History Lessons: How Textbooks from Around the World Portray U.S. History

This is basically a history book, going into major events in U.S. history but what makes it so interesting is that it's compiled completely from textbooks of other countries around the world. Being able to read a North Korean textbook about the Korean War, or a Cuban textbook about the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis? Nigerian, Zimbabwe, and Brazilian texts on the slave trade? Fascinating. This book was worth every penny.Sometimes a chapter has text from just one country, but more often than not, you see the same event covered by textbooks from several different countries, and you get to see how each country views that event.I'll give you the complete table of contents, so you can see which events it covers and the countries that they took relevant sections of history textbooks from.Chapter 1 - Viking ExplorationNorway, CanadaChapter 2 - ColumbusCuba, CaribbeanChapter 3 - British ExplorationGreat Britain, CanadaChapter 4 - PuritansGreat BritainChapter 5 - French and Indian WarGreat Britain, Caribbean, CanadaChapter 6 - Government in Colonial AmericaGreat BritainChapter 7 - The American RevolutionGreat Britain, France, Canada, Caribbean, GermanyChapter 8 - The War of 1812Great Britain, Canada, CaribbeanChapter 9 - The Monroe DoctrineGreat Britain, Brazil, Caribbean, Mexico, FranceChapter 10 - Manifest DestinyCanada, Mexico, BrazilChapter 11 - Texas and the Mexican-American WarsMexicoChapter 12 - SlaveryNigeria, Zimbabwe, Portugal, Great Britain, MexicoChapter 13 - The Civil WarCanada, Great Britain, MexicoChapter 14 - ImmigrationJapan, Canada, Norway, Ireland, ItalyChapter 15 - Opening of JapanJapanChapter 16 - The Spanish-American WarSpain, Philippines, Cuba, CaribbeanChapter 17 - Philippine-American WarPhilippinesChapter 18 - The Boxer RebellionChina (Hong Kong), Japan, Great BritainChapter 19 - U.S. Interventions in Latin America and the CaribbeanBrazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Nicaragua, CaribbeanChapter 20 - Causes of World War IFrance, Germany, Italy, Great BritainChapter 21 - The Great WarFrance, Canada, Great Britain, Italy, GermanyChapter 22 - Aftermath of the WarGermany, France, Nigeria, Great BritainChapter 23 - Invasion of RussiaJapan, Great BritainChapter 24 - The Treaty of VersaillesGermany, Japan, Great Britain, France, Russia, ItalyChapter 25 - The Great DepressionRussia, France, CaribbeanChapter 26 - World War II: EuropeGreat Britain, Germany, RussiaChapter 27 - D-Day and the Liberation of EuropeGreat Britain, Canada, France, ItalyChapter 28 - ResistanceFrance, Italy, GermanyChapter 29 - World War II: Pacific TheaterPhilippines, JapanChapter 30 - The Atomic BombJapan, Philippines, Canada, Great Britain, ItalyChapter 31 - The Origins of the Cold WarCanada, Russia, Great BritainChapter 32 - The United NationsGreat Britain, Russia, CanadaChapter 33 - The Cuban RevolutionCubaChapter 34 - The Korean WarNorth Korea (Senior High), South Korea (Junior High), South Korea (Senior High), Great Britain, Russia, Japan, North Korea (Senior High), Russia, North Korea (Junior High), South Korea (Junior High), South Korea (Senior High), CanadaChapter 35 - NatoGreat Britain, Russia, CanadaChapter 36 - McCarthyismCanada, FranceChapter 37 - Suez CanalGreat Britain, France, Israel, Saudi ArabiaChapter 38 - The Cuban Missile CrisisCuba, Russia, Canada, CaribbeanChapter 39 - The Pueblo IncidentNorth KoreaChapter 40 - Vietnam WarFrance, Vietnam, CanadaChapter 41 - The End of the Cold WarFrance, Russia, CanadaChapter 42 - The Hostage Crisis in IranIranChapter 43 - Nicaragua in the 1980sNicaragua, CanadaChapter 44 - ApartheidZimbabweChapter 45 - Free TradeCanada, Mexico, JapanChapter 46 - U.S.-Philippines RelationsPhilippinesChapter 47 - Cuban-American RelationsCubaChapter 48 - The Middle EastSaudi Arabia, Great Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, Israel, France, Israel, Syria, Saudi ArabiaChapter 49 - Nuclear Weapons in North KoreaNorth KoreaChapter 50 - A New World OrderFrance

