| This study critically examines how the leading high school American history and world history textbooks depict the Vietnam War. It analyzes the textbooks' treatment of two key events: the Gulf of Tonkin crisis and the Tet Offensive. It also explores the politics that influence the field of social studies, the textbook production process, and the historical literature of the Vietnam War. By comparing textbook accounts to leading histories of the Vietnam War, this analysis shows that textbooks serve to undermine civic sensibilities and promote an official narrative by discounting historical evidence, omitting controversial events, and failing to include recent scholarship. |
