| A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present
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Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History of the United States is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of -- and in the words of -- America's women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, working poor, and immigrant laborers. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.Consistently lauded for its lively, readable prose, this revised and updated edition of A People's History of the United States turns traditional textbook history on its head. Howard Zinn infuses the often-submerged voices of blacks, women, American Indians, war resisters, and poor laborers of all nationalities into this thorough narrative that spans American history from Christopher Columbus's arrival to an afterword on the Clinton presidency.
Addressing his trademark reversals of perspective, Zinn--a teacher, historian, and social activist for more than 20 years--explains, "My point is not that we must, in telling history, accuse, judge, condemn Columbus in absentia. It is too late for that; it would be a useless scholarly exercise in morality. But the easy acceptance of atrocities as a deplorable but necessary price to pay for progress (Hiroshima and Vietnam, to save Western civilization; Kronstadt and Hungary, to save socialism; nuclear proliferation, to save us all)--that is still with us. One reason these atrocities are still with us is that we have learned to bury them in a mass of other facts, as radioactive wastes are buried in containers in the earth."
If your last experience of American history was brought to you by junior high school textbooks--or even if you're a specialist--get ready for the other side of stories you may not even have heard. With its vivid descriptions of rarely noted events, A People's History of the United States is required reading for anyone who wants to take a fresh look at the rich, rocky history of America.
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By Alan B. Rogers (York, SC United States)
As a veteran history teacher, I found this book to be very lacking. It is very biased and ignores much of history. If you are a progressive, you will love it. If you are looking for real history, I suggest A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery to the War on Terror. It is accurate, better written and is very well sourced.
By alprince
Howard Zinn gives a sobering and humbling account of the sad state of colonization and subsequent governance for the past 500+ years
By Brian Page (Phoenix)
Howard Zinn is my new favorite historian and I now rise to belatedly mourn his passing and praise his work. This is the best history book I've ever read, and I read a lot of history and historical fiction. What a radical concept, the history of radicalism.
Not just radicalism for the sake of radicalism, as this stuff is often presented in conventional history, but rather with the whole backstory. It's history from the perspective of the losers, so to speak, although "the loser now may be later to win. For the times they are a changin'."
This is also the best description of history-as-watching-grass-grow that I've ever come across. Significant historical changes are usually slow and halting in their approach and often Earth shattering in their arrival, and Zinn describes the process brilliantly in this exposition. He focuses more on the process of change than change itself and on those that gave the last full measure of devotion to the cause.
This book contains heartwrenching stories of dedicated individuals that helped change history despite the opposition of the wealthy and powerful. Human nature can be ugly at times and Zinn exposes some of the worst excesses of the US government in the exercise of its power. He also explains power as both an end and a means of suppressing the unruly masses. It was particularly interesting to read about the founding fathers as a group with common economic interests in a revolution rather than as a noble collection of political altruists. Sure they were great men, some of them anyways, but they occasionally may have put their personal interests ahead of those of the country as a whole. What a heretical concept!
The rich, powerful and privileged have always had folks available to tell their history and the history of their "country", but there are other perspectives to history and in this book Howard Zinn proves that the stories of the downtrodden and powerless are often much more interesting, and infinitely more thought provoking.
By Mordecai R (Peekskill, NY)
If any American is to consider themself educated, Zinn's book must be on their shelf.
By SCT (PA, USA)
What a great, powerful, thought provoking, and truly educational read.
So many things make more sense, now. I recommend getting this book just so that the true history is not lost forever to the propaganda that passes for history in the mainstream.
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