5 ms·
A readable introduction to the bits of US history that high-school textbooks delicately gloss over is Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me. Includes not only an in
by mechanical_fish 13y ago
A readable introduction to the bits of US history that high-school textbooks delicately gloss over is Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me.
Includes not only an intro to labor history, but also to civil rights history, and American Indian war-of-extermination history, and of course the charming US imperial history of the 20th century. (Not that any other country's imperial history is much prettier.)
- dfc 13y ago"Lies My Teacher Told Me" is a good book if you don't have much time or if you don't have a decent background in US history. I think Zinn's "A People's History of the US" is a much better book for the HN reader who is interested in the subject and willing to sit down with a longer book.
- mehmehshoe 13y agoI agree. I always keep my copy with me when I fly.
- JoachimSchipper 13y agoZinn's book is worth reading, but shouldn't be your only source. E.g. it just skips over everything that couldn't be considered "A People's History", like pretty much all international politics; even if you like Zinn's (clearly-laid-out) biases just fine, it's rather incomplete as a general history book. If you want to fill in some gaps, and want to ensure you don't end up as some kind of do-gooder, add Kissinger's Diplomacy. It's very interesting, and the ideas in it probably won't leave you wanted for war crimes in several first-world countries.
- dfc 13y agoIt seems that tptacek was specifically talking about history that would be considered "a people's history." The comment I was replying to was a recommendation about a book that fills in the gaps of US history textbooks. It seems like this subthread is concerned with US history, especially with the history of the actions/policies of the government+ruling class. Did I miss something?
- JoachimSchipper 13y agoNo, you didn't miss anything. I just felt the thread had drifted more than you appear to feel. ;-)
- dfc 13y agoJoachim, I apologize for being snippy in my comment. It was late at night and I should have just gone to bed. Lets agree to disagree on the level of drift in the discussion and agree that I could have been much more civil in my reply.
- JoachimSchipper 13y agoNo harm, no foul.