I just want to recommend everyone read Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.

[flashman13]

It is the history that the Repugs want to suppress. It is not the history that you will read in primary school systems. It could cause you to feel uncomfortable. It is an honest and unblinking look at how we as a nation have gotten to where we are. And in so many ways it seems like it was written from current events.

Read it now before it is banned!

[nature-lover]

1. Free on Kindle Unlimited if you have a subscription.

[ITAL]

2. I'd recommend it

Last edited Wed Apr 19, 2023, 08:59 PM - Edit history (2)

But I don't particularly believe it's any more true than any other history book. All history is slanted to some degree or another (it's why I can read biographies of political rivals like Adams and Jefferson and come away from each with wildly different ideas about how effective they were). It's good about shining a light on different perspectives, which is where Zinn excels. It's too much to say he's definitive, given many historians who have praised the idea of his work have said it has issues.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

8. Right.

Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States is interesting as a "corrective" or as a counter-balance to other sources. But it is as slanted and hee, and has a great number of issues.

Those who treat Zinn as if he's offered a "definitive" history are swallowing a large load of propaganda that is ideologically based.

If that was all one knew about US History, Zinn alone would leave one w/o depth.

[hippywife]

3. Best book I've ever read.

He includes loads of factual documentation. It's a big book, but definitely not a slow read; very hard to put down.

[malaise]

4. A Must Read

Rec

[Silent Type]

5. +1. I still gasp for air from Zinn's description of slave ship conditions and plantation "life."

[2naSalit]

6. K&R

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

7. K & Highly recommended!

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

9. I imagine nearly everyone at DU has read it

And a substantial portion of them already own copies of it.

It's kind of rude to assume we're ignorant of such a landmark book.