Its a wonderful, splendid booka book that should be read by every american, student or otherwise, who wants to understand his country, its true history, and. Howard zinns a peoples history of the united states a radical alternative to established textbooks when it was first published in 1980 has today become a standard source in how. In this ambitious tome, zinn reexamined the traditional narratives of the american past, starting with. The zinns of revised history, america is still a land of opportunity, collectivized history to fit the radical agenda of democrat socialism, howard zinns version of history, common core. The result was his 1980 magnum opus, a peoples history of the united states. America the awful howard zinns history history news. With zinns clear prose and solid factual count, a peoples history of the united states should be a mandatory read on the list of every high school student. A peoples history of the united states paperback november 17, 2015.
Politifact is book by howard zinn the most popular. Howard zinns death yesterday affords us the opportunity to evaluate the remarkable influence he has had on the american publics understanding of our nations past. Zinn has no doubts about where he stands in this peoples history. In addition to a peoples history of the united states, which has sold more than two million copies, he is the author of many books, including the autobiography you cant be neutral on a moving train, the people speak, and passionate declarations. And i would agree its an accurate view of the united states in the same way a proctologists view of. In the book, zinn presented what he considered to be a different side of history from the more traditional fundamental nationalist glorification of country. But its as limitedand closedmindedas the textbooks it replaces. Zinns influential history textbook has problems, says. A peoples history of the united states zinn, howard.
A wonderful, splendid booka book that should be read by every american, student or otherwise, who wants to understand his country, its true history, and its. For more than thirty years, zinns scholarly but accessible work of grassroots history has been shaking up classrooms and changing perspectives. A peoples history of the united states is an attempt to balance the scales by writing about the parts of us history that arent often covered in depth. Zinn talked about his book, a peoples history of the united states. Zinns book was first published in 1980 and is now estimated to have sold some 2. The main characters of this non fiction, north american history story are. Three decades later, this jaundiced view of american history is more accepted. By any reasonable definition, zinns book does not deserve to have history in the title. In fact, years ago, we would offer people twenty dollars if they read the book and didnt think it was completely worth their time. Zinns account of the pequot war is a microcosm of his book as a whole which is little more than an 800page libel against his country. Zinn portrays a side of american history that can largely be seen as the exploitation and manipulation of the majority by rigged systems that hugely favor a small aggregate of elite rulers from across the orthodox p. A peoples history of the united states is the most popular work of history an american leftist has ever written. It focuses particularly on the effects of government policy on the poor, women, and nonwhites throughout us history, documents labor movements and equality movements in more depth than one. Howard zinn and a real peoples history of the united states.
A peoples history of the united states, 1492present by howard zinn. A classic since its original landmark publication in 1980, howard zinns a peoples history of the united states is the first scholarly work to tell. Bad history, it turns out, transcends political divides. Peoples history united states by zinn, first edition. Books by howard zinn author of a peoples history of the. Howard zinns influential mutilations of american history in the new republic. Zinn wanted to write a peoples history because he believed that a national history serves only to justify the existence of the nation, which means, mainly, that it lies, and if it ever tells.
What are the main criticisms of howard zinns a peoples. A peoples history of american empire howard zinn, mike. Zinns history presents us history in a version that is like a print to a negative. Zinn portrays a side of american history that can largely be seen as the exploitation and manipulation of the. Howard zinns life and work are the stuff of legend. Howard zinn has 92 books on goodreads with 544189 ratings. Zinns marxistinflected account of american history provoked the most impassioned debate in the sites comments section, with some commenters dismissing it as absolutely atrocious agitprop and others praising it as a flawed but necessary corrective to the overly heroic stories that prevail in many classrooms.
