ABSTRACT
All of this suggests that the detection of modern nationalistic bias is not easy. A textbook author seldom wears his prejudice proudly; more often he is unaware of any bias and will indig nantly challenge the critics who charge that he is not com pletely objective. Yet nationalism has crept into the historical writing-and especially the textbooks-of every modern nation. In isolating such instances, we must equip ourselves with an understanding of the various forms in which bias exhibits itself. This can best be done by listing and defining the several types most frequently encountered:
(a) Bias of Inertia This is properly not overt bias at all, but because it appears
so frequently in textbook writing at all levels, and because the committee’s investigations show it to be one of the most pro minent sources of nationalistic distortion, it deserves to rank first in this catalogue. ‘Bias by inertia’ means the failure of text book writers to keep abreast of current historical scholarship, and their consequent readiness to perpetuate on their pages outworn legends that usually exhibit nationalistic bias. It com monly takes the form of half-truths, which can be just as mis leading as untruths.
