Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong - Softcover

Loewen, James W.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 074329629X ISBN 13: 9780743296298

Publisher: Atria Books, 2007

Synopsis

From the author of the national bestseller Lies My Teacher Told Me, the second myth-busting history book which focuses on the inaccuracies, myths, and lies that can be found at national landmarks and historical sites all across America.

In Lies Across America, James W. Loewen continues his mission, begun in the award-winning Lies My Teacher Told Me, of overturning the myths and misinformation that too often pass for American history. This is a one-of-a-kind examination of sites all over the country where history is literally written on the landscape, including historical markers, monuments, historic houses, forts, and ships. With entries drawn from each of the fifty states, Loewen reveals that:

• The USS Intrepid, the "feel-good" war museum, celebrates its glorious service in World War II but nowhere mentions the three tours it served in Vietnam.
• The Jefferson Memorial misquotes from the Declaration of Independence and skews Jefferson's writings to present this conflicted slave owner as a near abolitionist.
• Abraham Lincoln had been dead for thirty years when his birthplace cabin was built.

Lies Across America is a reality check for anyone who has ever sought to learn about America through the nation's public sites and markers. Entertaining and enlightening, it is destined to change the way American readers see their country.

About this title

Review:

"A winner by any criteria: informative, stimulating, and challenging. Loewen's wry wit is a welcome bonus." - Edwin C. Bearss, former chief historian, National Park Service

"Loewen is a one-man historical truth squad....He has written a devastating portrait of how American history is commemorated." - The Nation

"Brims with fascinating history." - Los Angeles Times

"Jim-dandy pop history...This is one work of history no one will call boring." - Jim O'Brien, USA Today

About the Author:

James W. Loewen is the bestselling author of Lies My Teacher Told Me and Lies Across America. He is a regular contributor to the History Channel's History magazine and is a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Vermont. He resides in Washington, D.C.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atria Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 074329629X
• ISBN 13: 9780743296298
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 449