Textbook / notebook for A people's history of the United States : 1492-present

Amazon.com Review Consistently lauded for its lively, readable prose, this revised and updated edition of A People's History of the United States turns traditional textbook history on its head. Howard Zinn infuses the often-submerged voices of blacks, women, American Indians, war resisters, and poor laborers of all nationalities into this thorough narrative that spans American history from Christopher Columbus's arrival to an afterword on the Clinton presidency. Addressing his trademark reversals of perspective, Zinn--a teacher, historian, and social activist for more than 20 years--explains, ''My point is not that we must, in telling history, accuse, judge, condemn Columbus in absentia. It is too late for that; it would be a useless scholarly exercise in morality. But the easy acceptance of atrocities as a deplorable but necessary price to pay for progress (Hiroshima and Vietnam, to save Western civilization; Kronstadt and Hungary, to save socialism; nuclear proliferation, to save us all)--that is still with us. One reason these atrocities are still with us is that we have learned to bury them in a mass of other facts, as radioactive wastes are buried in containers in the earth.'' If your last experience of American history was brought to you by junior high school textbooks--or even if you're a specialist--get ready for the other side of stories you may not even have heard. With its vivid descriptions of rarely noted events, A People's History of the United States is required reading for anyone who wants to take a fresh look at the rich, rocky history of America. From Publishers Weekly According to this classic of revisionist American history, narratives of national unity and progress are a smoke screen disguising the ceaseless conflict between elites and the masses whom they oppress and exploit. Historian Zinn sides with the latter group in chronicling Indians' struggle against Europeans, blacks' struggle against racism, women's struggle against patriarchy, and workers' struggle against capitalists. First published in 1980, the volume sums up decades of post-war scholarship into a definitive statement of leftist, multicultural, anti-imperialist historiography. This edition updates that project with new chapters on the Clinton and Bush presidencies, which deplore Clinton's pro-business agenda, celebrate the 1999 Seattle anti-globalization protests and apologize for previous editions' slighting of the struggles of Latinos and gays. Zinn's work is an vital corrective to triumphalist accounts, but his uncompromising radicalism shades, at times, into cynicism. Zinn views the Bill of Rights, universal suffrage, affirmative action and collective bargaining not as fundamental (albeit imperfect) extensions of freedom, but as tactical concessions by monied elites to defuse and contain more revolutionary impulses; voting, in fact, is but the most insidious of the ''controls.'' It's too bad that Zinn dismisses two centuries of talk about ''patriotism, democracy, national interest'' as mere ''slogans'' and ''pretense,'' because the history he recounts is in large part the effort of downtrodden people to claim these ideals for their own. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. Overview: 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, Working Poor, And Immigrant Laborers. Revised And Updated With Two New Chapters Covering Clinton's Presidency, The 2000 Election, And The War On Terrorism. A People's History Of The United States Features Insightful Analysis Of The Most Important Events In Our History. Open-minded Readers Will Prophet From Professor Zinn's Account, And Historians May View It As A Step Toward A Coherent New Version Of American History. Columbus, The Indians, And Human Progress -- Drawing The Color Line -- Persons Of Mean And Vile Condition -- Tyranny Is Tyranny -- Kind Of Revolution -- Intimately Oppressed -- As Long As Grass Grows Or Water Runs -- We Take Nothing By Conquest, Thank God -- Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom -- Other Civil War -- Robber Barons And Rebels -- Empire And The People -- Socialist Challenge -- War Is The Health Of The State -- Self-help In Hard Times -- People's War? -- Or Does It Explode? -- Impossible Victory: Vietnam -- Surprises -- Seventies: Under Control? -- Carter-reagan-bush: The Bipartisan Consensus -- Unreported Resistance -- Coming Revolt Of The Guards -- Clinton Presidency -- 2000 Election And The War On Terrorism -- Afterword -- Bibliography -- Index. Howard Zinn. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [689]-708) And Index. “It’s a wonderful, splendid book—a book that should be read by every American, student or otherwise, who wants to understand his country, its true history, and its hope for the future.” —Howard Fast, author of Spartacus and The Immigrants“[It] should be required reading.” —Eric Foner, New York Times Book ReviewLibrary Journal calls Howard Zinn’s iconic A People's History of the United States “a brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those...whose plight has been largely omitted from most histories.” Packed with vivid details and telling quotations, Zinn’s award-winning classic continues to revolutionize the way American history is taught and remembered. Frequent appearances in popular media such as The Sopranos, The Simpsons, Good Will Hunting, and the History Channel documentary The People Speak testify to Zinn’s ability to bridge the generation gap with enduring insights into the birth, development, and destiny of the nation. In the book, Zinn presented a different side of history from the more traditional "fundamental nationalist glorification of country". Zinn portrays a side of American history that can largely be seen as the exploitation and manipulation of the majority by rigged systems that hugely favor a small aggregate of elite rulers from across the orthodox political parties. A People's History has been assigned as reading in many high schools and colleges across the United States. It has also resulted in a change in the focus of historical work, which now includes stories that previously were ignored Library Journal calls Howard Zinns book a brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of thosewhose plight has been largely omitted from most histories. Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress Drawing the Color Line Persons of Mean and Vile Condition Tyranny is Tyranny A Kind of Revolution The Intimately Oppressed As Long as Grass Grows or Water Runs We Take Nothing by Conquest, Thank God Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom The Other Civil War Robber Barons and Rebels The Empire and the People The Socialist Challenge War Is the Health of the State Self-help in Hard Times A People's War? "Or Does It Explode?" The Impossible Victory: Vietnam Surprises The Seventies: Under Control? Carter-Reagan-Bush: The Bipartisan Consensus The Unreported Resistance The Coming Revolt of the Guards The Clinton Presidency The 2000 Election and "The War on Terrorism" Afterword Bibliography Index Arawak men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the island's beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big boat.