This work examines how three current eleventh grade U.S. high school history textbooks report on the origins of the “war on terror.” The researcher chose one textbook from each of the three leading publishing houses that supply the high school market: Holt McDougal, Prentice Hall, and McGraw-Hill. The scope of the researcher’s inquiry covers the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to the U.S. invasion in 2001. The nomenclature of the “war on terror,” Reagan’s “war on terror,” U.S. support for the Afghan Mujahideen, the Persian Gulf War, and the decision to invade Afghanistan are examined. Interviews with authors William Blum, James Loewen, and Noam Chomsky are also reported. Findings indicate factual errors regarding historical events, as well as numerous omissions of historical context. Such errors and omissions may lead the high school reader to form inaccurate conclusions regarding current U.S. foreign policy regarding terrorism. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the instructor to devote considerable research to this topic so to supplement the inadequacies of the textbook.
","abstract_html":"<p>This work examines how three current eleventh grade U.S. high school history textbooks report on the origins of the “war on terror.” The researcher chose one textbook from each of the three leading publishing houses that supply the high school market: Holt McDougal, Prentice Hall, and McGraw-Hill. The scope of the researcher’s inquiry covers the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to the U.S. invasion in 2001. The nomenclature of the “war on terror,” Reagan’s “war on terror,” U.S. support for the Afghan Mujahideen, the Persian Gulf War, and the decision to invade Afghanistan are examined. Interviews with authors William Blum, James Loewen, and Noam Chomsky are also reported. Findings indicate factual errors regarding historical events, as well as numerous omissions of historical context. Such errors and omissions may lead the high school reader to form inaccurate conclusions regarding current U.S. foreign policy regarding terrorism. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the instructor to devote considerable research to this topic so to supplement the inadequacies of the textbook.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Galli, Michael Shawn"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"Master's Thesis","degree_discipline":"Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Madalienne F. Peters, EdD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:04:28Z","subjects":["History Textbooks","Afghanistan","War on Terror","Terrorism","Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.dominican.edu/masters-theses/29","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Madalienne F. Peters, EdD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Galli, Michael Shawn"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["1970-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["History Textbooks","Afghanistan","War on Terror","Terrorism","Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/masters-theses/29"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This work examines how three current eleventh grade U.S. high school history textbooks report on the origins of the “war on terror.” The researcher chose one textbook from each of the three leading publishing houses that supply the high school market: Holt McDougal, Prentice Hall, and McGraw-Hill. The scope of the researcher’s inquiry covers the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to the U.S. invasion in 2001. The nomenclature of the “war on terror,” Reagan’s “war on terror,” U.S. support for the Afghan Mujahideen, the Persian Gulf War, and the decision to invade Afghanistan are examined. Interviews with authors William Blum, James Loewen, and Noam Chomsky are also reported. Findings indicate factual errors regarding historical events, as well as numerous omissions of historical context. Such errors and omissions may lead the high school reader to form inaccurate conclusions regarding current U.S. foreign policy regarding terrorism. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the instructor to devote considerable research to this topic so to supplement the inadequacies of the textbook.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["From Afghanistan 1979 to Afghanistan 2001: How Three Current High School History Textbooks Frame the Origins of the “War on Terror” Historical Analysis and Interviews with William Blum, Noam Chomsky and James Loewen"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Madalienne F. Peters, EdD"],"dc:creator":["Galli, Michael Shawn"],"dc:date.available":["1970-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This work examines how three current eleventh grade U.S. high school history textbooks report on the origins of the “war on terror.” The researcher chose one textbook from each of the three leading publishing houses that supply the high school market: Holt McDougal, Prentice Hall, and McGraw-Hill. The scope of the researcher’s inquiry covers the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to the U.S. invasion in 2001. The nomenclature of the “war on terror,” Reagan’s “war on terror,” U.S. support for the Afghan Mujahideen, the Persian Gulf War, and the decision to invade Afghanistan are examined. Interviews with authors William Blum, James Loewen, and Noam Chomsky are also reported. Findings indicate factual errors regarding historical events, as well as numerous omissions of historical context. Such errors and omissions may lead the high school reader to form inaccurate conclusions regarding current U.S. foreign policy regarding terrorism. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the instructor to devote considerable research to this topic so to supplement the inadequacies of the textbook.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/masters-theses/29"],"dc:subject":["History Textbooks","Afghanistan","War on Terror","Terrorism","Education"],"dc:title":["From Afghanistan 1979 to Afghanistan 2001: How Three Current High School History Textbooks Frame the Origins of the “War on Terror” Historical Analysis and Interviews with William Blum, Noam Chomsky and James Loewen"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:04:28Z"}