Customer Reviews

A People's History of the United States

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This book presents a decidedly bottom-up perspective on American history, and it'll make you question the motivations and hidden messages behind everything you learned in school. Zinn's book is particularly suited to book-on-tape - it's got a lot of detail, but the writing is clear and concise. You might be surprised at how great of a reader Matt Damon is! He brings just enough character to the voices of the primary sources. If you have a long road trip coming up, I would recommend this book to spark deep political thought and conversation.

Howard Zinn's A People's History of The United States is a fascinating book that reveals historys from a unique standpoint. While many school text books sugar-coat American history and downplay the faults of many key figures in our past, Zinn is brutally honest and reflects the past through the eyes of those who lived it. The book is laceed with eyewitness accounts and makes for an enjoyable and memorable read. While the vast ammount of detail can make the text a bit tetious at times, this book is a treasure for anyone looking to increase their knowlegde of the history of the United States.

This impecably researched, easy to read and understand writing style tells the truth about our Nation and the world.
The sickness of how the propaganda loaded, revisionist history that has infiltrated our schools have had a horrific effect to the literacy rate, knowlege of geography, history, lack of voting and involvement in our democracy.

All textbooks in schools are from the point of view of the "Ruling Class" and dominant culture and DO NOT represent reality or the lives of 99% of the people.
Zinn's book tells the story of the citizens of America, rather than painting stiff, cardboard cutouts of our political leaders who come off like divine Kings and Queens.
Most of the books is told from actual quotes, diaries, government documents, legal documents and words of people from that era.

The shocking reality of what happened to the soldiers who were abused and unpain in the War of Independance. The fact that onlyu large land owners could participate in the creation of our government or even HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE, is amazing.
The importants of uprisings of American's NEVER MENTIONED in our history books, like the the revolt of non-landowners or renters, the Civil War veterens who come out without getting their entire pay and wind up in debters jail.
The fact that our "founding fathers" were wealthy landowners who "owned" other humans (slaves).
The facts that the revolutiony war WAS NOT about freedom, but about Landowners who rebelled against paying taxed to England. For 90 plus percent of Americans, the Revolutionary war was of no consquence to them. But, most of the colonists, the non-landowners were bullied, and forced into service.

The writings of Thomas Jefferson which were clear about his distain of the evils of Christianity and importance of keeping religion out of the government, specifically Christianity.

The best, with flawless research and references.

Howard Zinn is a TRUE patriot and American.

I hope that the reality of this would allow our citizens to become active in keeping a democracy and creating a nation of VALUE DRIVEN citizens and a desire to make the world a better place to live.

Everyone really needs to read the quotes from Columbus's diary and letters. They really are sickening, but show the truth.

How can anyone "discover" America, when there are people and fully evolved cultures already in existance. The Europeans infected our Americans with lies, slavery, destruction of their culture, rape, murder, stealing of native American's resources and having total disrespect for anything but their anglo-Christian culture. The explorers were nothing but a group of organized crime thugs who came to steal and rape.
This book outlines the actions from absolutely "bullet proof" research and documentation.

This book offers important perspectives from those most impacted by the policies through which so-called "progress" was made. The ghost of genocide and vicitimazion of people for the benefit of a few continues to haunt us and learning about it is an important first step in overcoming this sad legacy of non-inclusion and domination.

Howard Zinn's classic book offers the real, boots on the ground history of the US, in the words of those who witnessed it firsthand. Very readable, engrossing and enlightening, all in one. the trifecta!

Personally, I'm done with corporate-crafted, promote the history of the victors as heroes books I was subjected to in public school.

Zinn's a WIN!

This is not as good as the text version. I didn't realize until after I bought it that it was selected "highlights from the 20th century," even though so much more is covered in the book. I'd strongly recommend reading the text version instead of listening to the audio.

Howard Zinn has done what few historians have done in his book. To look at America with the eyes of those who have lived through the periods he describes. The picture is an attempt not to paint a picture that makes something look good or look bad but the desire to see what people living in the US have felt as events both good and bad. This is a couragious depiction of real people, often people who have been seen by otheres as less real than they really were. Mr. Zinn wants his readers to see the feelings of these people as real. I know of nothing more important than people be seen as real. The receint events in New Orlenes have once again shown the necessity to see all people as existing as much as oneself exists. I commend Mr. Zinn for the extensive research and selectivity he has accomplished in this magnificent work. I do not say that I agree with all he says but he says it and one can get a larger idea of what has been with the hope that we will use that knowledge to have true kindness come to be seen as the trough thing it is.

What you don't know can hurt you. Zinn rips the fairy tales from our history books.

Provides the reader with a different perspective of the history of the United States as seen through the eyes of African Americans, Native Americans, women, prisoners, laborers. Those people who have been left behind, ignored and treated as second-class citizens. This books gives the reader an un-sanitized view of the history of these people. It is thought provoking and compelling.

"Bottom up" perspectives, so to speak, on US history are what this is about. Often neglected groups in the conventional narratives brought to us by the public school system and Hollywood get some attention and hopefully the record set a little more straight. This book is a corrective to the warped "top down" traditional accounts of our past that we have been instilled with since childhood which conveniently many unpleasant truths. Historian Howard Zinn wanted to fix that and give us a more inclusive, richer history of our great country. I'd say nothing beats reading the book, but I'm also a fan of audio books. Matt Damon does an excellent job narrating. You can pretend your listening to Jason Bourne narrate. Perhaps Bourne has a new identity and teaches somewhere, educating his students on the dark side of American history. Anyway. A bit of trivia for you--Damon grew up next door to Howard Zinn. They're friends and you might recall in GOOD WILL HUNTING Damon's character mentioning this book to his shrink. "It'll knock you on your a**" he says to Robin Williams. And so it does. _A People's History of the United States_ is an important book. In more enlightened time kids would be given it to read in school.