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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. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Arawak men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the island's beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big boat. Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just a thought,
By A Customer
This review is from: Peoples Hist Of The U.s. (Paperback)
I have a few things to say to those who are quick to attack Zinn for this book being biased. well OBVIOUSLY! Didn't you read the book? He admits openly that the book is biased. It is a reaction to the biased history books that are shoved down our throats in school. Except this time, we get to read a biased book coming from the other perspective, therefore by reading both biases, one can decide for themselves which side they feel prevails over the other, or whether they are completely in the middle. Also, in regards to those who were complaining that Zinn targets the US and doesn't mention the pitfalls of the USSR and China- read the title again- A People's History of the UNITED STATES. What did you really expect? It's really quite offensive and narrow-minded to throw out words like "liberal" with such scorn and state that those who like the book are Communist/socialist/extremists. Some of us who are true scholars are just in pursuit of the truth, which cannot be achieved by putting history in a box and sticking with what you are comfortable with. Some of us are not afraid to admit that we found insight and intrigue in something that ::gasp:: goes against the conservative, blind patriotism and sugar coating of too many people the the United States. I really recommend that people read this with an open mind. By ignoring the past, we are quickly moving toward a society with very dangerous ideals. Using the Bible to justify slavery was wrong, but using it to discriminate against homosexuals is ok? By examining the past, perhaps we can do something about the future, before it's too late and we make the same mistakes again.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
No middle ground with this book....,
By A Customer
This review is from: A People's History Of The United States: 1492-Present (Hardcover)
This is an excellent book when looking for the truth about America and it's history. There are many out there that claim that this book is a lot of nonesense. They do not want to look at reality. This country was founded on blood, sweat and tears of amazing men and women. Men and Women who wanted to see their dreams live on, who wanted to be free from the tyranical rule of England. What they dreamed of, is not the reality of America. Our government is all about greed, arrogance and getting more. It does not care who it has to step on to get it. Not even it's own people. This book takes care to note that the America we were striving for did not come to fruition. Jefferson, Adams, Washington all said when it comes to foreign policy stay out of it. We get right in the middle of it. We start wars with countries that just want us to leave them alone. We take money from our poor and give it to our rich. We let people become homeless and sick so that our American Corporations can make another buck by outsourcing our jobs. We do not take care of our old, our sick, and our poor. We think about me, me, me. How can I get more? How can I get better? Not how can I help out! We ALL as a country need to come together and fix the wrongs that have been made. We need to say "No more!" No more to big business, No more to outsourcing, No more to cheap, expendable merchandize, No more to leaving our people in the street to starve and die! NO MORE! If you think that this great country is great, you need to look again. Look at how a new world order is in the making. Look at how we're losing our middle class. Look at how we're losing our freedoms, our privacy, and our right to choose. The direction we're moving in is not the one that I want to go in, and I know if our founding fathers were alive to see this they'd be taking the next boat out to parts unknown. We need to take responsibility for what we have done, what we continue to do, and what we need to do. We need to apologize for stealing this land. We need to apology for having Mrs. Smith's only son Johnny killed in a War we had no business being in. We need to apologize to the middle easterners and get the hell out of their (see that? THEIR) country. We need to stop spending money on surveys and studies on things no one cares about and start spending more money on Education, Medical Costs, Prescriptions, Creating Jobs for our Citizens. We need to pay attention to America and it's people. Zinn points this out every step of the way in his book. THIS IS A MUST READ! This is for the man from the Soviet Union - true Communism is not what you had in the Soviet Union. To say that Marx's doctrin did not pan out in the USSR would be like saying that you used Apples in a Cherry Pie and couldn't understand why it wasn't a Cherry Pie. The USSR called it Communism but it wasn't. It was more of a Dictatorship with some Capitalism thrown in (Yes, I did say Capitalism - if you don't believe me go read some more history).
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Truth Hurts,
This review is from: A People's History Of The United States (Paperback)
An absolutely jaw dropping account of our history. Rather than including blacks, natives, women, immigrants, workers and the poor's history in this book, I would say that Zinn basically excludes rich white men's history. The difference is beyond dumbfounding, its terrifying.Indeed, this book is as scary in its implications as it is in its accounts of history. When 95% of books, television, and music come from exactly the people Zinn omits from this book, the phrase that comes to mind is "propaganda is to democracy - what violence is to totalitarianism." A great book exposing the bias, propaganda, racism, oppression and murdurous nature inherent in our system. Read.
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