hannukah harry

mods... if you think this is in the wrong forum, feel free to move... (but since it's about political books specifically, felt this was most appropriate).

anywho... i was wondering if anyone had read 'lies my teacher told me' or 'the politically incorrect guide to american history.' i'm interested in reading some general american history books and seeing as how many people are of the belief that they slant one way or the other (usually left), i'm interested in knowing your opinions on either of these two books, if they're worth reading, if they may be a good pair to read for balance?

or any other general history books on the US?

lastly, i hear a lot of comparisons between the US and ancient Rome (from both sides), i was wondering if anyone knew of any books, articles or websites that discuss that topic?

thanks!

__________________
shabbat shalom, mother fucker! - the hebrew hammer

djtestudo

I have read "Lies", and found it very interesting. Mostly because I love history to the point of obsession, and I like learning new things about old topics.

I especially liked the opening chapter about the misconceptions about Helen Keller and Woodrow Wilson.

Definately worth reading.

__________________
"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

Strange Famous

Zinn's "a people's histroy of America" is pretty good.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

politicophile

I, too, have read "Lies". I really enjoyed the first few chapters, but it became so preachy and repeatitive that I stopped reading about halfway through. The author tries way too hard to make the reader feel indignant. While I am able to feel that way for a limited amount of time, I eventually had to stop reading, as I could no longer take it seriously.

__________________
The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error. ~John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

mystmarimatt

Absolutely one of the most fascinating books I've ever read.

__________________
Words of Wisdom:

If you could really get to know someone and know that they weren't lying to you, then you would know the world was real. Because you could agree on things, you could compare notes. That must be why people get married or make Art. So they'll be able to really know something and not go insane.

shakran

There is no doubt that history books in schools generally do not present an accurate picture of history.

Sometimes this is because the victor in a conflict gets to write his own history (those evil injuns attacked the settlers mercilessly, but we failed to mention that the settlers were busy stealing the indians' land.)

Sometimes it's because the victor in a conflict feels guilt about starting the conflict in the first place (the evil white southerners enslaved the Africans, but we failed to mention that 1) northern states such as Massachussets, while not holding slaves themselves, certainly helped to transport them here and 2) in many cases the Africans sold their own people to the slavers)

And sometimes it's caused by pure and simple poor research. I can't tell you how many times I've read in history textbooks about Betsy Ross making the first American flag when in fact it most likely never happened.

Textbooks are poorly researched and poorly reviewed by the districts that will purchase them. And history textbooks are especially bad since this country's education system is pathetic when it comes to teaching that subject. Teachers want to teach history as a list of dates (always hated that. Who the hell cares what precise day something happened. Far more important to know that it happened and what the effects were) and textbooks cater to it. So since no one likes to read the damn things, they're certainly not going to review them very carefully. And even if they do, they didn't learn history very well anyway back in school so they might not catch the errors in the books.

EULA

Amen to that. Textbooks aren't real books.

Elphaba

You must have intended this as a bit of hyperbole, and not to be taken seriously?

If you are serious, please support your statement with at least a modicum of facts, or your personal experience that causes you to denigrate all textbooks.

Elphaba

Harry, I have recommended this book elsewhere because I believe it would never have been possible without a lapse in judgement in the release of Top Secret CIA documents that had reached the 20 to 30 years restriction date before release to the public. Someone should have read and reclassified these documents before they were made public.

This is not an obscure publication, but rather a best seller a few years ago. If your interest in history extends to US foreign policy, I suggest this book is a 'must' read. You will need a strong stomach for the information provided, however.

Killing Hope - U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, written by William Blum.