By any reasonable definition, zinns book does not deserve to have history in the title. Zinns book a peoples history of the united states is criticized in dinesh dsouzas movie, america. 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. Columbus and the indians howard zinn arawak men and women came out of their villages onto the beaches. That was zinns message, and it was an essential one. Zinn has no doubts about where he stands in this peoples history. Howard zinns antiamerican textbook inspired antifa. And i would agree its an accurate view of the united states in the same way a proctologists view of. 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.
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. Three decades later, this jaundiced view of american history is more accepted. 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. A peoples history of the united states is the most popular work of history an american leftist has ever written. What are the main criticisms of howard zinns a peoples. In this ambitious tome, zinn reexamined the traditional narratives of the american past, starting with. He begins by studying christopher columbus s conquest of the new world in 1492. America the awful howard zinns history history news. Since its original landmark publication in 1980, a peoples history of the. Zinns history presents us history in a version that is like a print to a negative.
A peoples history of american empire howard zinn, mike. But its as limitedand closedmindedas the textbooks it replaces. And again, zinn wanted to write how ordinary people were affected by historical events, not leaders. Howard zinn has 92 books on goodreads with 544189 ratings. Politifact is book by howard zinn the most popular. 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. Pdf a peoples history of the united states book by. Zinns book was first published in 1980 and is now estimated to have sold some 2. 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. 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 hero in word and deed, zinns views on freedom, fairness, history, democracy, and our own.
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. Analysis of a peoples history of the united states by. A powerful and an engaging book that unearths the struggles of ordinary people against oppression. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read a peoples history of the united states.
The first edition of the novel was published in 1980, and was written by howard zinn. Bad history, it turns out, transcends political divides. A young peoples history of the united states chapter 1. They do learn quite a bit, however, about howard zinn. Rick santorum, speech to the national rifle association, april 10, 2015 david greenberg, agitprof. A peoples history of the united states summary supersummary. 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 result was his 1980 magnum opus, a peoples history of the united states.
Howard zinn s a people s history of the united states has been highly influential since its initial publication in 1980. 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. Zinn portrays a side of american history that can largely be seen as the exploitation and manipulation of the. Howard zinns influential mutilations of american history in the new republic. 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. A peoples history of the united states audiobook by. A peoples history of the united states zinn, howard. Books by howard zinn author of a peoples history of the.
Find all the books, read about the author, and more. 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. Peoples history united states by zinn, first edition. 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. A peoples history of the united states by howard zinn goodreads. Zinns book is filled with lies, omissions, distortions of evidence, logical fallacies, and. In fact, years ago, we would offer people twenty dollars if they read the book and didnt think it was completely worth their time. Howard zinns disappointing history of the united states. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 729 pages and is available in paperback format.
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. 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. Howard zinns life and work are the stuff of legend. 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. A peoples history of the united states, 1492present by howard zinn. Howard zinn 19222010 was a historian, playwright, and social activist. As a work of history, the book is too shallow and too pat to be very useful. Which book do you prefer zinns a peoples history of. A peoples history of the united states howard zinn. In addition to a peoples history of the united states, which has sold more than two million copies, he is the author of numerous books including the people speak, passionate declarations, and the autobiography, you cant be neutral on a moving train.
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. A young people s history of the united states and the people speak, a history channel documentary based on zinn s work. 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. 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 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. 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. Imagine the world without her, released july 3, 2014. In the book, zinn presented what he considered to be a different side of history from the more traditional fundamental nationalist glorification of country. A peoples history of the united states is a 1980 nonfiction book by american historian and political scientist howard zinn. 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. A peoples history of the united states, howard zinn. For more than thirty years, zinns scholarly but accessible work of grassroots history has been shaking up classrooms and changing perspectives. If you want to read a real history book, read howard zinn.
Howard zinn and a real peoples history of the united states. 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. 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. A peoples history of the united states by howard zinn. 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. Zinns influential history textbook has problems, says. Howard zinns antitextbook teachers and students love a peoples history of the united states. Readers of a peoples history of the united states learn very little about history. Free download or read online a peoples history of the united states pdf epub book.
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. A peoples history of the united states ebook written by howard zinn. It spawned adaptations for young readers a twovolume adaptation by rebecca stefoff. United states, which was nominated for the american book award in. Howard zinn s most popular book is a peoples history of the united states. A peoples history of the united states paperback november 17, 2015. Zinn intended it as history from the bottomup the constitution from the standpoint of the slaves, of andrew jackson as seen by the cherokees, of the civil war as seen by the new york.
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