This is a MUST READ! Historical accounts of events as they SHOULD be taught in schools, from the People's perspective, not just the privileged view from the top.

I had to wait literally two years for this book to become available at my local library. Very encouraging to see this rise of civic responsibility in my community. Every U.S. citizen owes it to the country to understand our history, and few sources can compare to Zinn's impressive A to Z. It's about as far from an impartial account as I can imagine, and with good reason: Zinn wants to highlight the history of the U.S. not through a few heroic individuals but rather the larger body of its citizens.

I am pleased to report that a lot of his interpretation has entered America's cultural zeitgeist already. I am disappointed to report that relevant action in light of these histories remains to be seen.

Written with spirited vigor, Zinn directs his (not always engrossing) narrative to move quickly through his major points. Supporting text from primary sources is integrated well, and if anyone complains that he's cherry-picking his quotes the retort must be made that he's specifically selecting voices and focusing on events to support his argument. This is not an unbiased piece, nor is it meant to be. The Shelley quote he opens with makes pretty clear what type of action he's calling readers to.

3.5 stars out of 5. I didn't do much shopping around for editions and the one I read has lengthy sections at the end of each chapter with discussion questions or classroom guidance, so the page count is heavily padded. I also ended up first with the 1997 edition and finished the updated info from 2003 by eBook. This made my experience kind of disjointed - I would have preferred a version with the teaching materials excised.

This is one of those "history" books that gives us real historians crippling migraines, chiefly because it's utter rubbish yet the masses gobble it up. All the more galling given that Zinn has a long history of fabrications (which he doesn't even deny) that he defended on the grounds that the social outcome he desires justifies deceiving the masses. Because the ends justify the means. To quote Samuel Butler: "I doubt not but it will appear / With pregnant light; the point is clear. / Oaths are but words, and words but wind; / Too feeble implements to bind..."

Really, there are two types of people for whom this book is intended: 1) the already-converted who want a "history" that doesn't tell them anything uncomfortable or that might contradict what they've a priori concluded to be "fact"; and 2) those who don't know any better and can be fooled & flummoxed because, like, Zinn is famous!

This is as awesome as I knew it would be. All history books drag in some places and this one is no exception because every part didn't interest me. On the whole, however, the information is amazing. He recounts about so many events in the history of the United States in which average people are cheated, abused, mistreated, arrested, and killed by agents of the government or if not the government itself, by others to whom the government turned a blind eye. This is not a book for those "patriots" who pretend that Americans live in a land of equal opportunity. This is the blood and guts rendition that depicts the daily, yearly, decades-and centuries-long struggles of the average person. Don't look for favored status of the rich white men here. This is the tale of the poor, the minority, the female, the marginalized parts of society who have to fight for every single thing and who still usually lose.

I highlighted so many things that were events in US history or comments on the status of some inequality or mistreatment of years ago. The sad thing is that many of those situations or events are so similar to ones today. As the saying goes, the more things change the more they stay the same.

I read this for my American History course in college. Really enjoyed it!

4****

I was assigned this work for my introduction to political science course in college. I have to admit I groaned at the very title when I saw it on the syllabus, suspecting what I was in for. And yeah, this book was about what I expected--very much a very hard left wing--no, Marxist interpretation of American history. I hated it, was scathing in my assigned paper on Zinn, and was duly marked down. I learned to parrot Zinn back on the final exam and did well. So yes, I have a grudge against the book.

But I also don’t trust it as history. You won’t find sources cited in this book--it’s a popularization, a synthesis, based on secondary sources with a very pointed agenda. It’s blatant propaganda--not history. I have heard a couple of good things about this book even from those who are opposed to Zinn politically--that it did help influence people to look beyond the “great man” triumphalist narrative of history and look at the contribution ordinary people make--and that at least Zinn is no respecter of the powers that be. I’m a little skeptical though that Zinn had much influence on creating a more diverse narrative of American history--there were a lot of true scholars, who did do original research, involved in that revolution of how we look at history. And by the way the parts I was assigned didn’t actually involve the history per se, but Zinn’s views on democracy itself--that’s what I was tested on. But reading through his villainization of America was depressing and annoying. I think it’s because I just have encountered too many Marxists in college--and life. It made Zinn’s take not enlightening and exciting but very predictable.

