Rating: 
Summary: One of my favorite books
Review: Dr. Zinn starts off with Colombus's first encounter with the Americas. That is to say, with the Arawak indians, whom, Colombus wrote in his diary were very naive and friendly and offered him many gifts. After these observations, Colombus wrote that they would make fine servants and that with fifty men "we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we wan't." Zinn quotes De La Casas's description of the enslavement and genocide of the Carribean Indians. He notes that the great historian Samuel E. Morrison used the word "genocide" to describe Colombus's policies back in his celebrated book on Colombus in 1954. However this is lost in the middle of a book slobbering over Colombus as a courageous sailor and one driven by a devotion to god. He notes that African societies also had slaves. But their systems were like European serfdom. Slaves could marry into their masters family, own property, testify in court. All in societies more egalitarian and with women considerably more empowered than in European societies. In contrast to the race-based chattel slavery peculiar to the Americas. Zinn's overriding point in this book is that class warfare is as During the revolutionary war there was continuing riots of the poor over the profiteering of merchants and the impressment of poor people into the army (the rich could get out by paying a few hundred dollars for a substitute). The constitution was written by the wealthy minority of the country, he points out, who devised a very strong central government. He quotes James Madison explaining in Federalist paper #10 that the constitution aimed to eliminate factional strife and he listed the principle causes of such strife: demands for redistribution of land held by the wealthy elite, the issuing of paper money to pay off debts and any other "improper and wicked object." He writes about Andrew Jackson from the point of view of the southern Indians whom he helped drive off by encouraging terror against them and a lust for new land by speculators. He notes the case of Samuel Worcester and his missionary colleagues who were sentenced to hard labor by the state of Georgia for supporting the rights of the Cherokees, with Jackson refusing to enforce the ruling of the Supreme court saying that the arrest of Worcester & co. violated the Indian treaties. This in contrast to Jackson's attacks on South Carolina for refusing to accept a federal tarrif, an episode that so engrosses modern historians. He writes interestingly that the populist movement was a complex movement. A multi-racial political machine actually elected blacks and whites locally in East Texas in the 1890's before being destroyed by white supremacist terror. Texas and Arkansas and Georgia populists actually tried to be multi-racial; for instance the 1896 Georgia populist party platform condemned lynching even while populists in the Georgia legislature were passing waves of anti-black legislation. He gives an interesting statistic about the Spanish-American war. Only about 380 of 5,000 plus deaths of American soldiers during the war died in combat. The rest were subjected to bad living conditions, having to use food and other resources of bad quality sold by contractors to the government at hugely inflated prices. He notes government reports about food poisoning in soldier's food. Far from the first time he shows. He gives the example of J.P. Morgan during the Civil War making a fortune selling defective guns at inflated prices that he gotten from the army back to the army, and resulted in many soldiers getting maimed. He quotes the reports of soldiers, journalists and others from that war of the mass atrocities, mass tortures and the extreme racism of that war fought to "civilize" the filipinos. He notes that labor was initially uneasy about the war before it began. He quotes an International Machinists union journal writer who pointed out that at about the time the U.S.S. Maine was mysteriously blown up and much anguish in the American media followed, massacres of American workers like the 18 protesting miners who were gunned down in Pennslyvania after refusing to disperse for police, elicited no noticeable outrage. The "progress" made by Industrialization he points was not shared with the majority of Americans. He notes that while many immigrants came to America during this period, many of them would leave. Agitation during the "progressive" era compelled tiny reforms and tokenism by the white supremacist Theodore Roosevelt. Socialists picked up as much of a third of the votes in places like Chicago and New York in 1917. The IWW was at the height of its influence. He quotes the Committee on Industrial relations that 35,000 people were killed and 700,000 injured at work in 1914 alone. In the 1920's during the "Jazz age" there were about 25,000 workers killed and 100,000 permanently disabled annualy, he writes. He notes that in this great period, supposedly stimulated by 1923 tax cuts for the rich, 42 percent of families made less than a 1,000 dollars a year. 1/10 of one percent of the top one percent of families owned as much wealth as the bottom 42 percent. He quotes letters of people to congressman Fiorello Laguardia of people expressing the anguish of barely surviving from day to day. The New Deal, he writes, was designed only to stabilize the capitalist system. Roosevelt was against the Wagner bill granting basic rights to workers until the strikes in Minneapolis and San Francisco in late 1934 made passing the bill necessary for stability. He points out that 9 million people were still unemployed in 1938. There were 4 million unemployed at the end of the last economic slump back in 1921.
Rating: 
Summary: Communist Indoctrination
Review: If you're a red-diaper baby who hates America, Mr. Zinn's book is right up your alley. Truly an idiotarian manifesto.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Book, Too many quotes
Review: This is a good book for obtaining a general understanding of U.S. history. It exposes many issues that were not covered in my history classes. However, I think the author relied on quotes too much, which made it difficult to read at times.
