A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present (P.S.) by Howard Zinn Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present (P.S.)
Book Review: Peoples History of the United States
Summary: 5 Stars
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.Book Review: No sugar coated, political correctness here!
Summary: 5 Stars
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.Book Review: A political, not a cultural, history
Summary: 3 Stars
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! Book Review: real history isn't pretty
Summary: 5 Stars
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. Book Review: Trust me -There are Stable Democracies
Summary: 5 Stars
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...