What to read after Whose History??

In the 1990s the debate over what history -- and more importantly whose history -- should be taught in American schools resonated through the halls of Congress, the national press, and the nation's schools. This book examines how the publication of the National Standards for History became a major battleground in the nation's ongoing struggle to define its historical identity.

To help us understand what happened, Linda Symcox traces the genealogy of the National History Standards Project from its origins as a neo-conservative reform movement to the drafting of the Standards, through the 18 months of controversy and debate that ensured, and the aftermath -- a fascinating account of a crucial moment in U.S. history.

Broad in scope, this account includes debates on social history, world history, multiculturalism, established canons, national identity, cultural history, and "liberal education." Symcox brilliantly illuminates the larger issue of how educational policy is made and contested in the United States, revealing how policymakers (including academics, pundits, and politicians) used their positions to advance particular intellectual and ideological agendas, and in turn how this political struggle actually determined what is taught in the classroom.