This study focuses on how U.S. history teachers utilize secondary U.S. history textbooks. The report addresses the questions of: (1) "How do teachers utilize previously studied textbooks in classroom situations?"; (2) "How do teachers deal with the technical knowledge of textbooks?"; (3) "What are possible factors that influence textbook usage?"; and (4) "Do secondary history teachers engage in and encourage students to engage in critical reflection or emancipatory knowledge?" Nine teachers participated in the study, six men and three women representing seven school districts, four rural and three urban. Interviews were conducted with the teachers with data analysis focusing on recurring themes or response patterns emerging from the interviews. Results indicate that the authority of the textbook is not absolute. Textbook knowledge does not pass perfectly from text to student. The way a teacher handles the given textbook and related materials determines the impressions of U.S. history that students have the opportunity to learn. Furthermore, just because teachers possess the ability to critique and challenge U.S. history textbooks, they do not necessarily engage in this process with any consistency. (Contains 30 references.) (EH)