A Young People's History of the United States

Had to read the unabridged version in high school AP US history. Bought this version for my kids and it’s easier to understand and seems like a pretty good alternative to a textbook. I do wish there were more stories that are overlooked in textbooks. But it’s a good beginning.

We homeschool and my now 10yo son has never been much for academics; put an erector set, a bucket of LEGO or wooden models in front of him and he's suddenly an engineer - just don't ask him to draw you a picture, or write ANYTHING...but say,"bedtime!" and he's off like a shot to the toothbrush and the nightly read. Since utero, I've been reading to him nightly for as long as he wants and we were on no-graphics chapter books by 4. Some he retains, he loves; others he hates and won't ever let me forget (heavens forbid I try to trick him with something more my speed - curtains for Mama;-). PHotUS is compulsory reading in my peer group, so when I learned about this youth-friendly adaptation, neatly condensed but lacking no important - vital, sometimes discomforting but FACTUAL - bits of history, I barely blinked at pushing it to the front of the nightly queue. I explained that, "this is homework, but it is very interesting and sometimes so fantastic that it will sound like a Grimm tale," and was met with some protestation, but I knew that the Zinn estate would never approve something that didn't at least run laterally to the grown-up version and I persevered. At the risk of going on and on, I'll wrap it up: He openly and accurately scoffs at "Columbus Day", politely setting anyone straight on what he now o owe to be the real story. He asked me how to spell "neutral" during computer time so that he might watch Zinn's 2004 biopic (which is held back by the parent filter on the tube, of course); he wept when he learned of slavery, he has a good grasp on Reconstruction, suffrage, and some drips of economics that I don't even claim to fully understand. Recently we watched the People Speak together and I've never been more proud in my life. Look, I went on and on anyway...he plays video games, too. Thanks to Rebecca Stefoff for such a concise, respectful and "entertaining" adaptation of our True History. I couldn't have gotten this far without you.

The most accurate TRUTH I have ever read about the true history of the United States of America. I demand that the president of the United States of America immediately declare an Executive Order that all history books across America in all public, all private and all religious schools in America be corrected and rewritten to include the true unbiased history of the United States of America. And that all educators (parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc.) and teachers be reeducated to responsibly instruct and teach the youth and people of America about their true honest history. With the truth of the United States of America at hand, The Constitution of The United States of America "We the People" written by and agreed upon by the Founding Fathers in Philadelphia in 1789, will have an opportunity to make America a great nation for the very first time. God of your understanding bless America.

History is often taught according to the view of the historian-writer-teacher. This book clarifies with facts several myths in the history of the United States. People need to know the real history even in the cases where abuses and antidemocratic incidents ocurred in particular when the people were manipulated and or deceived to serve the interest of a particular powerful group[Ex industrial-military complex].The author gives plenty of good examples that go from creating an atmosphere in the public for acceptance or continuation of war based on lies to justification for invading foreign countries who never attacked the U.S.,or putting down governments who by protecting and defending their national interests and resources were not making the american companies too happy while replacing such governments with "puppet" presidents or dictators who were inconditional to U.S. interests.Like the author points out being a "good" american is not accepting the injustice that the government pursues.Furthermore it is the youth of this country the people who are more vulnerable to such lies and manipulations.Democracy will work as people educate in a system that teaches and invites sound critical evaluation of how the country is run and which garanties the empowerment to change governments on that basis. To make government accountable to the people who elects them.Unfortunately the author,Howard Zinn, just passed away.Nevertheless he left several books for us to read which will continue to be pertinent and relevant for years to come.His writting is easy to read and his books are hard to drop until you finish. DrJJM

This book is an excellent read for both young people and adults. Going through life, we always hear that we should be critical thinkers, but how many people take this to heart? One exceptional person that did was Howard Zinn. A veteran of WWII he later visited the very sites that he helped level to the ground in search of the truth. Like most things in life, there is usually another side to every story, and this is what this book provides. This book is for people that are life-long learners, and want to learn more about history. This book will not suit the close-minded, who choose to believe whatever "official history" the government wants them to learn in a sanitized textbook. I think this book is great. But don't take my word for it, read it and make up your own mind.

