Rating: 
Summary: A funny, elegant kick in the seat of the pants
Review: James Loewen's written two similar books on general American History. Both of them contrast bland myth-historical blather -- of high school textbooks here, and of official monuments and markers in his latest -- with real, living, primary source history. These books are just a kick; they make a serious argument about the vitality of real history (as opposed to textbook pablum) into a really good read.Loewen's approach is very readable and natural. In Lies My Teacher Told Me, he starts by looking at several high school textbooks and comparing their treatments of various historical subjects. For example, he takes a look at what each book says about the Lincoln Douglas debates. He goes into some simple comparisons of the books -- a few of them, for example, mention Douglas's manner of speaking and clothes. Then, with relish, he sinks his teeth in and contrasts the books with the story the primary sources tell. Hey -- NONE of these books describes what the debates were about... Why are they devoting time to Douglas's suit and not to his moral justification of slavery? Why don't they even connect these debates to the civil war? I haven't read all the reviews on Amazon, but I'm going to guess that Loewen gets an angry reaction from certain readers. Don't assume this author is "leftist" just because, say, white supremacists get rattled reading him. Woodrow Wilson, a president revered by many modern Democrat sorts as a far-sighted, generally liberal figure brought down by a misguided political feud with Henry Cabot Lodge, gets absolutely skewered in this book. Loewen takes a scathing look at Wilson's racism -- and touches on several implications of that racism for our more recent history. This book is about how textbook authors dole out sanitized, "safe" history that fails to give American children anything real to make judgments by -- it is NOT about deflating any particular group's mythology. Forget all that, though, and it's still fun. Both Lies My Teacher Told Me and Lies Across America are really engaging books. The simple approach -- Look at what these bland textbooks say next to the lively real history -- just works. Loewen's got a lively voice and a sharp sense of irony. This book will give you many wry smiles, it'll stir you up, it'll make you sad sometimes, and it'll make you laugh out loud. If you're choosing between this one and Lies Across America, I'd say this is less browsable and slightly more serious in tone. (Lies Across America has separate short chapters, one for each historical monument or marker, and you can pick it up pretty much anywhere.) Don't worry, though -- you'll end up getting them both anyway.
Rating: 
Summary: good ideas, but on and on, and on...
Review: I'll be brief. This book has many good points and it does cast a bright light on many issues that have been misrepresented. Unfortunately, the author continues with his tirades to the point of nauseating the reader. Many of the historical issues on which the author spends considerable amounts of ink are nearly obvious. He doesn't need to continue for pages and pages on end; where the author discusses Columbus for 30 pages, he could as easily devote 5-10 pages on the subject. Most people understand racial crimes committed by early colonists; most people are familiar already with Columbus's horrific acts against the natives; most people realize that the native Americans were (and are) a diverse ethnic group that shouldn't be generalized. His elementary points and nit picking about the use of terms such as "settle" are trite and woefully repetitive; the book is extremely drawn out. I don't see much "liberal BIAS" in the book, but Loewen IS without question a diehard liberal and sometimes it feels as if he is preaching to the reader to the point of belligerence. Again, it's a good thing that people understand that flaws exist in the way American History is taught, and so the purpose of this book is a noble one. But for all its nobility, "Lies my Teacher Told me" is the epitome of redundancy!
Rating: 
Summary: So very, very, true.
Review: As a soon to be ninth grader, I know all too well that what mister Loewen writes about is true. At my school we learned American history in Middle School, and I'm about to go into World History. So, I've had all the limited exposure to American History that I'm gonna get. Everything he says about the fluff added to some really nasty things in a American history have come right out of the textbooks I've been studying. And, to anyone kid in the same position, I wouldn't talk back about things held dear such as C. Columbus. The teachers seem to really take offense when you say that what they are teaching is wrong. Nearly everything in this book is truthful.
