The Other Side of the Story: How Other Countries View Conflicts With the United States, As Seen Through Their History Textbooks

Historian and educator Kyle Ward has introduced readers to a breathtaking range of new perspectives on the American past in a series of books on the world’s history textbooks. Cleverly juxtaposing excerpts from different textbooks, he demonstrates how the same accounts of the past can be viewed in strikingly different ways, offering a glimpse into the cultural and political biases that every nation clings to.

In this exciting new book, Ward focuses on the episodes of sharp conflict between the United States and its various antagonists throughout history. The Other Side of the Story looks at slavery from Liberian and Nigerian perspectives, the British account of the American Revolution, and French and Spanish views of the Louisiana Purchase. Other chapters offer perspectives on the War of 1812, the Texas Revolution, the Spanish-American War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Nixon’s visit to China, the Iran hostage crisis, all from the point of view of our enemies at the time.

Each chapter includes substantial excerpts from overseas history textbooks, supplemented by information on school curricula as well as rich descriptions of how teachers discuss these topics in their high school history classes around the world. At a moment of profound uncertainty and change in the United States’ role in global affairs, here is a book that will challenge Americans’ insular worldview and offer a new way of understanding how other nations see us.