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.

I recommend the book with some reservations. Agree or disagree, perspectives like Zinn's keep us from becoming ignorant victims of ideological propaganda.

I recommend it because it is a great, well-informed, honest and self-conscious dissenting opinion. Anyone who wants to consider themselves educated needs to consider dissenting opinions frequently. But I have reservations. Most importantly, Zinn's purpose is not to introduce someone to American history. He assumes his readers already know the basics. Of course, many people do not. It's not a history of the US; it's a series of contentious corrections to the history traditionally taught in American classrooms. (Why did the Colonies defeat the British? What caused the depression? Why did Nixon visit China? Unless you know this much, this book isn't yet for you.)

Some reviewers complained about Zinn's tone. Zinn is an average writer; better than many academics but worse than any good writer.

Other reviewers seemed to assume that either communists or far-right conservatives aren't "students of history." But of course some are. Zinn and Newt Gingrich are both well-informed scholars.

(If it matters to you, I am neither communist nor right-wing; I'm just not a political thinker. I'm American, and I think Americans--all of us--can be proud and thankful; but we should recognize that our government and politicians have never been perfect. Ideologies often serve to control people, so dissenting opinions are vital for freedom's perseverance. But democracy and moderated capitalism have often succeeded in blessing their people, while communism has evidently failed everywhere, with more gruesome histories even than capitalism.)


AN INTRIGUING READ, NOTHING MORE NOTHING LESS   May 27, 2003
 365 out of 438 found this review helpful

A quick look at the reviews for this book will tell you just how difficult it is for a reader of Zinn's works to whistle and walk on. Either one ends up savagely dismissing him as a petty caviller, or extolling his brand of "eye opening" wisdom. I doubt I can add anything purposeful to this seemingly hot debate because I approached this book with a different intent altogether.

I wanted this page of history to answer some of my business questions. How America came from a nowhere nation of vagrant Arawak Indian tribes just a few centuries ago to being a commerical (ok, and imperial) superpower in our times. My interest was not to equip myself with geewhiz anti-US trivia (although I picked up a fair bit on the way, tra la) but to answer the atavistic question of what promoted capitalistic thinking, meritocracy, love of freedom etc in the United states more than the rest of the planet (assuming this is true in the first place).

And in that department, I have to say that this book left me startled. It might sound presumptuous but the quick answer is that there is nothing specific in the history or the anthropological station of US in this century and the last that may have accentuated its drive for capitalism. What's more, America was and is, just like any other country on the planet, subject to the exact same vagaries of civilization/humanity/bigotry/dogma that make and mar an empire every few centuries or so. I also recognize why this is very difficult for Americans to identify with or agree to, specially Americans who typify the inward looking solipsism of the current generation and perhaps the last 2 or so.

I recommend this book highly as a VIEW of historical events that are difficult to deny occured. Whether the guardians of the old order spring into an attack or not this is bound to yank a lot of people (me included) out of a langour of perspective.

Not all books need to be read to be "liked". Even a book that makes you constantly revulse in disagreement is worth a read for that precise reason. 5 stars from me.


Raises important questions, terrible scholarship   January 5, 2002
 146 out of 178 found this review helpful

THE GOOD: Professor Zinn raises important questions that test our long held assumptions about American history, and for this--the questions--the book should be read and discussed vigorously. The book is also very readible, with a flowing, yet serious style.

THE BAD: Unfortunately, the book suffers from two fatal flaws, and for this reason does not belong in a classroom (college or otherwise). First, Zinn fails to cite adequately his sources (no footnotes or endnotes), leaving the reader with only a vague sense of his source material. This is particularly unacceptable for a work that admits to be controversial. His excuse, in the preface, that the footnotes would be too voluminous, is lame at best. Witness Pulitzer winning historian McCullough's use of sources in his much acclaimed JOHN ADAMS.

Second, in presenting his evidence, Zinn fails to quantify meaningfully the culpability of those historical figures he wishes to evaluate from the 'people's' perspective, nor does he even discuss the limitations or challenges posed by the evidence, nor does he sufficiently discuss his methodology used for reaching his conclusions. Mostly, he simply cites judgments made in secondary sources. Any college student can do that, and we should expect more from a Harvard professor.

For instance, in his chapter on Columbus, he indicates that two years after Columbus landed on Hispanola the native Arawak population had nearly all died. He also cites evidence of some gratuitously harsh treatment by the Spanish-- but he does not really indicate the degree to which these events were isolated or the norm. Specifically: did the Arawaks perish as a result of systematic slaughter or from disease transmitted from Spanish soldiers? If only, say, 20% were slaughtered and the rest died from disease, our moral judgments would be different than if the case were reversed. This historical method characterizes his use of examples throughout the book: anecdotal pieces without proper context. To the extent Zinn fails to quantify or even discuss the problems of quantification (however crudely) he is really just putting on a slight of hand. He invites the unsuspecting (or unsophisticated) reader to adopt inferences that might not be warranted or which the reader's emotions might have predisposed her.

