Ecletic Reader

Enlightening and interesting at the same time. I did not enjoy high school history despite having an interest in the Civil War. Since high school I've read a number of exceptional works of history (including Battle Cry of Freedom, Antietam, and A People's History of the United States). I had also read The Last Full Measure while in middle school, but until reading this book I could never put my finger on the reason that I enjoyed learning history on my own but despised it in school. I knew a number of the distortions, omissions, and outright lies that Loewen mentions, but I definitely did not know all of the ones he brought forth. I think this is an essential book that should be assigned, or at least encouraged, as a companion to any other high school history text. At the very least, it should be required during orientation at every college to let students know that about the areas of our ignorance.