Peach
Gold Member
- Jan 10, 2009
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Generally, history books written before 1970 are safest.
"A People's History of the United States", 1980 by Howard Zinn is unmitigated nonsense that has apparently become the basis for what history is still taught in the public system.
Actually what's in that book is completely glossed over in "standard" education which is all about trying to whitewash history into making the reader always the "good guys", whether it's in relation to Native American treatment, the Crusades, racial relations and slavery, or whatever. Columbus for example is held up in the 'standard' version as the great explorer who opened the doors to "civilization", yet they never mention that he grabbed Native Americans who came to greet him, and sent them out to find gold (in a place that had no gold) and then when they returned without it, cut off their hands. And then took some back to Europe to gawk at as "specimens" while opening the doors to genocide.
That's the sort of thing the 'standard' history leaves out as inconducive to the mythology it's there to create of "American exceptionalism". That ain't in any way a "Liberal" idea. Actually "Liberal" has nothing to do with any kind of education. It's not an education system.
Another good one is "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by sociologist James Loewen. That fills in more gaps left by "standard" history such as what an overbearing asshole Woodrow Wilson was, keeping insurgent troops fighting in the USSR right up to 1920 and interfering all over Latin America, and the manner in which Natives and early Europeans actually interacted, the former having been essential to the latter's very survival.
Face it, the 'standard' history is there to spin every event into a fairy tale. These books are the sunshine that exposes its flaws. Why anyone would want to close himself off from deeper info than he was allowed as a child is unfathomable. I mean, that's just frickin' stupid.
And all the ones you list are Hate America, first, last and always while hiding how great the country is...
Then read The Great Republic series.