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Summary: More Distorted History- but from the other side
Review: This book was written for white upper-middleclass yups who want to feel a tinge of guilt at their wine-tasting parties!!!! I would avoid this book, it is a very biased and one sided version of American History. While this book does not have the "Might makes Right" view of many US History texts, it is no less of a distortion. I understand the reason for publishing a US History that does not whitewash the misdeeds throughout the centuries. However, it is equally as distorting to paint virtually every American policy, Business practice, etc. as aimed solely at controlling or abusing "the masses"..whoever they are. ...
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Summary: Simply amazing
Review: Not only is this book a great retelling of the history that is maybe too painful and too truthful to tell those impressionable high school kids, but it's also SO well written. Written in a style that could grab anybody's attention. This book blew me away completely. It isn't leftist rantings. It's told from the perspective of the conquered not the conquering, which is a far different perspective. If you love history and are not set to believe that everything in that eighth grade tarnished history book is gosepl. Pick this book up, it is remarkable.
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Summary: This book...
Review: Although this book does raise some interesting points, I found it to be just too 'Politically Correct' to recommend. The author picks highly selective events which occured over numerous decades to make a his points. Furthermore, the author used numerous misinterpreted quotes and misrepresented facts to arrive at his conclusions. Great men in our history have been reduced by Zinn to 'evil overlords'-despite the fact that millions have benefitted from their actions (a fact which the author seems to ignore) I was only able to make it to the mid 1800s before I just couldn't take it anymore. And for the record, I'm not an uneducated right winger either. I am a student of American History...
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Summary: His glasses are special but invigorating
Review: Howard Zinn is a great historian, not because he knows thousands of facts that we are never told about various social, ethnic, cultural or political movements in the United States, or even before the Revolution, but because he constantly asks questions about why and how this or that decision was taken, this or that event took place. He is not satisfied by the Declaration of Independance or the Constitution of the United States. He asks the question of the meaning of it at the time, and for him the meaning is : Who was it done by ? Who was it done for ? Who was it done without ? Who was it done against ? Who was rejected by it ? Whos was alienated by it ? etc. And the various amendments prove his point : children of both sexes, women, blacks of both sexes and Indians of both sexes were explicitly excluded from the benefits of the constitution at the origin. And the debates before, during and after the writing and voting of the constitution prove his point too, with many explaining their point of view that a representative government is more effective to contain any kind of social or political protest movement than any other form of government, though I am convinced they were wrong : the English Monarchy becalme really representative only lately, and Monstesquieu has proved to the whole world that democracy is an unavoidable and irreversible movement and aim. Where I find him at times too schematic is his constant reference to the concept of class. He has some difficulty getting over that concept and higher than that concept that cannot explain everything. He has problems understanding that the real motivation of any protest movement of any kind is to be found in the alienation the protesters experience, be it social, political, sexual, cultural, ethnic, age-related, or of any other possible nature. Then the question is to ask how such alienations produce protest movements and how such multivaried alienations and ensuing protest movements can come together. But when they do, they can be very effective in blocking a certain way the system works, like in Seattle in the Fall 1999. This question is not answered by Zinn, and his too strong an emphasis put on the concept of class prevents him from being able to even ask the question. Nevertheless the book is essential because it gathers so much unknown data about so many historical events. It is a great help for students to widen their quests and for teachers and professors to enrich their practices. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Paris Universities II & IX.
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Summary: ONE OF THE ALL-TIME CLASSICS!
Review: This book is one of those you will be telling the grandkids about! It is one you will read over and over again! It is one of those books that after reading a page, you will have to stop and reflect about what you have been heard in your life and more importantly, what you have not been told. This is an incredible book and I could not recommend it more passionately than I am...
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Summary: All Too Sad...But True
Review: Actually I'm only halfway through with the book, but nevertheless I feel that my opinion of the book won't change. I got hooked after reading the first chapter about Columbus and other voyagers coming to North America and torturing and enslaving the indians. The accounts written are quite sad and sometimes gruesome, but that's how history is. Zinn has opened my eyes to the average person's history, not just what your average high school textbook historians say is history. When I started reading this, I was already pretty interested in the unknown parts of history...now I'm addicted. Thank you Mr. Zinn. Get this book if you're even slightly interested in history or if you're a full-blown history junkie...either way, you'll probably walk away with a few things you hadn't known before. A+!
