A People's History of the United States

By: Howard Zinn

Narrated by: Jeff Zinn

"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)

This is a great listen

Winston Churchill said that "History is written by the victors". This book is told from the losers side. Very well written and read. If you are interested in the truth about history, you should give this book a listen.

Essential reading/listening

There exists no other American history book like this one. One where history is told through the eyes, ears and voices of the vanquished, not the victors. One where matters of class, power, race, gender, struggle, organizing and overcoming are central themes. One where despite America's sordid history, there remains hope when the people band together to demand basic rights and justice. One where progress is possible, and understanding our country's history is vital to that progress and our very survival. Thank you Howard Zinn, for illuminating a very long, dark path.

Definitely an Eye Opener

Talk about a real education!! It's a lot to take in but I can't see how the author could have done it with less content. He backs everything up with references. Court cases, newspaper articles, Senate reports, official government documentation, historical accounts, and much more. This is FAR from the patriotic lessons we learned in school. The knowledge you get from this book is life changing. I may even buy the book to go back through it and highlight the heck out of it.

Factual history to replace that biased one

This was an excellent telling of how the United States actually came to be and a detailed fact based narrative of events since then. This is a version that would not be told by any country in particular as it does not favor any. It tells events in a way we would wish journalists would cover them, but they do not as they and/or their networks hold too much bias to allow this kind of impartiality. It is a bit brutal in spots, but always authentic. In my opinion it allowed areas that had not made sense from the official school version of history, to finally make sense. Even my 11 year old was interested in hearing history in this manner... although Columbus Day at school was ruined forever for him.

Communist propaganda but interesting

I’m a deep right wing man , but I enjoyed this perspective throughly. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that we have to understand other people’s point of view to be better argue our own points of view.

Bible for the Occupy Movement

I know there are some grips about the production values of this audiobook but they are very minor. The important thing about this book is it's message. We live in a wonderful country but our history is dominated by the lust for money and power, and all other values be damned. I have great hope for the Occupy movement (of which I am a member) that it can be the start of a conversation about how to build a better world. Zinn's book is a handbook for what we no longer wish to do.This book is a true classic and should be read by all Americans.

Should be Mandatory

What did you love best about A People's History of the United States?

I love that the book gives the other side of the story... the side of the story that is ignored in History books "approved" for students. This book outlines how this nation was created, the good with the many, many bads. It tells about the history of the People's struggle against endless greed and corruption between the Rich and the Politicians. What happened in the 18th and 19th century is still happening today.

What other book might you compare A People's History of the United States to and why?

I can't think of any other books that cover's the time period of this book. I've read many history books on Politics, Native Americans, Latino Americans, and African Americans, but this book touches on all of these tragic stories.

Which scene was your favorite?

I don't have a favorite... the entire time I listened to this book, my stomach was in knots. The deception and violence permitted and performed by the U.S. government and the businesses that it fought to support, is jaw dropping.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Domination By Any Means Necessary

Exceptional

This is a great book for the classroom that is teaching the real history of THESE United States. Everyone should read this book.

Not the best audio book

This audio book has the worst production values of any of the many audio books I’ve read. There are sections that appear to have been recorded on the phone and email in.

The book itself isn’t great. It feels like one long run on sentence. Having not read the book and text, I don’t know if it’s the writing or the reading.

Great Perspective from the underdogs side!

What made the experience of listening to A People's History of the United States the most enjoyable?

It was great Narration! History came alive as a story rather than a lecture!

What about Jeff Zinn’s performance did you like?

Great reader and professional sounding narration!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The underdog story of America!