A People's History of the United States : 1492-Present

Rating:
Summary: Credible & Balanced History
Review: Histories of any kind are usually written by the winners, designed for the winners' children and allies -- resulting in descriptions no more truthfully balanced than accounts of public elections written by those elected. In all social processes, some people gain far more than others; these others gain relatively little or lose, sometimes massively. Histories should be balanced process descriptions, not public-relations press releases.

A People's History of the United States masterfully describes processes and impact on those whose experiences usually remain untold in the winners' PR reports that normally pass as histories. From Columbus and Cortez through Custer to Clinton, this book is a credible history of the huge mass of reality that has until now usually been hidden, denied, lied about or ignored.

This is certainly my favorite US history presentation, a much-needed counterbalance to the typical distorted fare served up to us Americans from grade schools to universities (and I taught for years in American universities).

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Propaganda
Review: Zinn's book, as I'm sure you've figured out by reading anything about it, is American history from a very leftist point of view. Zinn is an outright socialist, and does very little, if anything, to disguise the fact. However, this book is reasonably well researched, and is worth a quick read if you're into anecdotal evidence of massive oppression amid obvious prosperity.

Zinn is not lying to you, he's just trying to mislead you. For example, in his chapter on the Vietnam War, Zinn describes the US atrocity at My Lai (how could he pass that up?). The things he says about My Lai are all true. However, he then goes on to assert that the My Lai massacre was "unique only in its details". In reality, there is zero credible evidence to suggest that there were other large-scale incidents of that sort during the war. There are many well documented cases of US personnel raping and murdering Vietnamese civilians, but on the individual level, nothing that even approaches the several hundred systematically murdered by a US infantry company at My Lai. Before you say something like "murder is murder", understand why I make this very important distinction. This sort of factually based generalization is indicative of Zinn's persuasive tactics. He takes a horrible event, and does what he can to make the reader believe it was the norm. More importantly, as is illustrated by the My Lai example, Zinn is not interested in telling you about the individual acts of soldiers (unless it suits the socialist point he wants to make). He is only concerned with events that serve as evidence of the evil of the US government. Beware of this.

Some of the chapters in Zinn's book are considerably better than others. For example, his opening salvo against Columbus is very interesting, but his weak attempt to demonize American efforts during WWII make him seem downright silly. He supports most of his heavily biased assertions with anecdotes, and presents his version of history without the slightest regard for anything but a neo-Marxist conception of historical causality. Zinn presents the few positive things about American history that he chooses to mention as some sort of devious attempt by the 'ruling class' to sustain their quasi-hypnotic hold over the American people. He writes as though the leaders of this nation have been in nearly constant fear throughout history of some sort of rebellion by the suddenly enlightened masses. If you've ever read anything Karl Marx wrote, this should sound familiar.

To be fair, much of this book is very interesting, and I'm not saying that he's making anything up. The issue with this book is not mendacity. Zinn has written a wonderfully crafted piece of Marxist propaganda. If you were ignorant, this book might be able to convince you of a variety of leftist, utopian absurdities. Thankfully, you're not ignorant. Do read this book. Just don't let his passionate appeals to 'social justice' delude you into forgetting his complete lack of objectivity, or his not so subtle ulterior motive. If you have any trouble while reading Zinn's book, just slap yourself, and remember the tens of millions of people who were butchered by various leftist governments last century. Remember, under someone like Pol Pot, everyone is equal.

Rating:
Summary: A History Untold
Review: Zinn has a storied history himself as a social activist, making "A People's History of the United States (APHOTUS)" hardly the objective review of history in this country. Still, Zinn also never pretends to provide objectivity; rather, he is seeking to tell American history from the perspective of those who never (or have yet) to gain real power.

The book begins with Europe's first arrival and ends with the Clinton presidency, with a thorough review of some of the country's most challenging uprisings and disruptions from the lower-income classes. APHOTUS also covers many of the disgraceful acts of elite deviance from America's wealthy.

As a survey of events that you will not find covered in most accounts of US history, this book is truly essential reading. The book also provides the historical context so missing for today's activists. However, as a "people's" history, Zinn does not provide an appropriate context. Just like the text book history readings partial to the wealthy, APHOTUS does not give the reader enough general information about the majority of the people: those who either from apathy or lack of time have played a very minimal role in politics.

We now know that the wealthy have furthered their own interests by any means necessary. And we now know that opposition to that wealthy cohort has been persistent throughout history. What we now need is an analysis of the majority of the population in America's history. Those who, for a variety of reasons, did little more than accept the rules as they were at any given time and then did the best they could with them. Those who were not wealthy and were not members of the socialist party. Those who never ran for president on winning or losing ballots. We need an analysis of US history that tells us about the Americans who thought it enough to get out of bed each morning.

