A People's History of the United States

Highlights from the Twentieth Century

By: Howard Zinn

Narrated by: Matt Damon, Howard Zinn

For much of his life, historian Howard Zinn has been chronicling 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, Zinn's 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 - its women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, working poor, and immigrant laborers. Here we learn that many of our country's greatest battles - labor laws, women's rights, racial equality - were carried out at the grassroots level, against steel-willed resistance. This edition of A People's History of the United States features insightful analysis of some of the most important events in this country in the past 100 years.

Featuring a preface and afterword read by the author himself, this audio continues Howard Zinn's important contribution to a complete and balanced understanding of American history.

©1980, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2003 Howard Zinn (P)199, 2003 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Matt Damon's reading captures the spirit of the text. Like the book, Damon's voice has an edge to it. He expresses the author's outrage regarding the exploitation of certain groups in American history. He also communicates Zinn's admiration for the courage and determination demonstrated by protest leaders." ( AudioFile)

the second half is better

As much as I like Matt Damon, I really didn't like him reading this book. It sounds like he's falling asleep reading a long list of atrocities. The book gets much better when the author takes over about half way through. The message is pretty dark, that this country is on evil auto-pilot, and that it takes huge movements of people to change its course. My feeling is that we'll only change when someone takes away our TV's and french fries.

Great Work

Couldn't stop listening. A must listen if your interested in learning about America's Dark History.

Eye opening but with a bit if a liberal spin

wrote a long review explaining where I felt the author was biased but it wouldn't post ... not gonna spend another 30 minutes to re-write it.
short answer ... his account of Waco, Texas was extremely one sided and his view on welfare is too liberal in my opinion.
Other than that the author shines a way overdue light on atrocities committed by our government and founding fathers

Loved it

Great perspective! inspires me to .seek change in our political system reveals how we are being played by the politicians and corporations.

Existential history of the United States

Sometimes uncomfortable to listen to, Zinn's book covers topics like race relations (black and native American), gender rights, war, immigration and others from the perspective of the less fortunate victims. Zinn puts the light on the stories that show that they are not simply good versus evil questions. Many undesirable stories that have been under reported but are key to understanding the fabric of our society

mahtttt daaayyyy-mun

this guy cant pronounce shit that's not standard commonplace Amercian English. Struggles with Russian Spanish and Native Indigenous names.

A must have

Howard's book is an intelligent and carefully crafted piece of American history. Truly a homage to the people which make this a great country.

Interesting but Disappointing

As others have noted, this "abridged" version is incomplete. Howard Zinn is a fascinating mind and this audio version of his book doesn't do his research and perspective justice. I will have to get the actual book and actually *gasp* READ it. What *IS* in the audiobook, however, is intriguing and sometimes mind-boggling.

Must Hear This!

This is the ideal gift for a high school senior, or anyone who has graduated from high school. The antidote to public school history (as currently taught)!

Whoa

This book brings to light a lot of the struggles that America faces and has caused. It's a book I will take in again and again.