Rating: 
Summary: Dangerous vaccine
Review: It's undeniable that this is a critically important book. It sheds light on many episodes in American history that were too long swept under the rug. For that alone, it is an essential complement to any reading of US history. It is merely a companion, however, since it is useless on its own. The lack of footnotes is unpardonable. No footnotes, no credibility. What disturbs me most about this book is its relentless attempt to manufacture a conspiracy amongst the eilte of every historical period. Surely there is more to know about how the US government really runs, and Zinn does much to enlighten us. However, to accuse so many people of acting in bad faith, to strip virtually everyone in government of all but their worst qualities is beyond unfair, it is dangerous. For those inclinded to conspiracy theories, this book is manna. For those inclined to skepticism, this book is fascinating. The frightening thing is that the book proposes to be a cure to a one-sided, biased, thoughtless, and incomplete telling of US history; in fact, Zinn merely reintroduces speculation and bias into our system.
Rating: 
Summary: U.S. History - De-mystified and De-sanitized
Review: Bubble-bursting truths about U.S. domestic and foreign policy. If it doesn't make you squirm (AND angry), check to see if you have a conscience. Should be required reading for all students. Teachers: Use side by side with other history texts and challenge students to research the issues to see whether the "rich white landowner's" version of history - or "The People's..." - is more factual. One only has to look at America today to know the answer...
Rating:
Summary: THE UGLY TRUTH BEHIND OUR CELEBRATED HISTORY
Review: Zinn successfully approaches the history of the United States from a very accurate and justified perspective. Our nation's history has been written by the point-of-view of scholars who solely use the triumphs of American presidents, generals, and heroes to tell the victories of a very proud people. Zinn, on the other hand, reveals the struggle, the unknown story of those who were not as fortunate. A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES educates its readers with extraordinary force, compelling even the most conservative reader to consider the assertions made throughout the book. Despite Zinn's radical nature, his scholarly research based on accurate, reliable, and sometimes first-hand resources strongly supports even Zinn's Marxist leanings. Those who accuse Howard Zinn of unattainable idealism, red communism, and liberal nature must take into account just how realistic A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES actually is. What elementary, high school, or even college text includes the exploitation of the poor for the profit of the rich throughout American history, the heinous crimes of U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam war, or the government's conspiracy to undermine antiwar groups during the Cold War? If America is to reap the economic rewards from the world it exploits, Americans might as well accept the responsibility and the truth behind our much celebrated history. The only alternative is that our "IGNORANCE IS BLISS".
Rating:
Summary: A true American history
Review: A well written and informative book. It will help Americans and non-Americans to better understand the History of The United States of America as from the point of view of the common people. What we read before are romanticized versions written by academicians who are star-struck by the leaders whom they admired. American History is about the people who make this country great, not just the leaders. Without the common people, America would not be as great as she is today.
Rating:
Summary: "History from the bottom-up"
Review: This book provides an overview of 200+ years of U.S. History not from the view of the presidents, generals, tycoons; but from the slaves, the Native Americans, the working class. It is unashamedly ultra-liberal, but the little-known (and little-taught) stories of these people are interesting. Zinn goes out of his way to point out that the power elite did not consciously create many of the laws and programs that keep the rich and poor in their respective places, but he almost always later goes on to describe these laws as 'ingenuous'. I found the story of the labor movement, from the late 1800s through the Great Depression, to be particularly interesting, covering the movements of the Socialists, the Communists, the Wobblies, and the labor unions against the capitalists.
Rating:
Summary: Leans A Bit To The Left
Review: While this book does lean to the left, it is definitely worth reading. It is as the title says, "A People's History of the U.S.". Not the usual stuff you learned in school, but the history of the "little" people that built this country.
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Summary: You must read this...