Rating:
Summary: Very good read
Review: I enjoyed this book thoroughly. It goes a long way toward dispelling many of the myths and falsehoods that are perpetuated in high school American History textbooks. One of the things it does best is generate an interest in further research and discussion. As one can tell from the differing viewpoints and arguments made in previous reviews, history is not a cut and dried subject with a bunch of unassailable facts. It is a lively subject full of controversy and ripe for discussion. That is one of the main problems that the author points out in textbooks. Whether you agree with his viewpoint or believe him to have a liberal bias, the book accomplishes its goal of bringing history to life for many people who are not aware of its richness. For this reason alone, I feel the book is well worth the price. Definitely recommended reading for anyone interested in history.
Rating:
Summary: The Three Stars Have It
Review: While this book does bring up some valid points there is absolutely no doubt that the author's extreme left-wing bias gets in the way. However Loewen does footnote all his assertions so his sources can be checked in the back. I found this very useful in discerning the truth from the propaganda. Read the five and one star reviews with a grain of salt, anyone who said this book was dead on is way to set in there liberal ways. On the other hand those who say the book didn't even raise one valid point are leaning hard in the other direction. Definitely get this one at the library or borrow it from a friend.
Rating:
Summary: Biased and unfair readings of History!
Review: James W. Loewen on the surface appears innocent in critiquing American history. However, he himself is teaching "Lies" of his own, and deserves historical criticism. First of all, when he talks about the atrocities in Vietnam he overlooks the fact that the Vietcong and communists have committed crimes on much bigger scale than Americans did. It is even ironic how he doesn't mention the fact that the Americans held their own G.I's responsible---something totally unknown amongst communist regimes. Also, his indictments of Columbus is absurd. First of all, if De Las Casas only wintessed latter times, then his portrayal of Columbus is suspect. After all, there are no first hand evidence supporting the notion of "genocide".If anything, many Spaniards sought good relations with the Natives (as a general rule). Secondly,if there are more Indians today than several years ago, then "genocide" is unthinkable. And compared to most slave traders, Columbus was mild as well as a leightweight. Finally, the Tainos were not as innocent as some liberals such as this author would have you believe. They a matter of factly, like their Carib neighbors, were notorious for pagan rituals, which terrified Columbus and his men. So, to say that the War with the Arawaks was merely putting down a rebellion is a bit of an overstatement on Loewen's part. It was both the Conquistadores as well as the Indians' actions that lead to war in Hispaniola. He also mentions the fact that disease killed native tribes during the pilgrim era,reducing down the number of Indian warriors. But, isn't that precisely the point? There you go. If disease really made a big toll, then obviously "genocide" is out of the question. It was unintentionally spread since 85% of these early victims never encountered a white man. Furthermore, the Natives, such as the pequots, launched unprovoked masculine attacks against other Indians as well as whites (although there were a few exceptions where they were actually retaliating). So, there was some rational behind the pequot war (self-defense perhaps) although both Cultures, puritans and pequots alike, both showed feelings of hostility and bigotry. I recommend this book since it does a thorough job of introducing people to a variety of issues. But why not suggest books defending the right wing point of view? A good beginning place is Robert Royal's "1492 And All That" as well as his booklet "Columbus On Trial". Also, Steve Wilkins has written excellent stuff on American history. All in all, this book is very one sided but atleast it spells out an overview of the various historical controversies.
Rating:
Summary: Bias? Hardly.
Review: A few of the other reviews here speak of a "liberal bias". I went through the book again, I can't find it. I suspect those comments reflect more of the reviewer(s) than of the book. The only bias I _can_ see is towards facts backed up by research over white-washed or made-up stories; the latter being too Pollyanna for post-Vietnam high school students in any case. Another reviewer thinks everything in this book is already obvious to everyone. Hello? Anyone who hasn't read buckets of (non-textbook) history books will find many non-obvious things. Conservatively speaking, that would include ... oh, 95% of the U.S. population. So: don't fear, this is an easy-to-read, well-researched book which cites its sources. Some readers may find it offensive when their particular heroes are exposed as fallible human beings. Others may be offended that these same figures are not condemned as evil incarnate. The more seasoned will, I think, find this book interesting and even inspirational: as a species we do seem to muddle ahead, faults and all.
Rating:
Summary: A wake up call....
