Introduction: Something has gone very wrong -- Handicapped by history : the process of hero-making -- 1493 : the true importance of Christopher Columbus -- Truth about the first Thanksgiving -- Red eyes -- "Gone with the wind" : the invisibility of racism in American history textbooks -- John Brown and Abraham Lincoln : the invisibility of antiracism in American history textbooks -- Land of opportunity -- Watching Big Brother : what textbooks teach about the federal government -- See no evil : choosing not to look at the War in Vietnam -- Down the memory hole : the disappearance of the recent past -- Progress is our most important product -- Why is history taught like this? -- What is the result of teaching history like this? -- Afterword: The future lies ahead--and what to do about them.