Rating: 
Summary: So, what history *isn't* biased?
Review: Let's get a few things straight before you get into the book, get angry, and write an angry review.
1. Zinn is a wild, out-of-control liberal with strong socialist tendencies.
2. The exerpts of history within this book are not flattering to America.
3. The stories, and their interpretation, may make you very angry. .....but.....the most important thing this book will teach you is how important it is to question the history you have always been taught. History is not just a retelling of facts - it is an active choice by the historian of which facts are important. Zinn purposely commits the sin of omission in telling this history of America - but he's honest about that. ALL historians, even if not by intent, make a statement through the stories they choose to tell. A worthwhile investment of time to anyone who is interested in how our history is chosen and told, but only those with an open mind about the overall concepts of historiography.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent! A must read for anyone interested in the truth.
Review: It's interesting how self interest clouds the judgment. I'm not talking about Howard Zinn, but rather, several of the reviewers here. This is an historically accurate book that leans not to the left, but to the truth. It is clear, concise, and well written. Read the reviews that are critical of Mr. Zinn's book carefully, and you'll find that their arguments are not that the facts are wrong, but that the attitude is wrong. When it comes to history, it's the facts that count. Something which most of our politicians and "patriots" seem unable to grasp. This is a great book that should be read by every American. Closing our eyes to the past will only cause us to blunder into the future. This book will open your eyes.
Rating:
Summary: Should carry a warning label
Review: A People's History is an intriguing read. I'm a conservative white male, and disagree with most of Zinn's points and find factually errors in a number of areas. But this book is invaluable in providing a new perspective for someone with my admittedly limited view of the world. I agree with another reviewer that for the educated, whether liberal or conservative, this is a very valuable outlook on American history. It's not often I find myself outraged by a book, and the next chapter somewhat introspective as to how my views are understood by minorities such as Native Americans, blacks, and women. But if you are looking to start an investigation of American history and our political past, either skip this till you've read more or be sure you've got other quality books on your list that provide a more mainstream view. Every book should be read with an eye on the agenda of the author, and this is just another example of such a work.
Rating:
Summary: Read only as a supplement to other works!
Review: This book tells of many events in the history of this country that we would all like to forget. The hypocrisy of our government and its citizens is undeniable. The stories in this book should be read, but should not be the only source of history. For all our faults, we still live in the most tolerant and free county on the planet. We need to read and learn from our mistakes, but not dwell on them.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: This book is great, I'm just starting out into like, politics and stuff, and this bookw as a good introduction. The reason its one sided, if youd read the last chapter, is because the other side has already been told, as a student i know, ive learned it for the last 11 years, finally i can hear something new though, in a clear way that almost anyone can understand. Very Good. Also Look at "Lies my Teachers Told me" by James Lowen
Rating: 
Summary: Well Written, Easy to Read, Lots of Facts, and Yet Wrong
Review: I give this book at least two stars because it is very well written, it held my attention, and probably most of what is stated is indeed true. However, this book is also most disturbing. Why in the world are there Americans out there who are always wanting to blame America? We are still the land of the feee and the home of the brave. How very many have died for our freedons? I've been to Arlington National cemetary and I've seen the graves there. Not only have there been those who have fought and died for our great country,there have been those in our wars who have suffered through POW camps for years and years. There have been the families of those in POW camps. There have been those who have been MIA's in wars and the families of MIA's. There are those who are still in hospitals suffering because of the battlefield. Many of there battles now are both physical and psychological. Sit down and listen to the family members of those who are away at war and they'll tell you that that their spouces went to war because they valued freedom. The spouces at home are suffering because of the separation and so are their spouces who are at war. Yet both spouces love freedom and our country so very much that, no matter the cost, they choose to defend freedom. My fear is that the reading of this book, while a lot might very well be true, will cause many to either start despising our wonderful country or cause others, who already despise it, to despise it even more. Remember, people have suffered and died for our country. Let's not forget them. Let's love our country.
Rating:
Summary: what you don't read in a school textbook
Review: Despite its 650 pages the book is easy to read and well written. However, few pages can be eliminated giving to the reading a better rithm. The title says what this book is about: The history of the weaks, whether or not they eventually emancipate themselves. Definetively it's a book that I would recommend to read, but not before a comprehensive US history book. In fact, the author explicitly focuses on a part of US history. However, I gave a four stars because the last chapters (from 18 on, that is, from Vietnam on) are too rushy and overlook some facts that would strenghten the author's point. In fact, the author has a view that is not hidden since page 1. All in all, the merit of this book is that collects in one book material scattered over too many sources. The defect is in what he has left out: the winners' reasons. But they are well known anyway.
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