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: Educational, but reads like a textbook
Summary: 4 Stars
I rate non-fiction books on two criteria: how much I learn and how much I'm entertained. This book rates high for the first criterion but low for the second.
The basic premise of this book pretty much "duhhh." You mean corporations and a capitalist government is bad for the poor? Say it ain't so! You mean we did horrible things to American Indians and slaves? No way! However, this book does give many rich details about these subjects and many more. If you like to argue liberal/socialist principles, this book will definitely help you frame your arguments. It's helped me a lot in the blogosphere. It's extremely well researched and well cited. Even if you don't get into this stuff, you might enjoy trying to punch holes in Zinn's arguments.
However, it is quite a chore to get through. It's as exciting as a textbook. It is truly a college-level history textbook from a different viewpoint. I could only read it in small doses.
Book Review: Dissent is Patriotic!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a big fan of history and wanted to see what the buzz regarding this book was all about. I am fully aware that history is written by the conquerors and there are plenty of shameful things my country has done that the government has not even tried to lie about or cover up, so... I was very curious to learn what more there is that my burnt out, under paid, teachers did not know, or bother, to share with me. I am still not bothered by my countries conquest. What is revolting is the lieing, cheating, murdering, stealing and most of all the hypocrisy. As we find ourselves in more conflicts in the Middle East, it only reminds me that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. I guess they would need to be concerned about history, or the future, in the first place for it to make a difference. I read this book as I do all things, with a skeptical eye. I would still very much recommend it. It helps to have an interest in history and or politics and or geography as it can be a dry read at times. But either way it is time well spent. Tony StengelBook Review: Socialist nonsense
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this book to learn history. Turns out, the whole thing is just shallow socialist propaganda. Don't buy it. You'll be better off.Book Review: A People's History of the United States
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a fantastic history book, very easy to read and eye opening! My husband and I are both reading it. So different than what we are taught in school. I absolutely love this book.Book Review: Outdated Revisionism
Summary: 1 Stars
This hugely popular, best-selling book is the second great work of revisionist history published in the 20th century, the first being Charles A. Beard's "An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States." Zinn writes in a style similar to Beard's, with the intention of inspiring academic debate by re-interpreting American history through a lens of strict socio-economic class stratification. This leads to sweeping and ultimately rather ponderous conclusions regarding the extent to which America has historically been a racist, imperialist society sustained by the economic exploitation of the masses by privileged elites.
Like Beard's work, "A People's History" is indeed a wonderful tool for stimulating academic debate. But no scholar worth their weight seriously believes that Zinn's book is an accurate portrayal of how America's history unfolded. Revisionism is meant to be taken with a grain of salt; its purpose is to challenge convention, and not necessarily to present the truth.