Book Review: Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong - James W. Loewen

 

This book is not history. It's Marxist grievance theatre dressed up as scholarship. Loewen doesn’t just critique American textbooks, he seeks to dismantle the entire moral architecture of Western civilisation by attacking its heart: the United States. Loewen’s core argument is that American history textbooks lie by omission, by painting too rosy a picture of the nation’s past. But what he’s really doing is replacing nuance and pride with perpetual guilt. For Loewen, American history is not a story of struggle, triumph, innovation, and liberty. No, it's one long parade of colonialism, racism, imperialism, and capitalist oppression. This is not correction. It’s corrosion. Loewen writes as if teaching young Americans to honour their country is a moral crime. He wants children to despise their heritage. To look at George Washington and see a slaveowner before a statesman. To look at capitalism and see only exploitation, never opportunity. To look at America and see only shame. This is not education. It’s indoctrination. Every civilisation has blood on its hands. Every empire has scars. But only the West and only America, is expected to flog itself for eternity. Why? Because the Left needs guilt to sustain its revolution. It cannot build anything. It can only tear down. Loewen’s book is a hammer in that destruction, a cudgel to beat patriotism into submission. It masquerades as truth-telling, but it’s just another Marxist tract, swapping hammers and sickles for footnotes and bibliographies. To be clear: yes, history must be told truthfully. But truth is not the same as poison. Truth is also pride. Truth is George Washington’s courage. Truth is the abolition of slavery. Truth is the American soldier liberating Europe. Truth is not this endless cycle of grievance, where every historical figure is measured by modern standards and found wanting. This book isn’t about correcting history. It’s about rewriting it. And that’s the real lie your teacher told you: That people like Loewen are scholars. They're not. They're ideological saboteurs. Verdict: If you want to understand the Left’s war on Western identity, read this book. Then burn it. Not out of fear, but out of clarity. Know your enemy. Know their tactics. And never, ever, let them teach your children.