Review: is what this book serves as. It is not intended as an all-inclusive US history lesson. It is intended to show the vast ignorance that Americans are generally left in what it comes to history. Some critics of the book claim the author tries to tear down the founding fathers and "the American way". I don't see it that way. I think it is extremely important that we ask "why did Jefferson write that all men should be free while owning slaves?" Even Patrick Henry whose famous line "give me liberty or give me death" graces every history book owned slaves. Even more important (as I think Loewen discusses) is that we discuss that even the slave owners struggled with these issues. Even more important, the book stresses is that we make history relevant. We could compare these wealthy, slave-owning, plantation running men to modern day sweat-shops which are (directly or indirectly) run by rich, designers and corporations. The questions every American should ask of history are "how is this relevant today?" and "what can we learn from this?" This book is asking people to ask those questions, rather that recalling dates, incomplete information and calling it learning about history.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing, but food for thought
Review: This book works at two levels: at the macro level, it works wonderfully. The overall theme--high school history texts avoid controversy and gloss over accuracy for the sake of placating parents and school boards--is supported beautifully and I am grateful Mr. Loewen has brought it up. But that's about it. The rest of the book is suspect at best. Firstly, the book is not particularly well-written, and even someone as grammatically ignorant as myself noticed several verb disagreements and tense changes. For me, that's acceptable. For a book-writing professor? In the social sciences? Not good. Secondly, the book is full of conflicts. In one chapter, he decries the tendancy for textbook writers to dismiss mass movements and people, instead relegating all accomplishments to the government. I wholeheartedly agree. But in the same chapter, he places the entire blame of a collection of foreign policy events (such as overthrowing Guatemala, Chile, etc.) on a rougue CIA and the Nixon administration. What, *no* one else in Chile/Guatemala was involved? Unlikely, even for conspiracy theorists. There's also a touch of ommission, which for a normal writer is not surprising. But since the thesis of the entire book is blaming other writers for ommission of fact, it is appalling. Where's the discussion of the Aztecs, who sacrificed slaves? Where's the discussion of MLK's plagerism of his doctoral dissertation? And the author's bias--which, of course, he has every right to include--becomes unbearable after a while. A chapter about America not being the land of opportunity is short, low on facts, and it seems like he added it at the last minute because he had an axe to grind. It also reinforces the notion that Loewen isn't out to ideologically neutralize the history profession, he wants to change it to fit his own agenda. Further, two more things make the book lose most of its value, and it is for these reasons you shouldn't bother buying it. First, Loewen demonstrates an appalling ignorance in economic matters, and his rather uninformative discourse towards the end of the book--concerning the environment and other recent trends--has nothing to do at all with the rest of the book. Secondly, the rather unprofessional and unnecessary asides concerning political culture are unwarrented and almost made me take the book back. In the first page, he notes snidely that George Bush was born "with a silver Senate seat in his mouth," a commment unneccessary to begin with, but even more disturbing since George Bush never *held* a Senate seat--he ran and lost, thus proving that he *didn't* have it to take for granted. A bad use of words to begin with, even worse becuase they're wrong. He also all but blames the Reagan-Bush years for their nonstop support for racism, a dubious claim at best. (I thought people did things, not the government, anyway.) And the few pages devoted to the "elite white power structure" is laugh-out-loud bad. Surprisingly, though, there's something in this book both liberals and conservatives will enjoy. Liberals, of course, will enjoy most of Mr. Loewen's (usually deserved) destruction of patriotic figures, since it leads to a diminishing of Eurocentric values and increases the visibility of nonEuropean culture and accomplishments. Conservatives, though, will enjoy Loewen's jabs at Woodrow Wilson, and, despite the overall tone of the book, he points out the fallacies of an overtly P.C. crusade. It's also good food for thought, if nothing else. Get it at the library or borrow it off of a friend, but don't waste your money until it comes to the remainder bin. It raises good points, but its bias and unprofessionalistic nature is almost too blatant to otherwise treat the book seriously. It's a Reader's Digest cocktail-party trivia book at best, not scholarly at all. Don't take any prof that assigns it seriously.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: This is a well researched book and I definitely recommend it. It may only cover a very small amount of American History, but it is still very informative and well worth reading. If you don't read this book you are missing out on some real history, not the distortions and lies in American media and textbooks. A must buy.
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