A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present (P.S.) |  | Author: Howard Zinn Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
List Price: $18.95 Buy Used: $8.16 as of 11/23/2009 01:32 CST details You Save: $10.79 (57%)
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Seller: goHastings Rating: 681 reviews Sales Rank: 908
Media: Paperback Pages: 768 Number Of Items: 1 Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6 Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0060838655 Dewey Decimal Number: 973 EAN: 9780060838652 ASIN: 0060838655
Publication Date: August 1, 2005 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review Consistently lauded for its lively, readable prose, this revised and updated edition of A People's History of the United States turns traditional textbook history on its head. Howard Zinn infuses the often-submerged voices of blacks, women, American Indians, war resisters, and poor laborers of all nationalities into this thorough narrative that spans American history from Christopher Columbus's arrival to an afterword on the Clinton presidency. Addressing his trademark reversals of perspective, Zinn--a teacher, historian, and social activist for more than 20 years--explains, "My point is not that we must, in telling history, accuse, judge, condemn Columbus in absentia. It is too late for that; it would be a useless scholarly exercise in morality. But the easy acceptance of atrocities as a deplorable but necessary price to pay for progress (Hiroshima and Vietnam, to save Western civilization; Kronstadt and Hungary, to save socialism; nuclear proliferation, to save us all)--that is still with us. One reason these atrocities are still with us is that we have learned to bury them in a mass of other facts, as radioactive wastes are buried in containers in the earth." If your last experience of American history was brought to you by junior high school textbooks--or even if you're a specialist--get ready for the other side of stories you may not even have heard. With its vivid descriptions of rarely noted events, A People's History of the United States is required reading for anyone who wants to take a fresh look at the rich, rocky history of America.
Product Description Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History of the United States is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of -- and in the words of -- America's women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, working poor, and immigrant laborers. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 681
Zinn Review November 16, 2009 Andrew Soback I got what I wanted. Its a good book, I'm glad to have now seen both sides.
Typical Revisionist Screed November 13, 2009 Richard B. French (Maple Valley, WA USA) 0 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is just another piece of liberal revisionist screed about how bad America and Americans have been and are. Puke, Puke!
No info on US history, just sad stories about proletariat. October 24, 2009 SoCal girl (California) 0 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book can be named anything else, but US History-there is little history and less US here.
An Important Read October 15, 2009 Eliza Jordan (Kansas City, MO) I read this book - at least parts of it - in one of my major history courses. It was required not only because Zinn is a knowledgeable historian but also because he offers a perspective very different to the one learned in middle school and high school.
The trick to reading any book by any historian (or any other non-fiction book, for that matter) is to THINK like a historian. Take into account the historiography. When was this book written? What was happening at that time? The Cold War? World War II? The "War on Terror," rooted in conflicts from the middle east? All of these things, in addition to the author's personal experience, create huge biases. None of us are without bias. Take that into account while reading this book in addition to any others. Howard Zinn fought in World War II and witnessed all of that death and saw no reason for it. He became highly critical of war and joined many social reform (not to be confused with socialist) movements. While he is not exactly anti-government, he is not a huge fan of capitalism and less so of imperialism, both of which he sees as causes for American atrocities.
Taking that into account, overlook some of his more extreme language and take this book as exactly what it is - an INTERPRETATION of history. That's all a historian can ever do - interpret history.
History without the story October 15, 2009 S. Baekeland (Bisbee , AZ) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is a real eye opener. I had thought that things had been getting worse in U.S. politics - Media spin , Deceit, Corporate control etc. Now I see that only the technology has changed. A must read for anyone that really wants to see the truth about the MYTH of America that we peddle in school.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 681
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