people's histories

i've been thinking of writing a review/summary of howard zinn’s “a people’s history of the united states”, then realised the wikipedia wiki does a much better job than i could.

what i really like about the book is the perspective-that one need not swallow the ‘dominant’ reading of history (or anything), especially when it is primarily concerned with legitimising, romanticising and reinforcing systems and structures of power. dr. zinn, by his own admission, is not impartial, and looks at american history through the lenses of class conflict. a very fascinating, if often depressing read; though in a speech about the book, zinn says that rather than wasting anger on the past, the point of the book is to throw light on what is happening now, and to draw strength from other people's stories of resistance.

among other iconoclasms, the book tears at wars one still tends to see as "good"-the american war of independence, the american civil war and world war II. his critique of the motives behind these (and other) wars is a potent background for our critiques of wars today. a rather enlightening read, and strangely (for a history book) one that gives you hope for the future.

the most powerful thing i take away from this book, however, is an attitude; best summed in this quote, “Behind every fact presented to the world-by a teacher, a writer, anyone-is a judgment. The judgment that has been made is that this fact is important, and that other facts, omitted, are not important” (Zinn, 2001, p. 658). hmm. now that is worth a think.

here are some reader reviews/opinions of the book and some additional resources, including torrent downloads. (apologies, mr. zinn, what you are saying is way too important for HarperCollins to hold sole rights.)

here is a preview of "Voices of a people's history of the United States", a companion, of sorts, to the main book. this acts like a reference to the main book, and is organised parallel to the people's history.


6 comments:

Gauri Gharpure said...

I read the wiki link. will try and read this book sometime..

feddabonn said...

worth the time and effort. buzz me if you'd like a .pdf

Joe Pinto said...

baruk, thanks for putting up the book before our readers. - Joe.

feddabonn said...

...and thank *you for the encouragement, joe!

RTFAT1 said...

As i mentioned, have heard so much about this book, and have read the odd article by Zinn, but am now more determined than ever to read it, after reading your comments - its definitely going to the top of my wannaread list

feddabonn said...

good good, george/bruce. finish reading by august, so we can start burning flags (and other assorted things) by spring. grin.