History
Lies my Teacher Told Me
North Americans have lost touch with their history, and in Lies My Teacher Told Me Professor James Loewen shows why. After surveying eighteen leading high school American history texts, he has concluded that not one does a decent job of making history interesting or memorable. Marred by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies, these books omit almost all the ambiguity, passion, conflict, and drama from our past.
Lies of the powerful
Purpose
A democracy is in danger when its citizens can not establish valid connections between vital current issues and relevant events from their own history. This test highlights our knowledge (and ignorance) of vital information that is often hidden, ignored, distorted, or suppressed by the powerful. Few do well on this test. You are not stupid or ignorant if you "flunk." But you may discover that you have been distracted and lied to more than you thought.
