A peoples history of the United States

A great book by a great historian. Basically tells the story about how america came about and where it stands today but it focuses on the terrible acts this country committed by killing the natives up until vietnam and now to the iraq war era.

 

Hmmm. this is the book I have to read for AP U.S. History this summer and right a few essays on it.....
I am actually kinda of excited to read now.. its should be interesting.

 

Having read Zinn as well as a number of other social historians of the United States, be warned that Howard Zinn does not approach American history from a neutral perspective. His People's History is just that, an approach to American history from a largely popular perspective. It is the account of workers, union organizers, whistleblowers, radicals, and the disenfranchised.

I would recommend Zinn to any curious reader who wanted to approach American history from a socialist/left perspective, but I do think that any of the periods Zinn touches upon could be better presented to the reader in a specialized book on any subject.

Essentially, Zinn's book is important to read for a good liberal, but I'm not entirely sure it's the be-all and end-all for an American historian.

 

I would think choosing the perspective of the people is the most accurate in view points. Aristocratic overseers don't need to be writing history anyway...

 

I haven't had a chance to read this book yet, but I can't wait to read it. Howard Zinn is an amazing man! I went to a march in Boston a few months back and he was a key speaker at it and WOW!

 

Book is great, read it in high school and am re-reading it now.

 

This is a must read for everyone who is interested in history. I enjoy his updated versions as well.

 

I grew up reading history books with titles like, The History of a Free People. That nonsense almost caused me to volunteer to fight in Vietnam. I wish every high school student would read A People's History of the United States. The United States has never been as bad as Germany during the Third Reich, but there is nothing specially good about this country.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3lF5XSUg&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube- A People's History of American Empire by Howard Zinn

 

I have not read A People's History of the United States, although I would like to. My guess is that Howard Zinn ignores or downplays the fact that the great majority of ordinary Americans approved of the national actions Zinn condemns. The great majority of whites in the South supported slavery. Even in the North, abolitionists were in the minority. Most American supported genocide against the Indians, discrimination against immigrants and blacks, opposed labor unions, and so on.

 

I recently picked up Zinn's book too. I've been reading history books since my teens. It definitely is not the beat all end all of history books about the United States but it does provide a nice filler about periods in our history which often get left out of conventional books and it provides a nice background to the leftist/liberal movement in America.

 

This Book is something great which he show in America... I just Love this Book. I read this book when I was in collage and I think Zinn have written a great History of American common man..

 

While it's entertaining to throw around the word 'liberal' (which does not even mean what most people think it means, but I digress) to describe this book (once again, used purely to attach a negative connotation to whatever it is describing), it is a true portrait of a period of history, told from perspectives other than history's 'winners', who are the true 'writers' of the History that continues to be taught to most people, without alternating viewpoints, that usually are truly brought into by those lucky enough to still go to college.

While not the 'end all' book on American History, a great one nonetheless.

 

Wow... sorry about the grammatically nightmarish sentence. Hope you all can read it :/