Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Craig A. James on July 30, 2010 at 12:23pm

It's an incredible book. I listened to it on CD while driving. That's a great way to do it, because it's fairly long and academic. It doesn't suck you in with a strong plot, but each chapter stands on its own. You can listen to it as you please, while commuting or on a trip, then put it away for a week or two.

It's incredibly well researched, and by the time you finish it, you'll never see America the same way.

His main point is that by turning our history into myths and ignoring our sins, we lose the most important part of our history.

For example, do any of you know who the biggest single slave trader in history was? Take a guess ... you'll be wrong. It was Christopher Columbus. He bought and sold more slaves than anyone else.

Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on July 30, 2010 at 12:40pm

It's been a while since I read the book, which I liked. I'm curious as to how you interpreted him to be bitter?

I haven't finished Howard Zinn's book, partially because I use it as a reference.

As for tags: To make them useful, if you want more than say "W" to show up as a tag, enclose two words or a phrase in quotation marks, like so: "American history", "James W. Loewen", lies.

Permalink Reply by AletheaT on August 1, 2010 at 2:59pm

I kind of find his tone somewhat bitter. I understand he wants his position to be viewed as showing the truth, and in doing so telling a better story, where textbooks try to give you false facts for tests. Whenever he discusses the "traditional white" versions of history he really drags them through the mud. It just sounds bitter to me, maybe angry I dunno :D.

Permalink Reply by hikinthru on July 30, 2010 at 1:17pm

I haven't read "Lies", but I read "A People's History..." by Zinn many years ago and it was an excellent read. I'm looking at it on my bookshelf now, I might have to go back and re-read it, it was a really powerful book.

Permalink Reply by Noah Petersen on August 2, 2010 at 6:31am

I'm still reading Zinn's "A People's History..." It's interesting. I especially like quoting it in my thesis papers I write in my history class, as a way to counter what our textbook leaves out.

Permalink Reply by Aiden on July 31, 2010 at 9:35am

I absolutely love this book, and it was one of my first wake-up calls to everything that's wrong with the American public school system. That said, Loewen is bitter, and has every reason to be.

Permalink Reply by Noh Name on July 31, 2010 at 9:09pm

I didn't get the sense of bitterness from reading it. For most of it it felt as though he considered it of great importance to share what he had found. Frustrated to have to undo the damage done before he could proceed with his curriculum. And perhaps hopeful that with informing more people of the problems with history taught through the first 12 years that there would be improvements. But then that might be me imposing my feelings on the subject. It is an excellent book and I always recommend it.

Permalink Reply by AletheaT on August 1, 2010 at 3:02pm

Frustration is probably a good way to put it. :D. In school I would have liked to hear more about the peoples in the Americas before the Spanish, etc. In fact I only had one teacher talk about the possibility of ancient peoples using boats to cross the vast oceans. That class was African Art which covered ancient to the present. It makes the story that much more interesting.