Lies

Ive been reading Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Got Wrong by James W. Loewen. This book was actually recommended to me by my 16 year-old niece. I've enjoyed it but I confess I'm mostly just skimming it at this point. It's due tomorrow and I wont have time to read it in any more depth next week so I'll take it back. I may get it again at another time. It spent too much time harping on the importance of Helen Keller's socialist tendencies early on -- I almost gave up before I got to "lies" I consider to be both more important and certainly more interesting. One of Loewen's theories for why American students hate to study history is because it has been rendered completely two-dimensional and all of the reality has been drummed out in the interest of making both the country and our National figures/heroes seem perfect especially when they weren't. I have to admit I was convinced that I hated studying History. It was boring and irrelevant. It's only been the last ten years or so that I've realized that I am interested.