A People's History of the United States [Paperback]

Howard Zinn (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 614 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (September 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060907924
• ISBN-13: 978-0060907921
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #143,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Howard Zinn (1922-2010) was a historian, playwright, and activist. He wrote the classic A People's History of the United States, "a brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those ... whose plight has been largely omitted from most histories" (Library Journal). The book, which has sold more than two million copies, has been featured on The Sopranos and Simpsons, and in the film Good Will Hunting. In 2009, History aired The People Speak, an acclaimed documentary co-directed by Zinn, based on A People's History and a companion volume, Voices of a People's History of the United States.

Zinn grew up in Brooklyn in a working-class, immigrant household. At 18 he became a shipyard worker and then flew bomber missions during World War II. These experiences helped shape his opposition to war and passion for history. After attending college under the GI Bill and earning a Ph.D. in history from Columbia, he taught at Spelman, where he became active in the civil rights movement. After being fired by Spelman for his support for student protesters, Zinn became a professor of Political Science at Boston University, were he taught until his retirement in 1988.

Zinn was the author of many books, including an autobiography, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, the play Marx in Soho, and Passionate Declarations. He received the Lannan Foundation Literary Award for Nonfiction and the Eugene V. Debs award for his writing and political activism.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A dark history?, November 11, 2002

By 

Steve "lukkystarr" (Tucson) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A People's History of the United States (Hardcover)

He tells another side, the embarrasing parts of American history some would rather forget. He seems biased, but as he says in his last words of the book, it is not a tell all history. One couldn't possibly put it all in a book this size.

Our 'official' history books tell us of the stuff we should be 'proud' of. He puts a different perspective on these things, and brings out everything that is wrong with what we should be 'proud' of. If you want to know about the trials of the common man and the less-than-fortunate throughout America's history, in the face of big government and big business, he will give you an insight to that.

14 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Quintessential Primer on U.S. History., August 20, 2004

By 

Jeffrey Peter A. Hauck "Guerrilla Reader" (Pennsylvania USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A people's history of the United States

Author Zinn presents U.S. history through the exacting lens of detailed minutia and many lesser known historical facts. These facts, as presented, serve to "fill in the gaps" between the greater or more laudible benchmark events in our brave Nation's past.

This book focuses primarily on the contributions, labor, and sufferings of the resident national and immigrant poor. Professor Zinn paints his prose with great detail to include the significant contributions by early African and Native American peoples.

Be forwarned however, this book does not celebrate the national triumphs and victories as traditional historical texts have done. This book vividly fleshes out the ugly, oft forgotten clashes between the rich and poor, management and labor, and government and citizen. The details as presented serve to remind the reader that any advantages in standard of living, wages, etc., that are realized by our society today were paid for in "blood, sweat, and tears," many, many times over by our collective national ancestors.

This text is well worth the money and I heartily recommend it without hesitation or reservation as a necessary part of any home or institutional library. Superb!

5.0 out of 5 stars The Underbelly of American History, February 13, 2012

By 

David Rogers (GRAND BLANC, MI, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A People's History of the United States (Paperback)

"A Peoples History of the United States" is a must for anyone that wants to educate themselves about the history beyond the sanitized version we have all been taught in school. Howard Zinn does a remarkable job delving into the American nightmare that accompanies the "dream".