White Lies: How the South Lost the Civil War, Then Rewrote the History
by Ann Bausum
High School    Roaring Brook    368 pp.
8/25    9781250816573    $24.99
e-book ed.  9781250816580    $12.99

“For more than a century and a half, a tsunami of Confederate commemoration has washed over the United States of America. So have its associated lies.” Bausum lists these falsehoods of the Lost Cause (“part of a deliberate pattern of misinformation” perpetuated by Confederates and their sympathizers) and then dismantles them one by one in this extensively researched book. Her work confronts twenty different lies, including that the Civil War was about states’ rights, not slavery, and that the Ku Klux Klan was a noble organization. Bausum’s short chapters and clear language help teen readers understand complex subjects and make connections between lies that started in the mid- to late-nineteenth century and societal ills that still plague the United States today. She also provides information about lingering Confederate symbols and mentions the impact of a photo of mass murderer Dylann Roof posing with his gun and a Confederate battle flag. “It became impossible to deny what the banner’s critics had been arguing for years: that it was a symbol of White supremacy.” Bausum appeals to readers to learn from the nation’s past mistakes and “use that knowledge to better the world.” Occasional archival photos of historical figures, along with ephemera such as movie posters advertising Gone with the Wind, enhance the text. An author’s note, research notes, a timeline of the Lost Cause, source notes, and a bibliography are appended.

From the September/October 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.