A rare book, In the world where majority of the Historical books are written from the viewpoint of victors, in a world who admires conquerors more than the vanquished, in a world where traditional narratives have come from the ruling elites, in a world where Oppressor are seen as a deservingly dominant race, in a world which cherishes and rejoice the injustice, and out of this very world comes a historian, a writer, named Howard Zinn, who turns history on its head, in this book, The People's History of United states, a history written purely from the viewpoint of oppressed people, this book doesn't perceive Columbus as a conqueror, but instead it tells us about the mass suffering, murders, injustice, humiliation, that the indigenous peoples, the Indians, have had to gone through after Columbus landed in the Americas.

This book covers the 5 hundred years of American History, from 1492, the day Columbus landed in America to the Bush, and Clinton Presidency. This book debunks the myth of enlightened American empire.

The history is from the viewpoints of ordinary People, the poor people, the people who are often denied their rights, the people who have no authority, the peoples who are subjugated, the oppressed people, the people who don't have any voices, the people who are demonized, be it slaves, workers, women, Native or Indigenous People.

I can't believe that I have finished this! It set on my bookshelf for so long that the spine actually completely faded (oh the sun). And yet I'm not sure how many facts from this will sick with me in the long run.

In this epic tome, Howard Zinn seeks to look at the history of the United States through new eyes. So many historians, and even more textbooks, have a traditional view of American progress throughout the centuries, though Zinn seeks to examine it all through the eyes of the people who were part of it. Though many of these people might have been left out of the limelight, this view of American history enriches the already hearty dialogue about progress and regression under the banner of America, as well as provide the reader with something complex about which to ponder when they consider events etched onto the American psyche. Beginning his discussions as far back as Columbus and is first encounters with the Indigenous, Zinn explores the language and cultural barriers that created a situation of dominance by the Europeans in which they were able to turn things to their advantage. These early swindling are by no means a shock to the knowledgeable reader, but their impact resurfaces much later in the tome, during discussion of social outrages of the 1960s and into the present time. Zinn also touches on the creation of the slave trade and how it turned an entire race on its head, sold and loaded up from African ports and left to live lives of endless servitude with no chance of ever seeing the light of freedom. Again, Zinn’s discussions fuel a flash forward in which race relations in America were strained to the point of bursting, where Caucasians could and would not see fellow African-Americans as equal or worthy of any fair treatment. Working through some of the nuances of creating a formal country and the early settlements of the United States, Zinn takes some time to explore the Civil War, where blood was shed and a country torn apart. However, he also hints at the fact that there was another war brewing, in which social groups were on the rise. Economic inequality began to push many to the brink of starvation and death, while the few pulled the strings and got richer. This strain fostered a push for social changes, or at least the strength of the social movement, which included strikes, labour disputes, and even violent clashes with the established business class. Such a mentality continued through the devastation of the Depression, and heralded in a new saviour in the form of FDR. Under his New Deal, America sought to dig itself out of the trenches, if only to ensure everyone had enough to eat and could survive with targeted government handouts. War and its fallout continued to fuel the American machine, for it was not only the defeat of the Axis powers, but ideological skirmishes in Korea and Vietnam that brought the country headlines around the world. Zinn chooses to focus a great deal on Vietnam, as it was surely an indelible mark on the American psyche, which took a devastating blow with the loss of this military engagement. Zinn pushes through to new cultural and gender clashes in a country that was still trying to heal from the divisions developed in Southern Asia, with the rise of the women’s movement, as well as those who supported gay rights. America was changing faster than it could react to all that was placed before it. Zinn continues from there, weaving together the tapestry that was the people’s history, seen through their eyes and fought using their own battle plans. Brilliant in its delivery, Howard Zinn brings history to life in a thorough and captivating manner. Recommended for those who want some alternative perspectives to the way things developed, as well as the reader who has a passion for long tomes that educate with every page flip.