As this book explains at the beginning, most history books, especially textbooks, look at history from the point of view of power – kings and presidents, scientists and writers and other noteworthy names. Therefore, much of this history is about the struggle over power – wars, coups, electioneering and other means of transferring power, whether peacefully or violently. Most of these books make claims to “objectivity” without acknowledging that in fact, they are all, of necessity, biased. Writing history is a matter of what gets written and what gets left out. Who gets to tell the story and who is silenced. Howard Zinn’s THE PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, on the other hand, has no pretensions about “objectivity. Zinn states up front that he is writing the history we don’t learn in school or read in the newspapers. He is telling the history of the people who have been affected by power and the struggle for power. In the Friedman/Thatcher/Reagan vision of “trickle-down economics”, Zinn is concerned about those getting trickled on and, more importantly, what those people have done and are doing about it. The original, adult version of this book is over seven hundred pages long. Zinn, along with co-writer Rebecca Stefoff, wanted to bring a more accessible version of the book to younger audiences, hence, THE YOUNG PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, which is roughly two-thirds as long with significantly less writing per page. The young people’s version pretty much follows the adult version of the book, starting with debunking the myth of Columbus and continuing until about the date of publication, including information on the September 11 attacks, the war on terrorism and the invasion of Iraq. The book ends with the Democratic resurgence at the midterm elections during Bush 43’s second term. Although Zinn makes it repeatedly clear that he doesn’t have significantly more love for the Democrats than the Republicans, he did seem to view this as a positive sign that Americans had had enough of abuses of executive power, foreign wars and empire building and federal overreach at home. Sadly, he lived just long enough to probably realize his hopes may have been overly optimistic. Of necessity, the young people’s version is significantly less detailed and more simplistic than the adult version, which can be a bit of a drawback as it exacerbates accusations of bias and inaccuracy. As noted, Zinn never pretends to be un-biased, but the simplification in this book does away with a degree of nuance that seems to lead to a number of statements that have been simplified to the point of generalization, and generalizations almost always carry a degree of inaccuracy. As simplified as this book is, I don’t recommend it for high school students (most of whom can handle the adult version). This book would be good for late elementary and middle school kids with adult guidance. I would like to see this book used in conjunction with a supposedly “objective” text book and maybe even an explicitly right-wing focused book. It would be a slow process, but a worthwhile exercise to have students comb through equivalent chapters and look for information among the texts that is outright contradictory versus information that is simply a matter of perspective. For instance, the view of Columbus as a “great” explorer who “discovered” America isn’t necessarily incompatible with the view of him as a conqueror and slave master of the Indians – it’s just a matter of whether you look at it from a European or an Indian point of view. Students should pay attention in each text to see whose voices are included and whose are not. But other sections, such as the Civil War, may present contradictory information among the texts. For instance, was the Civil War fought over slavery or not? Who was the aggressor? In these cases, students should be helped to find primary sources which may support one position or another. In this way, students will begin to understand how we know what we know about history and to understand the limits of objective “truth” in history, which really makes up a large chunk of what studying history is really all about, rather than simply memorizing names and dates. One of the biggest drawbacks to both this version and the adult version of this book is the lack of footnotes, endnotes, bibliography or other references. Some sources are mentioned in the text itself and there are many quotes from ordinary people’s letters to the editor or elected officials or interviews with the media. But without adequate information to trace those sources for one’s self, the book suffers a small loss of credibility, even for those who support Zinn’s message and perspective. Students especially need to understand where historical information comes from and that, while it may represent an interpretation, the information underlying that interpretation comes from actual historical events as documented in many different sources. Everyone, from the most flaming radicals to the staunchest conservatives, should read Zinn’s work simply for the neglected viewpoints he offers. If his information is wrong, then it should be easy enough to dispute it, debate it and determine the truth of the matter. But no one, child or adult, is going to be “indoctrinated” simply by hearing an alternate viewpoint or different interpretation. And, while Zinn’s viewpoint is definitely quite harsh on the power structure that has frequently led America in a bad direction, the book is not itself anti-American. In fact, the book is quite optimistic in the idea that ordinary people, standing up for what they believe in, have the power to change history and thereby correct the mistakes of our imperialistic, racist, classist past to create a more equitable and just future as enshrined in our founding documents.

I bought this book for my son. We read to him every night before bed, and now that he's getting a little older I wanted to begin introducing some history along with the fictional stories we read him. I read him passages from this book, and then we have a little discussion about the content, where I provide additional context to the period in question, answer his questions and ask some of my own concerning his thoughts on the topic. In short, I think he is getting quite a lot of value out of the book, and I hope it impresses upon him the same passion for history that I had as a child.

My husband read the “adult” version of this book sometime ago and has frequently referenced it. Generally not my cup of tea but when I saw this young people adaptation I gave it a try and I don’t regret it at all. So much information even as a relatively easy read. I kept a notebook to jot down things I wanted more information about. You will shake your head many times in disbelief, disappointment but gain knowledge Recommended esp if you are not very knowledgeable about true US history