This would be an excellent book for U.S. history teachers at the middle or high-school level to introduce their American students to a more nuanced analysis of the history they get in their U.S. textbooks. With the minor exception of the North Korean excerpts which delight in referring to the 'American bastards', these middle and high-school passages are language-appropriate and not likely to enrage Thought Police on the school board. At the same time, they give a broader picture of the events happening around the world at the same time as well-known U.S. historical events, and how those events entwine with that history. For example, few American kids are taught that slavery was actually a common and accepted practice in Africa. A ruler would be judged by how many slaves one had, and short-term slavery was often used as a means of paying off debt. The Europeans didn't 'capture' slaves; there was a flourishing slave trade already established in Africa that the Europeans simply joined. The slave trade created not just labor for U.S. cotton fields, but brought wealth to merchant classes in Europe and European manufactured goods to the Africans. Understanding these global, economic and traditional-practice perspectives makes it easier to understand why slavery was used and why it was so hard to stamp out, from a 21st century perspective. Another example would be the traditional American history textbook view of immigrants as adventurous souls seeking a land of opportunity, while the European textbooks paint the more realistic portrayal of European immigrants fleeing overpopulation and hunger, trading in a harsh life in the old world for one not notably better in the new.That said, I agree with the other reviewers who point out that this book is primarily excerpts from middle and high school textbooks, and reads primarily at that level. There are no real surprises here for anyone who has taken a broader college-level history and has a decent grasp of world affairs. Each major time period has a chapter, with typically a single paragraph or two of introduction, and each textbook excerpt is usually preceded by another paragraph of analysis. I would have preferred a more detailed analysis of the cultural and social factors behind each country's interpretations, but instead what you primarily have is what most middle and high-school history textbooks have: just the facts m'am. I would also have appreciated more exploration of the 'gaps' in U.S. textbooks: the wars between the Native Americans and the Spanish in the Southwest while the U.S. was still east of the Mississippi, the Russian exploration of North America, and the like. There were also various events that didn't make it into this book, such as the 1850 Gold Rush, the impact of the Industrial Revolution, and the fate of the Native American Indians for starters.Overall, the book was easy enough to read, being a middle / high school book after all, and I did learn a few new facts I hadn't known before. Unless you're a history buff like me, though, you will likely find it as dry as any middle / high school textbook, and leaving you wishing for a little more than 'just the facts'. If anything, I believe that is the major surprise I got from this book--with the exception of the more off-the-wall Cuban and North Korean propaganda pieces, most students around the world really do receive pretty much the same facts. The nuances come in the interpretation of those facts, and how they ripple down the stream of time in that student's culture.

This is the second copy of this book I've owned. The first was destroyed in a fire, and I just can't stop referencing and loaning this book out to people. Why? Because, in this day and age of social media, with the world becoming very small because of cyber-communication, this is a perfect book to put point on the observation that we all have different viewpoints and we ALL need to be aware of the other person's.When I first received this book, as a gift, mind you, I was thrilled and very pleased with it. This book will take you through various historical events and let you read how that event is taught to "the other side". There wasn't one section of this book that I found to be uninteresting. It is well written, well thought out. The major events of our time are here.I believe this should be required reading for every single history major in college, every Political Science major in college, and every single teacher and professor in every U.S. School (Middle, High, and College/University) because in my experience, college professors are the worst of the bunch when not accepting other viewpoints (and yes, I've had that argument with a few).If you have a child, and you want them to see the world in something other than rose colored glasses, they need to read this book and understand that we all have different viewpoints. This book brings that home and shows us what those viewpoints are.