I disagree with the other reviewer; this book has much of the historical references found in Gatto's previous book, "The Underground History of American Education," in a condensed version - that book is near 300,000 words I think. In that respect, it is more useful than Gatto's first book on schooling, "Dumbing Us Down," well over 15 years old now. All his books are excellent, and numerous websites contain many other essays and recordings of speeches he has made over his long retirement from school teaching. I loved this book!