That was zinns message, and it was an essential one. The book voices of a peoples history of the united states, compiled by zinn and arnove, rely on eye witness sources and provides significant evidence of much of zinns interpretation. Voices of a peoples history of the united states is the followup to that original landmark work, but where peoples history contained zinns interpretations of events, voices turns the platform over to others, in a collection of firsthand accounts, journal entries, speeches, personal letters, and published opinion pieces from the nations. A young peoples history of the united states chapter 1. Columbus and the indians howard zinn arawak men and women came out of their villages onto the beaches. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read a peoples history of the united states. His peoples history of the united states has sold over 2 million copies and has altered how we see and teach history. A peoples history of the united states by howard zinn goodreads. A peoples history of the united states by howard zinn. More than a successful book, a peoples history triggered a revolution in the way history is told, displacing the official versions with their emphasis on great men in. Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
A peoples history of the united states audiobook by. A peoples history of the united states ebook written by howard zinn. A peoples history of the united states, howard zinn. In fact, the book is perhaps best thought of as a massive rorschach test, with the authors familiar reaction to every major event in american history proving that his is a captive mind long closed by. They do learn quite a bit, however, about howard zinn. Zinn utters perhaps the most honest words of a peoples history of the united states in the conclusion of the book s 1995 edition, conceding that his work is a biased account. Which book do you prefer zinns a peoples history of.
Zinns book is filled with lies, omissions, distortions of evidence, logical fallacies, and. The first edition of the novel was published in 1980, and was written by howard zinn. Analysis of a peoples history of the united states by. A peoples history of the united states is also famously a rolodex of eminent names of activists, civil rights leaders and resisters who changed the american way. In a peoples history of the united states, zinn aims to write an account of american history from the perspective of persecuted, powerless, marginalized people, rather than the usual pantheon of heroes and elites. Howard zinns antiamerican textbook inspired antifa. A hero in word and deed, zinns views on freedom, fairness, history, democracy, and our own. I think schweikart does a more balanced and better researched job while zinn brings up a lot of ignored history that my high school history teachers covered in their lectures and recommended readings better than zinn does and before zinn wrote thi. Howard zinns antitextbook teachers and students love a peoples history of the united states. Howard zinns biggest failing michael kazin opinion. Howard zinn has offered us a perspective of the real story of american history heretofore unavailable to us history from the perspective of real people immigrant laborers, american women, the working poor, factory workers, african and native americans. Pdf a peoples history of the united states book by. If you want to read a real history book, read howard zinn. Yes, history is more than simply a story of the winners, more than simply the account of important people, more than the narrative of the wealthy and those who seek to be wealthy.
Im empathetic to hearing minority voices, but exclusively focusing on an anticapitalist and anticivilization view of history seems problematic, especially given the progress in the west, and the us specifically. Rick santorum, speech to the national rifle association, april 10, 2015 david greenberg, agitprof. A classic since its original landmark publication in 1980, howard zinns a peoples history of the united states is the first scholarly work to tell americas story from the bottom up from the point of view of, and in the words of, americas women, factory workers, africanamericans, native americans, the working poor, and immigrant laborers. A powerful and an engaging book that unearths the struggles of ordinary people against oppression. Howard zinns disappointing history of the united states.
A peoples history of the united states howard zinn. A peoples history of the united states summary supersummary. Put aside your textbooks and their tales of great men building the country from their positions of power, and take a look at america from the ground up. It spawned adaptations for young readers a twovolume adaptation by rebecca stefoff. United states, which was nominated for the american book award in. He begins by studying christopher columbus s conquest of the new world in 1492. Since its original landmark publication in 1980, a peoples history of the. Howard zinn s a people s history of the united states has been highly influential since its initial publication in 1980.
Zinns book a peoples history of the united states is criticized in dinesh dsouzas movie, america. Howard zinn s most popular book is a peoples history of the united states. A peoples history of the united states is a 1980 nonfiction book by american historian and political scientist howard zinn. Readers of a peoples history of the united states learn very little about history. Howard zinn 19222010 was a historian, playwright, and social activist. For instance, starting with chapter six, zinn illustrates the women who fought against inequality, listing names such as anne hutchinson, margaret fuller and sojourner truth. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 729 pages and is available in paperback format.
A young people s history of the united states and the people speak, a history channel documentary based on zinn s work. College boards rewrite of its advanced placement u. Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, a peoples history of the united states is the only volume to tell americas story from the point of view ofand in the words ofamericas women, factory workers, africanamericans, native americans, the working poor, and immigrant laborers. As a work of history, the book is too shallow and too pat to be very useful.
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