Rating:
Summary: Radical Patriotism
Review: With the publication of the first edition of this book back in the eighties, Zinn single-handedly initiated a Copernican revolution in historicism. Instead of writing a history of states and their stately heroes, Zinn provides a "bottom-up" view of history, where ordinary people and their actions become the focal point. As it turns out, ordinary people are much more interesting than Napoleon ever was.

In this book, you will see the conquistadors for what they really were - a bunch of gold-hungry, genocidal madmen conducting their plunder in the name of the Lord Almighty, and at the expense of anything and anyone in their way (Parental discretion is advised);

You will see what slavery and slave revolts were like from the perspective of slaves and those who participated in them (although perhaps it is simply impossible to convey the genuine experience of slavery);

You will discover how poor white laborers of the north were little better off than black slaves in the south - and therefore both had an equal interest in throwing off their capitalist slave masters;

You will witness the swindle and extermination of the great Indian Nations, despite continuous efforts at civilized diplomacy and treaty making;

You will understand WWI and WWII from the eyes of protesters, dissenters, bereaved mother, draft-dodgers and the young, drugged-up boys who died meaninglessly year after year in the vein hope of pushing a line forward another inch;

You will learn about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the fire bombings of Tokyo and Dresden, from the perspective of those who were incinerated;

You will understand how American foreign policy has willfully and consistently devastated and exploited the so-called Third World through corporate and military imperialist practices;

You will discover how the AFL, CIO, IWW and the American Communist party were serving the workers of America - and, conversely, how the House of Un-American Activities, the FBI, and their Republican caucus were working against them;

You will get a feel for how 3 million people of a former French colony, Vietnam, were bombed, gasoline-jellied, bombarded with grenades, machine-gunned and massacred (and for what?);

You will gain a new understanding and appreciation of the Civil Rights movement - a movement Zinn was part of - and its FBI suppression;

You will see the Power movements of the 60s, the Identity movements of the 70s and 80s, the Environmental movement of the 90s, and the primary conditions that sparked them all;

Finally, you will see how Republicans and Democrats are essentially the same, in that they both fund the war machine, deregulate industries for the sake of private profiteering, build prisons instead of schools, fail to protect the rights of workers, contribute to environmental degradation, and are corrupt to the hilt in scandals and political fraud.

If Hegel turned history into spirit unfolding, Zinn has made history the unfolding of an egalitarian ethos; where protesters, sit-down strikers, draft-dodgers, slaves, and revolutionaries of all stripes and creeds are the progressive heroes that demand good historical standing alongside traditional heroes like Jefferson and Lincoln.

For those of you who are interested in learning from the failures and success stories of those who fought for freedom and equality - America's two most-cherished values - this is your book. Zinn stands history on its head, leading us through the struggle as it evolved.

For those of you who are not down with freedom loving, democratic-minded radicals and the egalitarian ethos they strive for, this is not your book. It will only make you want to contribute more money to an already over-budgeted police state, in fear of the "coming revolt of the guards" - Zinn's closing reveille.

Despite its flaws, there is no single-volume history that provides this perspective. Many have decried Zinn's "unpardonable" lack of citations, but any good historian knows that Zinn is not using hitherto unknown sources. Bartoleme De Las Casa's reports are well-documented, Gar Alperovitz's study of the atomic bomb (The Decision to Use the Bomb) is much more controversial, and as with every other historical epoch Zinn covers. There is no new material here. Zinn simply furnishes the unmentionables other historians usually cover up or downplay - out of shame, out of disbelief, out of cognitive dissonance, who knows?

All told, Zinn provides with a picture of a beautiful tradition unfolding - a patriotic tradition. This is the antiwar and egalitarian tradition of activism and dissent. If this struggle sounds appealing, you will most probably want to read everything Zinn has written, and thereby join in the unfolding of this tradition. That is how Zinn affected me, and that is what makes this book dangerous to those who emphasize the old way of doing history - the way separates history from politics.

A post September 11 note: This book does not give exhaustive coverage of America's involvement in the Middle East. However, after reading what Zinn has to say about American foreign policy in other areas of the world, you can make an educated guess as to how America comports itself in relation to a group of fragile, militarily-weak countries that harbor massive amounts of crude oil and natural gas. In any event, his new post-9-11 book, "Terrorism and War," deals with this issue in specific. I have yet to read the book, but you rest assured that a review is pending.

Rating:
Summary: A different view of American history
Review: Whether or not you choose to view American history from the perspective of the author, if you call yourself an American it is crucial that you read this book. Whether or not you agree it is very important to see how many people view our history. But perhaps, Zinn will leave you convinced, with an entirely different view of our country.

