Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
Good Fit
- Anyone who wants to understand how the education system and textbooks distort history
- Readers curious what's behind the "simplified" version of well-known figures like Helen Keller
- Anyone who wants a critical, revisionist lens on American history
- Teachers and educators (the book is dedicated directly to them)
Not a Fit
- Readers who want American history presented in an idealized form
- Anyone interested only in American history itself, without interest in a critique of education (the book's strength lies in combining both)
- Readers wary of dense academic reference apparatus (footnotes, sources)
The chapter opens with a quote from James Baldwin — that what we call identity in America is a bunch of myths about heroic ancestors — as Loewen shows how textbooks strip historical figures of unacceptable traits (Daniel Webster's drunkenness, George Washington owning slaves), turning them into 'flawless, pious, perfect creatures.'
Loewen explains the problem with this: this mode of thinking causes history to lose its instructive value — it produces perfect people and noble nations, but it doesn't tell the truth.
Helen Keller is chosen as the central case study — for more than 20 years, Loewen has asked his students who she was; everyone knows she was deaf-blind and learned to read through a teacher named Anne Sullivan, but almost no one remembers her radical socialist activism and political speeches.
Loewen stresses that historians and filmmakers have 'silenced' Keller by ignoring her real biography and the actual lessons we could learn from her — as a result, we know remarkably little about her, despite her being one of the most frequently taught historical figures.
The chapter closes by contrasting 'significant' presidents like Woodrow Wilson with figures deemed 'small' like Keller, who in fact had a far more complex and interesting history — questioning which figures heroification chooses, and why.
- Clear, example-driven argumentation backed by concrete textbook quotes and comparisons
- A sociological research method (analyzing 12 textbooks) lends academic rigor, while the prose stays popular and readable
- Each chapter is devoted to a specific topic (heroification, Columbus, Thanksgiving) and can be read independently
- Personal context from the author's own experience (being sued as a textbook co-author)
A similarly revisionist, bottom-up approach to American history
A similarly critical methodology showing how official historical narratives get shaped
The chapter read ends by showing the contradiction between «important» presidents such as Woodrow Wilson and figures counted as «small people» such as Helen Keller, who in fact have a more complex and interesting history. It questions which figures heroification chooses, and why.
If you see a problem, write to us. Publisher, author, rights holder, or just a reader — it doesn't matter. If there's something problematic about copyright in this review, if the review's author has broken the site's rules, or if you simply have a suggestion or complaint, hey@kitabdanevar.com. We'd rather resolve this between ourselves than go to court: we review requests within 48 hours and, if needed, correct or fully remove the review.
