadena Main Library
Young Adult Collection Young Adult New Book Shelf YA 973 LOE Checked out 08/17/2020 00:00 39270004862789

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Now adapted for young readers ages 12 through 18, the national bestseller that makes real American history come alive in all of its conflict, drama, and complexity <p>Lies My Teacher Told Me is one of the most important--and successful--history books of our time. Having sold nearly two million copies, the book won an American Book Award and the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship. Now Rebecca Stefoff, the acclaimed nonfiction children's writer who adapted Howard Zinn's bestseller A People's History of the United States for young readers, makes Loewen's beloved work available to younger students.</p> <p>Essential reading in our age of fake news and slippery, sloppy history, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Young Readers' Edition cuts through the mindless optimism and outright lies found in most textbooks that are often not even really written by their "authors." Loewen is, as historian Carol Kammen has said, the history teacher we all should have had. Beginning with pre-Columbian history and then covering characters and events as diverse as the first Thanksgiving, Helen Keller, the My Lai massacre, 9/11, and the Iraq War, Loewen's lively, provocative telling of American history is a "counter-textbook that retells the story of the American past" (The Nation).</p> <p>This streamlined young readers' edition is rich in vivid details and quotations from primary sources that poke holes in the textbook versions of history and help students develop a deeper understanding of our world. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Young Readers' Edition brings this classic text to a new generation of readers (and their parents and teachers) who will welcome and value its honesty, its humor, and its integrity.</p>

Includes bibliographical references (pages 247-267) and index.

Introduction : Why I wrote this book -- and other questions answered -- The problem with making heroes -- What did Columbus really do? -- The truth about the first Thanksgiving -- Through red eyes -- Invisible racism -- John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and invisible idealism -- The land of opportunity -- Keeping an eye on the government -- Seeing no evil in Vietnam -- The disappearance of the recent past -- History and the future -- Does this way of teaching history work? -- Afterword : The future lies ahead -- and what to do about them.

Ages 12-18.

Criticizes the way history is presented in current textbooks, and suggests a fresh and more accurate approach to teaching American history.

Loewen examined leading high school American history texts, and concluded that not one does a decent job of making history interesting or memorable. In this edition, adapted for young readers, he helps students develop a deeper understanding of our world. He begins with Native American history, and covers diverse events up to the present day.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • Introduction: Why I Wrote This Book-And Other Questions Answered (p. ix)
  • List Of Textbooks Studied (p. xvii)
  • 1 The Problem With Making Heroes (p. 1)
  • 2 What Did Columbus Really Do? (p. 17)
  • 3 The Truth About The First Thanksgiving (p. 45)
  • 4 Through Red Eyes (p. 68)
  • 5 Invisible Racism (p. 99)
  • 6 John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, And Invisible Idealism (p. 127)
  • 7 The Land Of Opportunity (p. 151)
  • 8 Keeping An Eye On The Government (p. 160)
  • 9 Seeing No Evil In Vietnam (p. 178)
  • 10 The Disappearance Of The Recent Past (p. 192)
  • 11 History And The Future (p. 206)
  • 12 Does This Way Of Teaching History Work? (p. 225)
  • Afterword: The Future Lies Ahead-And What To Do About Them (p. 237)
  • Notes (p. 247)
  • Index (p. 269)

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