I love books that deconstruct the myths of science and history, exposing the truth and shedding light on our popular misconceptions. This pertains directly to the central theme of my ongoing commentary on our popular mythologies. Societal reality is consensus reality, and it’s shocking to realize just how wrong most of that “reality” is.
The author of this book is particularly interested in how those myths are not only created, but how they are propagated as bland and disconnected “facts” in the nation’s classrooms. He rips apart twelve of the most used American history textbooks and demonstrates how often they parse information and leave out anything other than the most heroic and Eurocentric interpretation possible.
This sounds like a liberal’s dream, but if anything, it’s a simple principle: history should be taught with context, focusing on cause and effect, not as a list of names and dates to be deified. Context can be grist for the debate mill, and it can force students to look into more direct sources of information, thus learning history by understanding its gestalt nature. Instead, history is taught in chunks to be memorized, and the “facts” are often chosen by special interest groups.
Much of the historical information provided by the author is backed up by direct sources, so it can be quite troubling to see how disturbing some of the information can be. It’s also disturbing to realize how much of the mythology continues to this day. All I need to do is open up my daughter’s American history book to have that verified for me.
Some have criticized the book because it doesn’t reflect what they were taught. I agree with that criticism, to an extent. Unfortunately, the history teachers who taught beyond the myth and legend were also the ones who ignored textbooks or used them sparingly. And that is not the kind of teaching the author criticizes and exposes; the author specifically notes that he’s focusing on the sins of the textbooks and those who blindly adhere to their content.
One valid criticism is the tone of the book. Too often, the author strays from his goal of debunking myths into endless philosophical rambling. Much of the content is very informative, but there’s a lack of focus and structure. Some of the chapters could have been condensed and edited into half the space with twice the impact. The lack of structure made some chapters relentless, to say the least.
The author certainly has an axe to grind, and some of his interpretations are begging for challenge. On the other hand, that’s precisely the point that the author makes throughout the book. History is better served when cause, effect, and context are discussed and debated. Many readers will be inspired to “debunk the debunking”, and I can’t think of any better reaction.
Rating: 8/10
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