People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present (P.S.) | 
| Author: Howard Zinn
Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  632 reviews
Sales Rank: 214
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 768
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 1.4
ISBN: 0060838655
Dewey Decimal Number: 973
EAN: 9780060838652
ASIN: 0060838655
Publication Date: August 1, 2005
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Amazon.com
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.
Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 627 more reviews...
 Peoples History of the United States July 23, 2008
Amazing book. I am 63 years old and wish I'd been interested in american history sooner. I spent most of my life blindly believing the history of school textbooks. Howard Zinn blows the lid off of most of what I had accepted as gospel. This book certainly opened my eyes to what went on behind the scenes. We may not be bad people, but we've sure had some very bad leaders over the years, who made some very selfish decisions without regard to the long term effects of their actions. Three cheers for Howard Zinn.
No sugar coated, political correctness here! July 17, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Well written, intensely compelling, and mind expanding. This book should be a mandatory read for every high school student in the country. Throw away The American Pageant, and hand out Zinn's book instead.
 A political, not a cultural, history July 3, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Professor Zinn definitely fills a need--a well-documented political history of the United States from the point-of-view of those who work to move this country nearer to a realization of the democratic values expressed in The Declaration of Independence--in other words to transform the beautiful rhetoric of the Declaration into political reality. This work has only begun and has a long way to go. Zinn's book does disappoint me, though, in touching so lightly on cultural history: just to pick two examples, the Index lists neither J.J. Audubon nor George Washington Carver. My impression is that Zinn elbows the unique achievements of Americans aside in his anxiety to shine a searchlight on our dirty laundry--of which there is a great heap!
real history isn't pretty July 1, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
People in America love the fairy tale of America being the greatest best hope of mankind, and all that blind patriotic crap that we've all had shoved down our throat our entire lives. This book is a reaction to the fairy tales that most American so blindly believe. Zinn honesty admits this book is biased, just like any work of art is. You only have to look at the title of the book to realize that this is history told from the perspective of the oppressed and violated. Does it leave out the perspective of the establishment? Yes. Does it have an anti-patriotic edge? For sure. But this does not mean it's any less accurate than the "official" version of American history taught in our schools. More than anything it shows that oppressed and marginalized parts of our population transcend race, political ideology, and even class.
Trust me -There are Stable Democracies June 24, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I love Howard Zinn. The most amicable individual I have ever seen. Sure he is a peace activist and a scholar. That, in and of itself gets my vote.
Some people slam Howard Zinn for communist, etc... yet our "democratic" government (almost) always suppresses the truth; goes the extra mile to not provide the complete story; makes sure people can't voice their opinion (sometimes).
I found it to be a complex read and yes kind of dry and gut-wrenching at times, but overall I believe that's the way it was (and continues to be). There's plenty of evidence everywhere.
Like Howard said himself... the difference between History in middle school and graduate school, is the footnotes. The system does not want to teach how barbaric our precursors were. No other way of sugar coating it.
It is tremendously important for people (in America) to know that The United States of America is NOT America. The name America is given to a whole, entire continent. This name was given by a Italian conquistador, Amerigo Vespucci . [...]
That said... there is an incredible level of ignorance about history in this country. History of the world, and how societies have evolved, raised and fallen, etc... But all in the context of the world, not just the current empire. This is how/why current leaders raise to power, because of ignorance of the people and lack of understanding of other societies (concieved by the government, by design).
I think it is time for the USA to start looking at all the other more stable and prosperous democracies around the world. Howard Zinn can help you do that through books like his.
Believe me, there ARE prosperous and stable democracies out there...
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