I chose to read this book after devouring one that Zinn influenced by Peter Irons, whose focus was strictly the Supreme Court of the United States. As with that tome, Zinn chooses the areas on which he wishes to expand and takes his time developing the detailed analysis. There is so much to say, though the chapters seem to flow naturally into one another, showing the story is all interconnected in some way. The reader is able to learn a great deal about America through the eyes of Howard Zinn, though the author does not pull any punches. He calls things out as he sees them and challenges the narrative norms that have been inculcated into the minds of many for centuries. His choice to look at the ‘little guy’ or leave the traditional narrative on the side is to be applauded, not only because of the perspective, but also because there is a great deal of rich history to uncover. Zinn dazzles with his attention to detail and frank comments, many of which make sense to the open-minded reader. With thorough discussions come longer chapters, all of which tell an important perspective of the American story. Dense in some spots, Zinn seeks not to entertain as much as educate, which requires long backstories at times to prove a point. It will be a dedicated and determined reader who makes their way through this piece, through I am sure none who last the marathon will be disappointed that they chose to patiently make their way through this well-paced narrative.

Kudos, Mr. Zinn, for a stunning look at America from the other side of the coin. I can only hope to find more of your work as interesting as this piece proved to be.

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I had wanted to read this for quite a while and I was finally able to borrow it from the library only to realize its 700+ pages. I felt really anxious about finishing it before I had to return it so I spent the past few days reading and not doing any of my work. I need to come up with a plausible lie to tell my boss tomorrow about what I've been working on. I also still have 15 days left before I have to return the book so I kind of feel dumb now.

At this point I've heard most of what's covered in this book before. I think if it had been my first time reading about these things I would've been moved more deeply and I would be one of those people who tells others how great this book is and how they have to read it.

I personally think it's important for us to contend with the history of this country, to even allow ourselves to feel angry or bad about the things that have happened while also not feeling like it's some sort of attack on us personally. I think it's also okay to just acknowledge that our government does a lot of shitty things that we may sometimes benefit from and that we can be somewhat culpable for. I also am not that sensitive to being critiqued or told I'm a piece of shit so maybe that's why I think its an overreaction when people get so viscerally angry at books like this for painting the country in a bad light. It's also kind of weird in my opinion to tie your identity so closely to your country but to each his own.

Anyways I enjoyed the book, probably because it has politics similar to mine.

Zinn’s big book runs to near 700 pages, and at times he seems bent on letting no act of resistance to injustice go unmentioned. This, he feels, is the glory of American history. Of course all history books focus on some chosen theme, and Zinn is very explicit about his own choice to highlight the stories of disadvantaged and marginalized people. Also of course, many Americans have been deeply offended, feeling that Zinn paints their glorious nation as evil by nature. To those who feel affronted by Zinn’s rebukes to racism, sexism, militarism, corruption, etc., I’d suggest they stop identifying with those things so much.

Many readers may view Zinn’s book as a stream of moral outrage. But I find it has good entertainment value, and in many cases it’s simply hilarious. For one example, Zinn describes the aftermath of the US invasion of Grenada in 1983, after “Operation Urgent Fury” blew away the tiny nation’s socialistic government. Nine years later, Grenada had suffered an “invasion of banks.” The capital town of St. George’s, with its population of 7,500, now hosted 118 offshore banks, and as the New York Times explained, “St. George’s has become the Casablanca of the Caribbean, a fast-growing haven for money laundering, tax evasion, and assorted financial fraud …” (p. 589).

not me channeling timothee chalamet's worst character and looking great doing it