Rating: 
Summary: Makes a great gift...
Review: ...if you've got a friend who just graduated from a Lahore madrassa, is headed for dinner at the de Villepins, or is a member of the unwitting domestic al Qaeda. Extra star because, hey, the man CAN write.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, but NOT history
Review: While this book is well-written and is no doubt well-researched, it suffers from a single, fatal flaw: It isn't factual. The perspective is so extreme that readers are getting not history, but sheer fantasy. While one anticipates a certain bias toward the author's perspective in any writing of history, there is a real danger in a presentation such as Zinn's. In particular, there should be a concern that some readers will be brought to believe that Zinn's history is a true, unbiased account. Over time, such revisionism, if generally accepted as truth, could serve to corrupt actual, less-biased accounts. The book may, however, serve a purpose. Those who want to visualize an America at its imagined worst may find value in Zinn's book. After reading the book I have no doubt that many, most, or even ALL of the events depicted have, as their seeds, grains of truth. However, the picture painted by Zinn would lead us to conclude that America, in its zeal to succeed, crushed every conceivable minority along the way.
Rating:
Summary: Zinn, self-hating white male liberal and liar
Review: As I have studied my own family history, which just happens to date back to the beginning of this country, and as I have personal notes, diaries, letters and other historical documents written by my very own ancestors directly contradicting the lies Zinn would like all white and particularly white male Americans to believe, I tend to view him as a rather childish "me too" liberal trying to be politically correct.America was a fight to be free, as we are to the extent that liberals have not managed to limit our speech and even thoughts (through "Hate Crime" laws, which have of course backfired and ended up imprisoning minorities far more often than white males). I also have Native American ancestors, but am I naive about them wandering into an empty land and settling peacefully? No. The killed the people who were here before them, and they killed and tortured each other continually. The spread of smallpox was not caused by passing out infected blankets. This is not necessary. Simple contact with a sick person will spread this highly infectious disease. The Native American tribes hated each other, and fought beside European colonists for money or rum. I'm not saying my ancestors were saints, but they were just like every other human being on the planet. They wanted to live and prosper. They conquered the few native people on this continent who stood in their way and refused to assimilate. It is no different than every other culture in the world. I agree that it shouldn't be whitewashed, but to somehow portray white males as "extra evil" is absurd. Even a moments reflection would enlighten one to the fact that men and women of all races behave the same way after they concentrate power: with cruelty, arrogance, and subjugation. Be it to the everlasting credit of the founding fathers of this nation that they realized this basic instinct of humanity, and made a system of check and balances to hopefully allow a moment of freedom, like the freedom Zinn had to write his pathogical lies.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing
Review: This book is awesome, its so clear, im only 16 and i udnerstood every word of it, and it explains history from a different point of view than usually given. Everyone should read this book, you wont regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: Adjunct Textbook for U.S. History
Review: This book was required reading for the U.S. History class that I took in the 11th grade. Yes, it was a bit heady for the average teenager, but my entire class found it a useful addition to the the regular textbook, and we all really enjoyed having our eyes opened to "the rest of the story". Most history is presented from the perspective of the white male, simply because it is he who dominated society for the majority of our country's existence. I highly recommend this book as a means to round out one's understanding of the American Story. It has been more than a decade since I read this book; it merits a second reading soon!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: He is a brillant historian and activist. His well-researched writings continually cause me to burst out into tears. But I guess the truth can do that to you. All schools should have this book in their curriculum. There is actually a later addition now that includes the current state of affairs. For anyone in NYC, he will be speaking tomorrow, Sunday the 23rd at the 92nd St Y, on Lexington.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, if you have a strong stomach
Review: It's notable that many people (1 in 10?) seem to have a predictable response to this book. Given the reviews they left I'm rather dissapointed that Amazon[.com] leave them on. Not that I advocate censorship of opinions but it's rather unproductive for people thinking of urchasing this book. And it is an excellent book.
It will challenge the readers assumptions and simply tell the story of America from another perspective. It's not written denigrate America or to assassinate characters or even to imply that there were no heroic Americans. There have always been American heroes but I think we've been worshipping the wrong ones. Malcom X and Kovic are as great as Morgan and Lincon. The poor, working classes have always been treated as expendable commodities in all systems. Medieval Europe, 20th century Russia and 21st century America all have this in common.
To quote Langston Hughes' "Harlem: A Dream Deferred" What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun
Or fester like a sore- And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over- Like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load. Or does it explode? Wonderful
Rating:
Summary: A perspective that explains the present
Review: Zinn writes that, from the point of view of our rulers, although never stated openly, "the purpose of the State [is] to settle upper-class disputes peacefully, control lower-class rebellion, and adopt policies that...further the long-range stability of the system." From this thesis, and backed by thousands of facts, the author systematically dismantles the "great man" theory of history, reimagining our past as a struggle by millions of underdogs, often at great personal risk and expense, to force our nation to live up to its widely publicized founding phrase "we the people." The book is brilliant as an analytical tool in the present. When viewed from Zinn's "people's" perspective, the behavior of the current State executive (a man with obviously imperial ambitions, lacking all subtlety, knowing it is not needed) makes perfect sense. In fact, the "people's" perspective is the only point of view I'm aware of in which Bush Inc.'s behavior does make sense. The coming war in Iraq, inevitable since first proposed in early 2002, is a naked grab for natural resources. Cloaking it in human rights, disarmament, etc. does not change this -- a fact not lost on the millions of people now marching against the war in the cities of the world. And Zinn points out that today, all wars are fought against children, for it is the children who suffer the most. Bush and his friends in the oil producing industry will gain access to the world's second largest oil reserves, and thousands of children will die of injuries, starvation, and disease.
Rating:
Summary: White guys are all bad
Review: If you want to read embellished prose about the failure and demonic innate character of everyone that is white and male, then this is the book for you. But, just thumb through it. From Columbus to Lincoln to Reagan, all white men are bad. And, white republican men are really bad (despite their introduction of suffrage, elimination of slavery, and overwhelming support for civil rights laws). Just as you need not drink but a gulp of the ocean to know what it tastes like, Zinn's book can be fully comprehended in five pages or less. Just apply the Columbus story to every other major event and every other prominent white male in American history and you have read the book.
Rating:
Summary: Should be required reading for every American.
Review: Many of the negative reviews of this book on Amazon are completely unrelated to the text itself. A few of those who gave this book a low rating had very asinine reasons for doing so. Some of these moot points ranged from ideological differences to the book containing too many citations. I am sure some readers may find Zinn's view too far to the left for their liking. However, that should not factor in to their evaulation of the validity of this work, and certainly, Zinn should be praised for the incredible amount of evidence he provides to support his telling of history. Now that this is out of the way on to my review. Is Howard Zinn bias? Absolutely, and he makes that clear up front. Just as he so often says, "you can't afford to be neutral on a moving train." Does his bias change the fact that this is probably the most important telling of American History ever? Absolutlely not, in fact I think it increases it's value as Zinn makes no attempt to hide his bias as so many do. Zinn makes use of an overwhelming amount of evidence and historical facts to support his telling of history, and he continually makes use of quotes right from the horse's mouth whenever possible. This book is a comprehensive retelling of history from the prospective of the oppressed rather than the oppressors. Zinn fleshes out the events that are so often either left out or only touched upon by contemporary history texts. Zinn covers a whole period of internal strife in America that is never even alluded to in most history texts. The Native American genocide, the early labor movement, American expansionism, and imperialist ideology are no longer afterthoughts and footnotes to history. The great American story is sacrificed for the facts as they happened. This book provides an analysis that doesn't romanticize America's history but rather tells it like it was.
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