Lies My Teacher Told Me critiques the way that history textbooks systematically avoid representing controversial topics or stories that show Americans doing wrong. The book seeks to understand why, according to the author, high school students in the US are so disinterested in their own history. Loewen examines and offers up several theories as to why this is the case.
Loewen goes into great depth about the role that racism plays in the history of the United States, and the role it continues to play in obscuring that history in textbooks. He also looks at how perceptions of the past can change, based on who is doing the looking; a prominent example is the perception of John Brown as insane from 1890 to 1970, at which point his actions were suddenly seen as sane and honorable again.
Under this light, Loewen examines multiple historical figures who are usually portrayed as heroes, revealing a more complex account of their lives and how they fit into the larger narrative. He also critiques the portrayal of the federal government as wholly good, and the textbooks' failure to admit that government can do wrong.
