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.
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?
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