World Famous Comics: The Twentieth Century: A People's History
The Twentieth Century: A People's History
By: Howard Zinn Publisher: Harper Perennial Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Harper Perennial Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 512 Publication Date: February 01, 2003 Release Date: February 04, 2003
Containing just the twentieth-century chapters from Howard Zinn's bestselling A People's History of the United States, this revised and updated edition includes two new chapters -- covering Clinton's presidency, the 2000 Election, and the "war on terrorism."
Highlighting not just the usual terms of presidential administrations and congressional activities, this book provides you with a "bottom-to-top" perspective, giving voice to our nation's minorities and letting the stories of such groups as African Americans, women, Native Americans, and the laborers of all nationalities be told in their own words.
Amazon.com Review: Consistently lauded for its lively, readable prose, A People's History of the United States turns traditional textbook history on its head, as Howard Zinn infuses the often-submerged voices of blacks, women, American Indians, war resisters, and poor laborers of all nationalities into the narrative. The Twentieth Century uses the relevant chapters of that book as a starting point, expanding upon the story to provide a rich portrait of the United States from the jingoistic rise of Theodore Roosevelt to the Clinton presidency. 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, The Twentieth Century is required reading for anyone who wants to take a fresh look at America's legacy as a world power.
The truth can hurt and free you.. It feels good to have a light shining into dark recesses when in this culture obusification is all that is generally offered.The light is so bright it sometimes hurts but one's footing is much safer when all is allowed to be seen.
American history from an interesting point of view... This is 20th cetury American history from a rather socialistic point of view. Howard Zinn is an incredible thinker and a fairly accecable writer who presumes to write on behalf of the suffering masses. He is clear in his bias as a supporter of oppresssed minorities and leftist causes. He is also a staunch pacifist, which is interesting given his status as a WWII millitary pilot.
Whatever your political affiliation, I would still buy this book as long as U.S. History of your interest. He will enhance or profoundly challenge your interpretations.
I even know a history teacher who is very politically conservative, who uses Zinn's book in class as a balance to his own opposite bias. He doesn't agree with much of what Zinn says, but regards his arguments as cogent, clear and always interesting.
Zinn's Opus I believe this should be a compulsory text in high schools, so students could get another point of view of "history", and people like George Bush, John Howard, and Tony Blair should be made to do a test to prove they have at least read it. Zinn provides a masterful analysis of 20th century world events from the point of view of the left, the downtrodden, people of colour and writes in an easy to read fashion.
Too much of a good thing Zinn's approach is truly refreshing and provocative. He looks at History from the point of view of people who are mostly ignored by other historians. He presents the stories and viewpoints of workers, minorities, and other sections of society that have not been heard through other historical narratives. Thus, he provides rare insights, provokes thoughts regarding continuing to accept the normal 'glorious' dissemination of conquests and is refreshingly different. Despite all the above, his approach, sometimes, becomes difficult to read. This is probably due to the fact that I am much more used to reading normal history and have lost my capability to hear just the peoples' voices. As the broader context is not very clear, I sometimes felt that the trees were robbing me of the forest. His premise is proved in a short while, the repetition of further evidence is difficult to sustain interest in.
Quite a Read! An Important Minority Report on the History of the U.S. No historian of the United States is more provocative than Howard Zinn, whose leftist philosophy permeates his writings and never fails to challenge his readers. "The Twentieth Century: A People's History" is every bit as ambitious as his other works; it is drawn from the latter part of his "A People's History of the United States" with additional chapters to bring the chronicle to the end of the century. Like the majority of other works by Zinn, this one is a must read for anyone seeking to ensure the broadest possible perspective on the American past. What is presented here will be disturbing to many and perhaps angering to some, but as always he presents his analysis with a style and verve that is rigorous and often compelling. If you are not up to being challenged read something else that presents a more consensus perspective on the past, such as Stephen Ambrose or David McCullough. But if you are willing to consider that there might be more to the story of the twentieth century than you learned in school and from consensus historians, then ponder the ideas in this book.
Zinn believes, and states throughout this work, that the dominant narrative of American history focusing "on the Founding Fathers and the Presidents weigh oppressively on the capacity of the ordinary citizen to act. They suggest that in times of crisis we must look to someone to save us: in the Revolutionary crisis, the Founding Fathers; in the slavery crisis, Lincoln; in the Depression, Roosevelt; in the Vietnam-Watergate crisis, Carter. And that between occasional crises everything is all right...The idea of saviors has been built into the entire culture, beyond politics. We have learned to look to stars, leaders, experts in every field, thus surrendering our own strength, demeaning our own ability, obliterating our own selves" (pp. 413-14).
Zinn abhors this aspect of our culture, and seeks to tell the story of those who bucked it throughout the twentieth century. He argues that the power elite in America have created a system of control in which most people do not even realize they are being controlled. "With a country so rich in natural resources, talent, and labor power the system can afford to distribute just enough wealth to just enough people to limit discontent to a troublesome minority" (p. 414), he writes. Zinn notes that one percent of the nation owns one third of the wealth, and that the elite dole out just enough to placate the rest, all the while pitting them against each other. He adds, "These groups have resented each other and warred against each other with such vehemence and violence as to obscure their common position as sharers of leftovers, in a very wealthy country" (p. 414). This book is really about those who battled that system, and he celebrates Eugene Debs, Daniel and Philip Berrigan, Angela Davis, Martin Luther King, Bill Haywood, and thousands of others who challenged the status quo.
No question, Zinn views the history of the twentieth century--as well as earlier--in the U.S. as a struggle between the haves and the have nots. The haves, he comments, have been enormously successful in securing their hegemony against far greater numbers in no small part because of "all-embracing symbols, physical and verbal: the flag, patriotism, democracy, national interest, national defense, national security" (p. 415). Appeals to these themes, he believes, have been effectively used to blunt the criticism of the system that otherwise might bring it tumbling down. Thus, George W. Bush has appealed to flag-waving patriotism to unite a divided country and maintain control rather than deal with the underlying reasons for terrorism, "deep grievances against the United States" (p. 474).
"The Twentieth Century: A People's History" is a powerful book with ideas revolutionary in character. If you don't want to consider them then don't read it. Zinn certainly makes no apologies for his position. His is a distinctly minority voice in a discussion of the century just past, but an important and eloquent one. One that we all might learn something from.
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