Product Description

This is a new edition of the radical social history of America from Columbus to the present. 

This powerful and controversial study turns orthodox American history upside down to portray the social turmoil behind the "march of progress".

Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History 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, the working poor, and immigrant laborers. As historian Howard Zinn shows, many of America's greatest battles - the fights for fair wage, an eight-hour workday, child-labor laws, health and safety standards, universal suffrage, women's rights, racial equality - were carried out at the grassroots level, against bloody resistance. Covering Christopher Columbus's arrival through the Clinton years A People's History of the United States, which was nominated for the American Book Award in 1981, is an insightful analysis of the most important events in US history.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #242799 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 744 pages

From the Back Cover

This powerful survey was written as a response to a widespread demand for a serious general history of the United States from the time of Columbus to the present, written from a radical, non-establishment point of view. It was intended as a counterweight to the many conventional American histories which chronicle the country’s story through the activities of political leaders, heroes and saviours of the nation. Here instead is history ‘from the bottom up’. Powerful, fluent and argumentative, its vigorous reinterpretation of the American achievement, and its cost, has provoked debate amongst historians and laymen alike since it first appeared in 1980.

This new edition brings the story up-to-date with a new chapter on the Clinton presidency, terrorism and the move to war.

"Zinn has written a brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those who have been exploited politically and economically and whose plight has been largely omitted from most histories. …the book is an excellent antidote to establishment history. Seldom have quotations been so effectively used; the stories of blacks, women, Indians, and poor laborers of all nationalities are told in their own words. While the book is precise enough to please specialists, it should satisfy any adult reader."

LIBRARY JOURNAL (US)

"…he tells an important and neglected part of the truth"

Marcus Cunliffe, THE GUARDIAN

"…he succeeds admirably in his second objective of ‘disclosing those hidden episodes of the past when, even if in brief flashes, people showed their ability to resist, to join together, occasionally to win’"

Charles Glass, NEW STATESMAN

"Professor Zinn writes with an enthusiasm rarely encountered in the leaden prose of academic history, and his text is studded with telling quotations from labor leaders, war resisters and fugitive slaves."

Eric Foner, NEW YORK BOOK REVIEW

Until his retirement, Howard Zinn was Professor of Political Science at Boston University, and his book – passionate, critical, even disrespectful as it can be – remains the work of a scholar as well as a radical.

About the Author
Howard Zinn was formerly a Professor of Political Science at the University of Boston.

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Customer Reviews

Jaw-dropping stuff
I found this book a fascinating and accessible read; it makes you want to read excerpts to anyone who happens to be in the same room as you. Zinn does not claim to be unbiased; in fact, he freely admits that he has written the book from the viewpoint of ordinary American people.

Zinn clearly expounds his theory on American government and its control over American society and how this control dates right back to the founding fathers. Zinn explores how many different groups have been manipulated and exploited: native American indians, negros, the working class, draftees, women, farmers, unionists, the middle class, etc., etc.

Further, he argues that the purpose of American foreign policy is, and has been, to protect and expand America’s commercial interests behind a mask of protecting democracy and freedom. Zinn explores America’s military interference in Cuba, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia and others.

This is one history book which is not in the least turgid and I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in history, politics or people.

Excellent overview of 1492 - 1992 from the bottom, up
Howard Zinn has performed an impressive feat in this single volume history book, covering as it does almost 500 years worth of U.S. history, written, not from the Great Man's point of view (i.e. history only being concerned with leaders like George Washington or John Kennedy) but from the "people's", that is, what history was like to actually live through for the vast majority of the population concerned, for example, how the Indians were treated after Columbus, how the slaves faired for 400 years.

Inevitably, a single volume cannot do much more than provide a general sweep through 500 tumultuous years, so this book should be treated as a springboard to more specific works, using its bibliography. For example, want to know more about the Indians? Read Dee Brown's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. How about the Cold War era? Try Noam Chomsky's Deterring Democracy.

Some might try and argue that a book such as A People's History presents, not a Great Man view of history but rather a Great Theory (or Grand Narrative) of history; some people might prefer to view history as being nothing more than a random series of events with no structure whatsoever - if you are one of these, then this book is not for you (or might change your concept of history). As a starting point for a student with a general interest, though, Howard Zinn cannot be praised highly enough for this bold and defiant work.

Great book, highlights all the overlooked controversies.
Zinn does very well in exposing the details of America's historical roots, highlighting controversial issues, explaining opposing theories and giving a balanced view of the conflicts that have ravaged its' history. However, the first few chapters, in which we learn of the blood-thirsty nature of the Spanish 'Discovery', seem more intent on telling the reader how 'un-biased' this book is. All in all though, a recommended read for any history buffs.