Rating:
Summary: revisionist history
Review: Here's the problem, as I see it: People like Zinn come from a long tradition of elitist academia. I went to college, so I am well aware of the sort of fashionably anti-American culture that thrives there. A university is an isolated environment. The students don't work for a living, and the profs are on the gravy train (my dad is a prof, and he will admit to that readily). Couple this lax atmosphere with the general belief that all those involved are of a higher mental capacity than the rest of society, and you end up with elitism. Simple as that.

What scares me about all this, though, is the way in which it gains momentum. As a general rule, it is the "educated" among us that go on to positions of influence. These distorted academic environments are where our reporters and teachers come from.

What bugs me most about this book are the base generalizations that Zinn makes throughout. He would have us believe, for instance, that all of Spain in the 1400's was a decadent wasteland, and that the "Indians" they exploited were wholly noble and pure. Rubbish. Generalization is the enemy of logic and truth. I can think of no better tool for pushing propaganda, as a matter of fact.

Throughout the book, Zinn repeatedly cites source after source, in such brief bits and pieces that the original context is questionable. (not to mention the source itself) The only constant is a headache-inducing agenda to make the US look as bad as possible. Can I be the only one who loses patience? Page after page of excessivly wordy diatribe. There are times where I simply can't make sense of what he is trying to say. For instance, can any of you out there translate the following for me, please?

"The historian has been trained in a society in which education and knowledge are put forth as technical problems of excellence and not as tools for contending social classes, races, nations."

What?! I have read that sentence over and over and over, and still cannot get a clear understanding of what the meaning is. Whatever it is, I suspect that it could be presented in a simpler fashion. The book is polluted with such garbled language, which I suspect that many of Zinn's fans automatically interpret as "deep" and "complex". What amazes me is how quick people are to align themselves with every single word of it, as if any negative notion regarding our western society is automatically "the truth".

The whole thing reminds me very much of a hypercritical teenager, questioning and attacking his parents' every move. Not because his parents are bad people, but because the teenager simply doesn't know anything more of the world. Grow up, people. Just because a thick book is written using a slew of hundred-dollar words, doesn't make it fact.

In the bible, we have the concept of original sin. The basic principle is that each and every one of us is, at our core, fundamentally selfish. I'm not a Christian, and I think I can safely assume that an "educated" liberal like Zinn isn't, either... but with this book, he is basically presenting us with the secular equivalent thereof. Simply by virtue of being American, he seems to say, we are inherently cruel. How very interesting, coming from a guy who esteems himself such a friend of "the people".

I give the book 3 stars because despite all it's crimes, it still provides an interesting (and even essential) read. Unfortunately, history has been put on the back shelf in this country. We are expected to learn a handful of charming parables, and call it good. Yet, for as little use I have with traditional American folklore, I have even less patience for those who insist ours is an evil empire. The simple fact is that the exact opposite is true. At the core of our society is a fundamental respect for basic human freedoms. Apparantly, that's a rather novel concept given the history of the world at large (Communism, Nazism, Apartheid... oh my!). We'd better serve the global community by focusing on the real demons instead of spinning around in circles are attacking our own selves.

Rating:
Summary: a good sophomore/junior high school text
Review: easy to read very informative. a little weak on the "people's history/view" but one of the the best history text i've read

Rating:
Summary: Such significant words...
Review: This is one of the greatest books that I have read. Words can not express how great I think this book is. THIS IS THE TRUE STORY OF UNITED STATES HISTORY. Being the leftist that I am, it also was a great, inspiring, motivating piece of literature.

Rating:
Summary: Read this Book
Review: This book, like much of what Zinn has to say, is fantastic. He has compiled a history book that is essential for anyone who ever had a history course from the typical perspective or not.
His work is thoughtful, well written and easy to read, and can offer insight to minds of all intellecutal backgrounds. Read this Book. JAK

Rating:
Summary: Great for general readers
Review: I found this book to be an excellent read, informative but most of all challenging to me as both an American and a human being. The lack of footnotes is disappointing from a scholarly standpoint (flatly unforgivable if Zinn had an audience of professional historians in mind as his primary target), and does make it harder to evaluate Zinn's arguments with the thoroughness a fellow historian would want.

However, I have encountered no "lies" in the course of reading the text, and I don't think it's the specific facts Zinn cites that makes this work so controversial. Many of them are familiar, and the new material tends to build on the better known information without radicalling contradicting it. It's Zinn's interpretation of those facts that makes this book such an object of hatred or adulation. I found his explicit vision of American history - basically, that political and economic life are generally conducted with the self-interest of the ruling classes foremost in mind - to be plausible and even to be implicit in most other histories which I have read of the United States or of any time period.

In every general history I have read, the focus on the most visible groups - the wealthy and the politically powerful - has begged the question, "but what was life like for everyone else", for the great majority of people who are not distinguished by political position (however acquired) or wealth. Zinn makes a sincere effort to answer this question, and I think that his attempt deserves a well-considered rebuttal from those who disagree with him.