ABSTRACT
Loewen reviews 12 of the most commonly used American history textbooks, including Th e American Pageant (1991) by Th omas A. Bailey and David M. Kennedy and Triumph of the American Nation (1986) by Paul Lewis Todd and Merle Curti, and concludes that not one succeeds in making U.S. history memorable, interesting, or relevant. Most present history as a procession of “factoids”—nearly all controversy, ambiguity, passion, and competing perspectives are omitted. History becomes simply a bland, highly nationalistic, and Eurocentric retelling of purported “facts,” and oft en even these are marred by error. Important historical fi gures are “heroifi ed” to
such a degree that they become boring cardboard characters. To make history more compelling, Loewen urges authors, publishers, and teachers to highlight the drama inherent in history by presenting students with diff ering viewpoints and stressing that history is an ongoing process in which meaning and interpretation are always deeply contested.
