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

This intriguing compilation shows how very different US history looks when viewed from beyond American shores. In an alternative and eye-opening version of American history, History Lessons provides an enormous range of conflicting takes on seemingly straightforward events. Readers accustomed to a single view of American history will find British, Canadian, and Native American views of the War of 1812; Cuban and Russian views of the Bay of Pigs debacle; and Iranian views of the hostage crisis, among many other astonishing and enlightening examples. Many of the textbooks included in History Lessons are the only authorized source of information about American history in their respective countries. Most are made accessible to English-language readers for the first time, and several—including excerpts from the only textbook known to have been smuggled out of North Korea—are literally hot property. History Lessons offers a lighthearted challenge to the biases we bring to our understanding of American history—and a sobering glimpse into how the rest of the world views the past we take for granted. History Lessons includes textbook selections from China • France • Russia • Saudi Arabia • Canada • Mexico • North Korea • Egypt • Cuba • Great Britain • South Africa • Iran • India