Lies Across America

What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong

By: Dr. James Loewen

Narrated by: L.J. Ganser

From the author of the national best seller 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 50 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 30 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 listeners see their country.

©2019 James W. Loewen (P)2019 Recorded Books

some necessary repetition

This is the 2019 audio version of Loewen's mammoth 1999 book. As the chapters are meant to be standalones, there's a lot of repetition where events such as Charlottesville are relevant. That said, I really enjoyed this book. There were some stories and markers I'm familiar with, but many more I'm not and appreciated his choice to not start from a Pilgrim POV.

Outstanding!

As a history enthusiast, I enjoyed listening to all this book offered (talk about research!) with a performance that conveyed the importance of the subject matter. Top notch!

Exposing the ahistorical lies

Excellent collection of fabrications, omissions and flat out lies purporting to represent American history, but only serving to obfuscate. Not really much of a historical site devotee myself, but I am familiar with the efforts to gloss over the less glorious parts of the people and events at sites I have visited. I suppose I was just resigned to the fact that reputations are at stake, or more cynically, that it's just business as usual in the tourism industry. But this book really demonstrated how overtly damaging these lies have truly become. When true history is suppressed, and the lies are accepted as fact, it helps the people who wish to maintain and build on the lies, believing they have historical support for their agenda. This is most present in those who wish to promote racism, as this book (I'd like to say unfortunately, but it's not at all unexpected) primarily deals with America's inability to reconcile itself with its racist past, which hinders it from breaking free of its current racism.

I'm always struck by the vitriol spewed by people (disproportionately, conservative white men) who feel attacked by any historical correction or attempt to redress injustice. Almost always the refrain is that the author hates white people, or that the author is claiming all white people are bad. My question to those people is "why are you identifying and attaching yourself to the people in the story by racial identity, and not trying to understand the core story?". This book helped me understand a little bit about the psychology of that reaction though, I think. The author presents, quite convincingly, that although the lack of representation of people of color and women in historical accounts is a great injustice, so are the choices made for the white male candidates. Far too many of those representatives are honored for acts which are rightfully now considered unworthy (treason, racism, class exploitation being the most common, including numerous Confederate leaders, Nathan Bedford Forrest topping the list). But even those who are deserving for honor, (Washington, Jefferson, Twain), the stories are woefully whitewashed. The first two with their slaveholding and personal shortcomings minimized, and the third, Twain, with his anti-racism virtually excluded from the picture. The author rightly points out that the whole stories need to be told, warts and all. And in Twain's case, the parts that are actually most admirable need to be highlighted. And this is true for those who have gone unnoticed. The solution is not to whine that the history of notable white figures is being revised, it's to honor people of all ethnicities for their truly honorable deeds and contributions. But yet still, to focus on white figures especially so as to redress the long history of honoring the unworthy, not to a higher standard but to some standard at all.

It's a thoroughly informative and entertaining book. The only flaws I can see are minor and in no way distract from the enjoyment. One, while there is a lot of focus, very deservedly, on Confederate historical abominations. And the author suggests amending, rather than tearing down, monuments for the public to better understand the whole story. The theme through the book is that it is important to definitively clarify in books and historical markers, that the sole purpose of the Civil War was institution of slavery. I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment, but I don't think it goes far enough. I believe that some, perhaps small, degree of Southerners' rejection of this idea is that it implies a moral superiority of the North. It should be made clear that sole cause of the Civil War was slavery, but not as a moral issue, but as an economic one, and Northerners are not immune to their own brand of racism. That would be more like approaching the whole story. And secondly, the terms WASP and Anglo-Saxon is used a bit too often. If it were merely used as a reluctantly accepted anachronism, (like the way a Lakota writer might be resigned to "Sioux" or "Indian" just for expediency), maybe it'd be okay. But this is a book about historical accuracy. No Anglo-Saxons have existed as a discrete group for a millennium. White American Protestants should work fine.

good read opens up many stories

it was a good read. If you like the lies my teacher told it is the book for you. There are many references to the within the book which can guide the reader if they want to know more.

Excellent insight into American history

Fantastic overview of the history and motivations behind many of the monuments and historical plaques around the country. Very relevant to recent events.

just when you thought . . .

you knew a little something about history and the dizzying number of monuments and historical markers across the country, you pick up this book and realize how wrong you are. Better than a summer road trip.

Every honest American should read this

loved it, loved the narrator and loved learning about thing I had never known about! All Americans need to read or listen to it.

Eye opening

Great insight into something we all take for granted. You won’t look at a historic marker the same again.