Lies My Teacher Told Me
by James W. Loewen
★ Top 25 book of 1995 · #15 on Best Books of 1995
After surveying the leading American history textbooks, Loewen offers a sharp critique of what they leave out or distort. He retells the nation's past in all its complexity, from pre-Columbian times through Reconstruction and beyond.
Best for: Readers who want to question the American history they were taught in school
Lies My Teacher Told Me is #15 on BookWard's Best Books of 1995, out of 28 1995 books that cleared our data bar.
What Lies My Teacher Told Me is about
Most of us finished school believing a tidy version of American history. James Loewen went through twelve of the high school textbooks that shape that version and found them wanting. He argues that their authors pass along a mythologized, Eurocentric story, smoothing over conflict and complexity in subjects such as Reconstruction, the first Thanksgiving, Helen Keller and the Mai Lai massacre. He also sets out the themes he thinks textbooks should be teaching instead. The tone is pointed and often provocative, but easy to follow. It will interest teachers, students, parents and anyone curious about why the past they learned feels so simple.
Lies My Teacher Told Me on the Best Books of 1995
Lies My Teacher Told Me came out in 1995. Of the 28 books first published in 1995 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #15 on our Best Books of 1995 list.
Why it made the list: 274 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (19 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 1995 list
- Poppy Avi, #13
- Conversations with God, Book 1 Neale Donald Walsch, #14
- Dreams from My Father Barack Obama, #16
- Fingerprints of the Gods Graham Hancock, #17
See all Best Books of 1995 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1994 Best Books of 1996.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 238 want to read it, 8 are reading it now and 28 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4 out of 5 from 19 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 50 | 55% |
| Reader love | 46 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 21 | 20% |
Questions about Lies My Teacher Told Me
When was Lies My Teacher Told Me published?
Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen was first published in 1995.
Was Lies My Teacher Told Me one of the best books of 1995?
Lies My Teacher Told Me is #15 on BookWard's Best Books of 1995, out of 28 1995 books that cleared our data bar. 274 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (19 ratings).
Why is Lies My Teacher Told Me on the Best Books of 1995 list?
274 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (19 ratings).
More of the best books of 1995
- The Lost World Michael Crichton, #1
- Emotional Intelligence Daniel Goleman, #2
- Northern Lights Philip Pullman, #3
- Mindhunter John E. Douglas, #4
- Rose Madder Stephen King, #5
- Wicked Gregory Maguire, #6
See the full Best Books of 1995, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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