Rating: 
Summary: Eh, So-So.
Review: The book had some interesting material, but the author seemed to blame white men for anything and everything that's ever happened on the face of the earth. Every demographic has had its problems at some point or another, but you wouldn't know it by reading this book. Loewen gave a very unbalanced history, just like the textbooks he spent 300 pages criticizing for the same.
Rating: 
Summary: No wonder people don't like history
Review: This book is wonderfully written, and clearly argued. The author did an excellent review of major currently used high school texts to tell us what's wrong with how we view our history. This is a book for everyone who wants to know what history is and how its done. High School teachers must read this and implement it into thier teaching--history teachers that is! I couldn't put it down and will use it in my own classes when I teach U.S. History.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting informative book
Review: This is a must for every history lover out there. I could not put this book down, not only did I learn quite a few things, and enlarged my understanding of other important historical events, but I had to put the book down after almost every chapter and think of what Mr. Loewen is saying. \ Right or wrong is not the issue, but he raises some very disturbing points about our education system, which should be looked closely by teachers and parents alike. A very insightful book, well thought out and makes a wonderful discussion topic among friends and other interested parties.
Rating:
Summary: Very, very impressive!
Review: This book is fantasic. It is full of insightful passages that present the information in a concise, thorough manner. Just read some of the other reviews posted, and you'll see that Mr. Loewen has done an exellent job of debunking myths, and exposing hidden truths of history. Your going to need to read this book more than once to fully absord the wealth of information that is provided. I'm on my third reading, and I'm enjoying it as much as my first! Be sure to keep a good highlighter pen with you when you read this book...
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT
Review: There should be more books of such rendition. America needs to revise its secondary level mode of teaching history lest it finds its student body totally ignorant of the truth and true facts concerning American history. For the pseudo-liberals, fascio-conservatives, and reactionary psychos, I have one suggestion: quit hyping the status quo, things are changing and they're changing fast; don't get caught riding the wrong 'bus.' Onward with the struggle for historical truth!
Rating:
Summary: Dead Right...
Review: I teach an American history discussion class at an open-admissions university, and, apart from certain problems I have with the class structure, their general disinterest (there are a few people who actually get into the stuff) frequently appalls me. Of course, this lack of interest in history may make it easier for them to resist our country's peculiar brand of indoctrination (whenever anybody mentions the "Founding Fathers," we're supposed to support what they support--can you do that if you don't know who the "Founding Fathers" were?), but I doubt it. This book hit the nail on the head, and should (paradoxically, I guess) be required in American history classes. One of Loewen's most insightful moments was in analyzing the way in which history chapters are written; they're almost always in a "hopeful" tone, as in "Millions of people died during the Vietnam War, and our President had just resigned, but President Ford took the oath the next day, and things were beginning to look up (until 'Whip Inflation Now' and the Mayaguez incident)." I certainly don't support the idea that our textbooks should be an unremitting wasteland of misery and squalor, but they could at least reflect the fact that for a very long time, vast numbers of people in this country (despite the lottery system of the "American dream") have been marginalized and economically oppressed (if nothing else) by a frequently invisible ruling class. There's nothing depressing in telling the truth, if it inspires people to look honestly at our society. Isn't that what history is supposed to be about?
Rating:
Summary: Essential Reading
Review: This book hits the problems with American History texts on the nose. Finally a book that explains the rest of the story. I always wondered where the animosity between the Soviet Union and the US came from. I collect old newspapers and books and never found anything from period papers that said "states rights" had anything whatsoever to do with the Civil War, the issue was Slavery... Period! I am a little mystified at how some of the readers from outside the US can condemn this book, since I doubt they ever read our old textbooks. This book is excellent and essential for every student of American History.
Rating: 
Summary: A different perspective on what we assume to be true.
Review: The weird thing about history is that once people learn it, they don't give it much thought. The average citizen just assumes it to be true for the most part. This book is a healthy look at how reality differs from the contents of history textbooks. And it differs enough that it prompts a person to wonder - why do we bother teaching history if it's giving us fiction rather than reality? Surely, the real facts would inform our future actions better. I enjoyed the book, but did find myself flipping pages occasionally when I thought Loewen was getting a little long-winded. I thought he supported his conclusions well enough, and he certainly makes his point. Some reviewers have said that it will annoy conservatives. I'm not exactly certain why. If they don't like Loewen's conclusions or opinions, then certainly the facts themselves are plenty interesting. Ignorance is the reward of those who are offended by the facts, liberal conservative or whatever.
Rating: 
Summary: Caveat emptor
Review: There is much here that is useful and important, but Loewen is, alas, quite a screechy advocate of his positions, not all of which he satisfactorily defends. Instead of puncturing myths, he often digresses into quibbles over words. For example, one of his "lies" is that whites took over Indian lands in order to farm them, which statement offends him on the grounds that the Indians were already farming them. But obviously the textbook in question means "... so that they (the whites) could farm them for their own purposes." Aging hippies will love this book, conservatives will despise it, and liberals (like me) will be alternately intrigued, irritated, and embarrassed by Loewen's holy crusade and narrow focus.
Rating:
Summary: Changed the way I looked at American History
Review: I read this book my freshman year in college and it changed the way I looked at America's historical figures and the American government. I did not know that the CIA tried to assasinate Fidel Castro with an exploding cigar, was never taught that our founding fathers owned and advocated slavery, never knew that the inspirational Helen Keller was an outspoken communist, and did not know about the atrocities Christopher Columbus committed against the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Lies My Teacher Told Me was one of the first books I truly was changed by. It helped me to realize that almost everything in this world has a good and a bad side. It took me 12 years of schooling and a sociology class to realize that America had a dark past and a not so glorious one.
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