Hence, though well written and fascinating for the questions it raises, the book fails to make its case stick and can be misleading. Read it, but with extreme caution, and try to recognize the slights of hand for what they are. It's a pity: his inquiry is important, but his method undermines his case.


An insightful rendering of American history   October 31, 2002
 111 out of 126 found this review helpful

This book has left several impressions on me. First, it's hard to get through, due both to its content (disturbing) and its style (dry, with a tendency to tell each chapter in the same formulaic method).

Aside from those two criticisms, the account is fascinating. From the beginning, you're wretching at the accounts told of Columbus' barbarism, and soon begin to see the propaganda the American school system has taught us as just that.

With that said, I think it would be wise to view this in its context. It is not the be-all-end-all account of American history. It should be balanced with other perspectives. To come away believing America an evil empire I think would be to lose sight of the reality of our history: namely that despite the corruption and evil, the principles written down in our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights have lived up to their true promise and continually get closer to their ideal. An informed electorate is essential to a functioning democracy, and the facts presented here go a long way towards helping Americans confront their dark past and learn from it, rather than trying to sugar-coat it to prop us up as an honorable Christian nation with a right to arrogance. The truth is nothing to fear. Still, I recommend trying a conservative viewpoint after this, like Paul Johnson's "A History of the American People". That way you'll come away with both sides of the story, rather than an overly slanted perspective. As in all things, don't ever fear a dissenting opinion. Fundamentalism from the right _and_ left is dangerous. Keep an open mind and weigh both side's arguments for yourself before you join a bandwagon

After reading this book, I've become more skeptical of patriotism based on the founding father's genius and benevolence, but much more proud of the achievements of regular Americans who often gave their lives fighting a corrupt government that used religion and money to support the rich and exploit the poor. Americans do have a history to be proud of, but the over-riding theme that I came away with was that it is possible for Americans to make a difference in their government and the world today. We need to take action and contribute to making this country great, not just rest on the acheivements of those who came before us and made our country what it is.


Is This American History?   December 21, 2002
 100 out of 175 found this review helpful

Those who read A People's History of the United States 1492-Present may think that Howard Zinn is the embodiment of a modern day Karl Marx. Despite Zinn's socialistic views, this comparison is, perhaps, a little extreme; however, it's fairly obvious that Mr. Zinn does not support America's capitalistic-based system. In all fairness to Mr. Zinn, I'm sure he, like many Americans, simply long for a more egalitarian socioeconomic structure that is absent the huge chasm between rich and poor that defines our country today.

Given this backdrop, one should expect that A People's History of the United States 1492-Present is not a typical high school history lesson. One of Mr. Zinn's objectives in this book is to correct a long-standing wrong. The wrong, according to Zinn, is that traditional American history is biased and one-sided because it is presented from the perspective of the conqueror, statesman, capitalist, and aristocrat. To correct this wrong -- to achieve a balance of understanding -- Mr. Zinn presents his history lesson from the perspective of the conquered, the governed, the laborer, and the commoner - that is, "the People."

Because Zinn believes that most accounts of history are so one-sided, favoring the privileged classes, A People's History of the United States 1492-Present is equally if not more biased, favoring the downtrodden rather than the well to do. Partisanship is the only way to balance the scales of history. Therefore, readers can expect extensive coverage of the darker days of America's past (e.g., slavery and Vietnam) including many detailed stories documenting the struggles of Indians, Negroes, laborers, women, and children.

An unfortunate side effect of this approach is that Zinn is also extremely critical of the people, events, and ideas that fuel our patriotic pride. For example, Columbus is not presented as the explorer who discovered America, but as a perpetrator of genocide; the founding fathers are not portrayed as true patriots or revolutionaries, but self-centered aristocrats concerned only with preserving their wealth and status in society; Lincoln was motivated not by desegregation or Negro rights, but by political advancement; World War II was not a battle against fascist communist regimes, but a mechanism to preserve the power and wealth of the elite (did the U.S. government know off, and actually allow unfold, the bombing of Pearl Harbor as Zinn implies?).

Zinn's wrath of the U.S. sytem will likely shake the foundation of of many citizens' nationalistic beliefs, leading them to ask, "is this country so great after all?" If fact, Zinn is so critical at times, that one may ask is there anything good about America? The consequence of this is that Zinn comes off as anti-American.

If you're not familiar with Mr. Zinn or his perspective on things, I recommend you read pages 8-11 first, then Chapter 24, and then the Afterward. You may want to also visit his web page. Doing this will expose Zinn's beliefs and motivations, and allow readers to place Zinn's stories in the proper context.

The key to enjoying and benefiting from this book is to understand the author's point of view from the beginning: People with land, money, and power are bad, while people without land, money, and power are good. This book is biased -- those who want a complete version of U.S. history will not get it here. Instead, readers must draw from both traditional and nontraditional (ala Mr. Zinn) accounts of America's past to formulate their own opinions and beliefs - that is, to achieve their own balance of understanding. From this standpoint, A People's History of the United States 1492-Present is a must read.