Voices of a People's History of the United States [Paperback]

Howard Zinn (Author), Anthony Arnove (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 3, 2009

Here in their own words are Frederick Douglass, George Jackson, Chief Joseph, Martin Luther King Jr., Plough Jogger, Sacco and Vanzetti, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Mark Twain, and Malcolm X, to name just a few of the hundreds of voices that appear in Voices of a People's History of the United States, edited by Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove.
Paralleling the twenty-four chapters of Zinn's A People's History of the United States, Voices of a People’s History is the long-awaited companion volume to the national bestseller. For Voices, Zinn and Arnove have selected testimonies to living history—speeches, letters, poems, songs—left by the people who make history happen but who usually are left out of history books—women, workers, nonwhites. Zinn has written short introductions to the texts, which range in length from letters or poems of less than a page to entire speeches and essays that run several pages. Voices of a People’s History is a symphony of our nation’s original voices, rich in ideas and actions, the embodiment of the power of civil disobedience and dissent wherein lies our nation’s true spirit of defiance and resilience.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Howard Zinn is famous primarily for A People's History of the United States, the book in which he presented alternative versions of American milestones, including Columbus's "discovery" of the New World. Voices of a People's History of the United States is the follow-up to that original landmark work, but where People's History contained Zinn's interpretations of events, Voices turns the platform over to others, in a collection of first-hand accounts, journal entries, speeches, personal letters, and published opinion pieces from the nation's history.

The purpose of Zinn's work, Voices included, is to engage in an act of political dissidence and activism. "What is common to all of these voices," Zinn and co-editor Anthony Arnove write in the book's introduction, "is that they have mostly been shut out of the orthodox histories, the major media, the standard textbooks, the controlled culture ... to create a passive citizenry." With Voices, Zinn and Arnove seek to address that malaise, showing that the impossible--slaves rising up against their slave masters, for example--is not only possible, but has occurred repeatedly throughout the country's history. "Whenever injustices have been remedied, wars halted, women and blacks and Native Americans given their due," they write, "it has been because 'unimportant' people spoke up, organized, protested, and brought democracy alive." The common thread throughout Voices is this mandate, and each selection is preceded by a brief introduction by the authors, written from a far-left perspective. (As an example, one section is titled "The Carter-Reagan-Bush Consensus.")

Voices often works better as a reference book than a sit-down-to-read title. Its early chapters--on Columbus, slavery, the War of Independence, and the early women's movement--tend to be more engaging than later excerpts, largely because a contrary point of view to mainstream mythology has been so rarely heard. The modern sections have a haphazard, "greatest hits of the left" feeling, as the book jumps from an Abbie Hoffman speech to the lyrics of Public Enemy's "Fight the Power." The problem may be inherent in the format of the book. Everything is treated equally, and a speech by Danny Glover is given as much weight as an excerpt from W.E.B. DuBois's The Souls of Black Folk. For context and background, it's best to stick with the original People's History, but to hear the words right from the speakers' mouths, there's no better resource than Voices. --Jennifer Buckendorff --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Voices really captures the voices as if they were speaking right to us over the years and all the differences.It calls on us to add our own voices and, quite apart from its value as a learning tool, that may be its greatest contribution.”– Paul Buhle, Z Magazine

Voices of a People’s History of the United States should be required reading for every individual lucky enough to call America home.”– Scott Thill, Salon.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press; 2 edition (January 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583229167
• ISBN-13: 978-1583229163
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.7 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,236 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > History > Historical Study & Educational Resources > Reference

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

114 of 117 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding and Indispensable December 28, 2004

By Catalytic Converter

Format:Paperback

"Voices of a People's History of the United States" is a revelatory look at American history as seen through the voices of dissenters and the disenfranchised, presented through powerful speeches, letters, poetry and song...that, at best, helped changed the course of history, and at worst, went unheard because the messages ran counter to powerful interests.

"Voices" presents the thoughts and words of conscientious objectors from Thomas Paine, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, and Langston Hughes to Malcolm X, Woodie Guthrie, Patti Smith, and Michael Moore. The book also presents the views of unheard-of non-conformists, such as escaped slaves, exploited factory workers, subjugated women, and peace activists. "Voices" has entries for nearly every period in American history and yet are topics not accounted for in the history books, beginning with Columbus' colonization of the Americas all the way to Dubya's War on Terror.

At a time when superpower nations are waging war around the world, Voices inspires the reader just as much as it roils...for the book is not only a testimony to those who have been suppressed through the ages, nor simply a showpiece demonstrating the devastating effects of hegemony, but a wake-up call and call-to-action, reminding readers that people are not as defenseless as powerful elites may have them believe. The voices presented in "Voices of a People's History of the United States" show us that, no matter what the year or the conundrum, it is indeed possible for people to defend, secure and maintain their human rights and civil liberties.

Lucine Kasbarian, author, Armenia: A Rugged Land, an Enduring People

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent Book!!! December 26, 2004

By Rejoice!

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

A magnificent read! History really comes alive: from Susan B. Anthony (fabulous speech before a judge) to Patti Smith, this book is consciousness raising. Highly Recommended!

The pieces can be read in random order. I love scanning the table of contents and choosing either an era or a voice. I'm a great fan of Zinn's "Peoples History of the United States." This book, Voices, can stand alone or as a companion. "Voices of a People's History of the United States" is Magnificent!!!

48 of 50 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A monumental volume! November 7, 2004

By Pen Name? VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This volume is indispensible to anyone interested in American history. Zinn offers a compendium of primary resources to go side-by-side with his People's History (also a nice companion to the Radical Reader). This volume could also stand on its own as a wonderful overview of the fight for liberty and justice through American culture and political movements.

Put this at the top of your list!