The Twentieth Century: A People's History
by Howard Zinn

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Book Reviews of The Twentieth Century: A People's History

Book Review: Zinn Humanizes History with another Viewpoint
Summary: 4 Stars

Zinn is an admitted liberal (and because of his obvious bias I give 4 instead of 5 stars to this book). The reader from Rhode Island is incensed that Zinn's book is biased because s/he obviously doesn't share Zinn's biases. Doesn't Rhode Island realize that all human beings have biases (some of which Rhode Island probably agrees with)? Therefore, to one extent or another, all history books are biased. At least Zinn admits to his biases!

Becuase Zinn has much greater sympathy for Native Americans than for European immigrants; for poor than for wealthy citizens; and for the powerless than for those with power doesn't mean that he hasn't conducted research (from original sources of the day) to provide information regarding events in our history. If his research results in discovering facts that show past actions of some Americans is less than laudatory, this doesn't negate the truth or accuracy of the research.

Many American history books (as well as those from other countries) are written to promote a general love of country while trying to inculcate, in young students, the idea that their country is right and never wrong. While this may make young citizens loyal to the USA, it does not encourage them to think critically, to admit that some choices made by Americans are not admirable, and most importantly, does not represent the point of view of many American citizens.

Reading Zinn for the first time was like a breath of fresh air for me. When I was in college and later, I became very interested in and started to read, more extensively, books on American history and politics. I learned that what I thought I knew was, for the most part, a highly censored and untruthful version of our history. Though this made me angry, I still believed that our country was great because the ideals and principals we espoused were something that we constantly were striving towards. Zinn brought the richness, the variety, and the multi-culturism of America to me in a way that was vivid and exciting!

It amazes me that many people recoil from unpleasant information about our past as if Americans are so weak, they will crumble if they hear anything negative about our country. In our country, American citizens are the most multicultural in the world; our citizens hold different viewpoints and beliefs on religion, customs, politics, and mores. And most Americans are incredibly tolerant of the right of other Americans to practice different beliefs than their own. This is the basis of our strength at a nation. Therefore, the truth (pleasant or otherwise) regarding our past (and present actions), can only make us better informed, more questioning of what is right or wrong, and more likely to insist that we achieve a better and more equitable Democracy for all.

There are enough history books that extoll the virtues of American history and are, at the worst, blatant lies about America's past actions, and at best, omit any information that might make America look less than perfect. It is a pleasure to know that other history books exist that provide a more accurate version of what actually happened in our past.

So I say to any reader, who genuinely wants to find out about American history, and to see it from a more vital and humane viewpoint, buy and read Zinn books. You will not be disappointed!

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