A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present Review

For several years of the last decade, I taught Advanced Placement U.S. History at a high school in northern Virginia.When I began the course, Zinn had already been assigned by my predecessor, and I needed a counterpoint to the main text (Bailey and Kennedy's bombastic,traditionalist, and short-on-social history "Pageant of the AmericanNation").Zinn's deftly written book provided a fortunate antithesisto the "march of presidents and industrial titans" approach toAmerican history.I found many chapters of this book to be such excellentstimulants to class discussions that I extended their use into my non-APU.S. history classes, where students, many of whom could not otherwise havecared less about history, found themselves reading an interesting andprovocative historian for the first time in their lives. Many of the bestdiscussions I ever had with my classes (both AP and "regular")began with assigned chapters from Zinn.From there, it was an easy step tomove on to the idea of historiography (the history of how history has beeninterpreted) and to decoupling my students from thinking of the textbook asrevealed wisdom.
Yes, this book has its faults, as many of theprevious reviews point out.It is very left-leaning.It does sometimesomit factual points that do not support its line of argument. It doessometimes verge on equating the misdeeds of American leaders with thehorrific malevolence of the leaders of totalitarian states. It doesromanticize its heroes.
For all that, though, this book is anexcellent introduction to U.S. history if read as a contrasting voice tomore traditional narratives.It is a fine and vigorous antidote to theexcessively reverent tone of many high school textbooks. It conveys a senseof moral passion that is often lacking in these texts, which are typicallytake great pains to offend no one, particularly regarding events withinliving memory. Not all contemporary texts are this bloodlessly terrible,but many are. One of the best things about Zinn's histories is that heleaves in the drama that the standard texts insist on draining out.
"A People's History" begins with a bold thesis, and keeps it atcenter stage--namely, that those with power and wealth consistently extendit to others only when the situation has reached the level of deep crisis,and only with the minimum and uppermost fraction of the discontended neededto co-opt them and defeat the dissent of the remainder, often also turningotherwise natural allies into antagonistic contenders for "tablescraps" from the banquet in the process.And as Zinn arguesrepeatedly, this grudging and incomplete inclusion, made reality by thecourage and convictions of average men and women, has been the engine thathas driven most if not all extentions of both liberty and equality in U.S.history, and that this is a continuing and unfinished process, awaitingfuture generations of idealists possessing the courage of their ownconvictions.I admire this book (and this author) for inculcating thisidea among young readers.
For young adults who have an interestin U.S. history, or for parents who wish to engage their teen's interest inhistory, this book is a great place to start.It also might be the startof a few conversations at home about justice, fairness, equality, morality,the probity of leaders, etc.Since it argues more from a passion forjustice and equality, a sense of burning indignation, and a highlydebatable point of view, those desiring balance should pair it withsomething less withering in its assessment toward the history of theAmerican state.This is an excellent history for the newly interested, orfor those readers looking for an alternative perspective.

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