Review: I don't always agree with Mr. Zinn's politics, but I admire his intent in writing a true historical record of the U.S. that can be equally appreciated by a scholar and a high school dropout. Mr. Zinn takes up were the middle school jingoist indoctrination left off. The U.S. isn't the warm fuzzy place that you were taught. In the past, incredible evils have been perpetrated by this country's elites in furthering their interests here and abroad. Manifest destiny and inherent notions of equality in this country will ring hollow after reading this book. This book needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Horrible exploitation and evil has festered in America, yet no large country is without similar or worse. This book is most valuable, in my opinion, for people who are disillusioned into buying into all the jingoist programming in the media, education, and have never been exposed to the nitty gritty reality of American/ multi- national capitalism.
Rating:
Summary: far from perfect, but still important to read
Review: Though I heavily disagree with Zinn's heavy liberal bias, I still do think that people's history of the united states is an important book to read because it helps to expand the subjects of history by including people such as afrian-americans, native americans, women, socialists, communists and paficists. They have been excluded from mainstream histroy in the past and some like women and african-americans have been receiving more attention over the years, groups like socialists, native americans and pasifists have not and Zinn does include these groups in his book to help give more of a complete history. HE also deals with how the federal government of america has traditionally taken a pro-business stance regardless of who is in charge and how that has shaped our country for better or worse. The book deals with more recent events like the nixon, carter and reagan administrations and how they have continued to take a pro-business and pro-rich stance and how people are growing more politically apathetic. Though extremely liberal, overall people;s history of the united states should help to give people a more complete understanding of american history.
Rating:
Summary: This is one of the most important books I ever read
Review: Although this is a history book, it read more like a novel and I found I could not put it down. Much of what I believed about American history was one-sided. This book supplied the other side that I was missing in order to have a rounded view. Reading it clarified my understanding of politics and helped me feel more sane, because before I couldn't get the pieces to add up.
However, I do not agree with all of his conclusions and here I prefer to rely on Gandhi and His Holiness the Dalai Lama for inspiration and constructive examples.
Rating:
Summary: Raises important questions, terrible scholarship
Review: THE GOOD: Professor Zinn raises important questions that test our long held assumptions about American history, and for this--the questions--the book should be read and discussed vigorously. The book is also very readible, with a flowing, yet serious style. THE BAD: Unfortunately, the book suffers from two fatal flaws, and for this reason does not belong in a classroom (college or otherwise). First, Zinn fails to cite adequately his sources (no footnotes or endnotes), leaving the reader with only a vague sense of his source material. This is particularly unacceptable for a work that admits to be controversial. His excuse, in the preface, that the footnotes would be too voluminous, is lame at best. Witness Pulitzer winning historian McCullough's use of sources in his much acclaimed JOHN ADAMS. Second, in presenting his evidence, Zinn fails to quantify meaningfully the culpability of those historical figures he wishes to evaluate from the 'people's' perspective, nor does he even discuss the limitations or challenges posed by the evidence, nor does he sufficiently discuss his methodology used for reaching his conclusions. Mostly, he simply cites judgments made in secondary sources. Any college student can do that, and we should expect more from a Harvard professor. For instance, in his chapter on Columbus, he indicates that two years after Columbus landed on Hispanola the native Arawak population had nearly all died. He also cites evidence of some gratuitously harsh treatment by the Spanish-- but he does not really indicate the degree to which these events were isolated or the norm. Specifically: did the Arawaks perish as a result of systematic slaughter or from disease transmitted from Spanish soldiers? If only, say, 20% were slaughtered and the rest died from disease, our moral judgments would be different than if the case were reversed. This historical method characterizes his use of examples throughout the book: anecdotal pieces without proper context. To the extent Zinn fails to quantify or even discuss the problems of quantification (however crudely) he is really just putting on a slight of hand. He invites the unsuspecting (or unsophisticated) reader to adopt inferences that might not be warranted or which the reader's emotions might have predisposed her. Hence, though well written and fascinating for the questions it raises, the book fails to make its case stick and can be misleading. Read it, but with extreme caution, and try to recognize the slights of hand for what they are. It's a pity: his inquiry is important, but his method undermines his case.
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