A People's History of the United States

By: Howard Zinn

Narrated by: Jeff Zinn

Length: 34 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

"A wonderful, splendid book - a book that should be ready by every American, student or otherwise, who wants to understand his country, its true history, and its hope for the future." (Howard Fast)

For much of his life, historian Howard Zinn chronicled American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official version taught in schools - with its emphasis on great men in high places - to focus on the street, the home, and the workplace.

Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History of the United States is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of - and in the words of - America's women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, the working poor, and immigrant laborers. As Zinn shows, many of our country's greatest battles - the fights for a fair wage, an eight-hour workday, child-labor laws, health and safety standards, universal suffrage, women's rights, racial equality - were carried out at the grassroots level, against bloody resistance.

Covering Christopher Columbus' arrival through President Clinton's first term, A People's History of the United States features insightful analysis of the most important events in our history.

©2009 Howard Zinn (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Zinn's work is a vital corrective to triumphalist accounts." ( Publishers Weekly)

The Narrator is not as bad as some have said...

I was hesitant to purchase this book due to some of the reviews regarding the narration. The Narrator was not as bad as some have said in my opinion but he was not great. This is a wonderful book and it is the book that carries the "meh" performance.

Got it: We're the worst country in history

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

While offering a solid history of race relations in the US, the book takes on such a negative and ultimately biased tone on all other matters that one wonders that we're not still stuck in the 1700's. Apparently all social progress in the United States has been propelled by some mystical process unrelated to any actions by the American leaders, including even Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, or JFK. The author is guilty of bending history to support his thesis; the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were "atrocities", while the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was a natural response to America's aggressive Imperialism (paraphrasing); the interment of Japanese Americans was rightly referred to as one of America's darkest hours, but no mention is made of the brutality of the Japanese military, and bare mention is made of the actions of Nazi Germany. Clearly one has to take into account contemporary events in judging the actions of the war-time political leaders of the Country, but this is ignored by the author because it does not support his overall theme. And after WW-II, the author's contention is that the insurrection in the Philippines, brutally put down by American forces, was overwhelmingly supported by the Filipinos, and yet today's respect and admiration shown by the Filipino population belies the claim of the universality of this so-called support.

You will leave this book with the feeling that no American president or Congress ever did a single thing for the good of the American people; instead, every act of social progress was a result of the politicians and their bedmates, the "rich", giving an inch to avoid having a mile taken by violent rebellion. Somehow, by an amazing set of coincidences, the wealthy managed to stay just ahead of this simmering explosion, giving exactly the bare minimum in the way of concessions to the working class, always to retain, rather than to share, their power.

Has A People's History of the United States turned you off from other books in this genre?

Yes. Histories, as opposed to historical novels, are definitely better read than listened to.

What aspect of Jeff Zinn’s performance would you have changed?

Well, there's not much you can do with a straight history, I guess. The performer TRIES to avoid droning, but in a book light on spoken parts, it is difficult to remain fully engaged. This is one book better off read than listened to.

Any additional comments?

If I were to recommend this book (and I did give it a 3 of 5 star rating), it would be for its one true strength, an honest assessment of race relations from the Colonies to present day.

For Everyone

This is an incredibly important book. Admittedly biased, but an effective counter-agent to generations' worth of information biased in the other direction.

I have an innate passion for history, so the stories of centuries passed were more excitedly digested as opposed to material which I lived through, although it shed new light on aspects of history which I viewed more fondly before information this book possesses came to light.

Every American should read this book.

A bold history which lifts the veil and tries to show the ugliness beneath mainstream histories. Some call this book Un-American but I strongly disagree, Zinn simply carries a more humanitarian view of the American ideal and invokes our highest virtues of liberty and justice for all as a rallying cry for the opressed against the hypocricy of our powerful. Zinn does not contest history, merely calls out omissions and suggests a closer look. The author himself concedes his bias but justifies it by pointing out that the choosing of facts inherently carries bias. Most mainstream histories of the establishment choose to omit the facts that do not suit their purpose or they give them disproportionately little attention. Zinn chooses these off ignored facts and defends them with original or reputable sources.

I loved this book and I feel that reading it has made me a better citizen of the USA and the human race.

Enlightening!

I will never look at history the same way again.
This has been a long but rewarding read (listen.)

Very socialist but eye opening

When he speaks of capitalism I have to add Crony in front of it because we don't have a free market its skewed for those at the top. I enjoyed the book though and would recommend it to any who think America is a free, great country. We have the capability to be free and great but we are not there.

Great information and well read

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Sure

Who was your favorite character and why?

This was a true American History account. N/A

Have you listened to any of Jeff Zinn’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

It helped me very much to complete my College assignments.

unravelis the propaganda of popular narratives

Zinn calmly tugs at the loose strings of the American exceptionalism narrative taught to American kids from elementary through high school and lets it unravel once and for all

America, The Wrong

I think that Howard Zinn should offer a lifetime subscription of A People's History of the United States. Each time there is an new edition, the book should arrive on your doorstep or electronically. The book left off at Clinton's and Bush's administrations. It will be nice if Zinn update this book and writes about the President that came after that. It will be interesting to see how the country is being divided and what challenging that we are facing. In schools, we have always been taught that America is the greatest nation in the universe. I'm not arguing that we are not, but at what price that the Americans paid to be the greatest? We hardly hear about America, the wrong. If you thought you knew about history, Zinn will be teaching you something that is quite different from what is printed in our text books.

I just searched for the author and found that he passed away in 2010. So much for an another edition.

Unvarnished US history never taught in schools

This book has allowed me to view US history in a way that I would hope more could view -the unvarnished truth about the embarrassing ignorance we shroud ourselves in to preserve the myths and lies the privileged “must” perpetuate.