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Summary: Understanding how to read history
Review: Zinn, in writing this work, gave himself a formidable challenge, to be sure! To write a survey of American history will undoubtedly have holes, omissions, and other instances which may be construed as politically biased or "correct", revisionist, or in the eyes of some, flat out wrong. I say, "GOOD!" it shows that the reader's been paying attention if they question a historian's ascertains. The People's History was written to shed some light on the actual people that lived on this continent, from the indigenous peoples who first occupied the continent, to the Europeans, and later immigrants, who came to dominate it. What I found particularly interesting (although I do not necessarily agree with the basis for the argument) is Zinn's theory of how the "top 1%" was able to control class discontent by creating a middle class as a buffer, and by deflecting that class animosity towards an outside threat, i.e., the British, then Mexico, then Spain, then Germany twice, etc. As opposed to writing the traditional "Great History," Zinn describes the "meanwhile, back in reality..." Some may dismiss this approach as revisionist, Marxist, "liberal drivel," or worse; however books such as this work are critical to our understanding of history. It affords us the opportunity to debate, to evaluate, and hopefully in the end come to a consensus on what actually happened. Let's be honest: it is absolutely impossible for any history to get it right.Which brings me to the point: After reading over the customer reviews on Zinn's work, The People's History of the United States, and on Davis' Don't Know Much About History. It strikes me that a couple comments must be made to the fine readers and inquisitive types out there who would like to learn more about the events of the past. First, each and every person who writes history - politician, journalist, student, or trained professional - "has an axe to grind," to borrow from a former professor of mine. Their politics will undoubtedly bleed into their work. Zinn, Schlesinger, W.E.B. DuBois, Kissenger, even Stephen Ambrose (GASP!) all betray their politics in their books. Kissenger took time out from his outstanding book Diplomacy, blatantly attempting to justify the tactics he and Nixon used in Vietnam(and Cambodia) to "extricate our troops with honor"! Secondly, the facts that are used in histories may actually be facts! The problem comes when the facts are taken out of context. An example: If you read Theodore Roosevelt's Autobiography by today's standards, some would believe he was raving mad racist who wanted nothing more than to impose Anglo-Saxon imperialism on the world. Then you realize that the book was written on the eve of WWI, a war he wanted the US to jump into right away; perhaps he was politically motivated to mobilize public opinion for the war, and against his well-known nemesis, Woodrow Wilson? I wasn't there, and my example surely isn't complete, but I hope I illustrated how understanding the historical context can help clarify the historical facts. Apologies for sounding like a blow-hard academic, but it is much more interesting to understand history when one receives alternative points of view. Zinn provides another point of view, you may not like what he has to say (in fact I wanted to tell him to take a flying leap myself sometimes), but how will you know unless you try?
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Summary: Opening my eyes...
Review: What was I taught in high school and college? Anyone with half a brain has wondered what the real "story" in history has been. Women's struggles, the plight of the Irish immigrant, the real story of slavery are only a few that Zinn focuses on. He has masterfully written this history book to inform us as Americans what our education system has left out. This book has empowered me to tell everyone I know the facts of our American history.
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Summary: All Marxists please stand on one side of the room
Review: This is good book for leftists to read and for people that have hard time with simple topics. If you can't read that well, don't know that much, don't really have your own ideas, are easily influenced by pedantic psuedo-intellectuals, or think the rights of the individual should be stomped on for the good of the many, this is the book for you. If you support the simpering drivel of Chomsky and Reich, you might enjoy this book. If you think certain races can't handle individual responsibility, read this book (you'll enjoy it). If you voted for Nader or Gore (or even Bush) because they promised government would take care of issues you cared about, hey, you could enjoy this book. If you think hard working, self-sacrificing people who struggle each day and discipline themself to make the right choices that will help them attain their goals should be rewarded and applauded (= Libertarian), don't read this book!
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Summary: Enlightening and Disturbing
Review: I must say I disagree with Mr. Levine's review of this very readable text. Of all the history books I have read throughout my schooling, this is by far the most readable text. Not only is the book informative, but it is interesting. Mr. Levine, this is not a history text of America, but of the United States. I believe the author begins with Columbus to show a pattern of how European influence paved the way for our forefathers in building this country. The people, policies, and ideologies may have changed between 1492-1776, but from 1776-present, the destructive nature of that European influence didn't. I think you need to read the book again in order to learn what the author intended. He even says it concretely at the beginning of chapter 23, "The Coming Revolt of the Guards." Zinn peels away all the fluff and wool covering the eyes of America to show those who read his book that not everything we see in our history books, or even on the news may be what it seems to be. He also implies and hopes that the will and strength of the common folk of this country strive to obtain that which has eluded most common people of this country, the fruits of hard labor. I don't think Zinn is implying that the people rise up to start a physical confrontation with our government, but to look beyond what we see and to think and react as thinking people to better our country. Zinn's book will motivate the people who read it to do just that-educate. I find this book to be extremely coherent to anyone with an eighth grade reading level. I know, because I am an eighth grade teacher, and I read little tidbits of the book to my students, who found it very interesting and understandable. I look forward to reading more of Zinn's publications, and to research and read some of the sources he used to write this book.
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