A Young People's History of the United States, Volume 1: Columbus to the Spanish-American War (For Young People) Hardcover – May 1, 2007

This view of history explains to young people and to those not so young, the complicated dynamics of the founding of the colonies. I learned history. at the dinner table with my father. He went to lectures in Harlem to learn African American history so that he could teach it to his three children. We did not learn it in school. I remember reading a short paragraph, if that much about slavery. I kept re-reading it, because I could not believe that this important topic was essentially excluded from our curriculum.this book makes up for that Zinn is masterful at weaving the research together, with the concepts of racism and class-ism, so that the reader can see and understand how this history unfolds.I highly recommend it and will order it for my students.

I need to speak here to the review(s) attempting to discredit Howard Zinn's work and the assumptions that if you attempt to introduce an alternate perspective (or a range of different perspectives) counter to that of the dominant narrative that all of sudden that viewpoint is subject to "bias." It assumes, for one, that there is even such a thing as an "unbiased" historical account and it neglects that most of our "unbiased," "fair," "balanced," "truthful" historical accounts are actually written from a very particular cultural perspective that has been vested with the immense power to have their version elevated to the status of officialdom (ahem, it is after all called 'HIStory.' Oh, but there couldn't be any bias in that, right?). That Howard Zinn's account of history be any more biased and untruthful than more "official" versions of the story is laughable to me. All that Zinn was attempting to do with this book (and others) was introduce a different story told from the perspectives of those whose voices and experiences have not been allowed to penetrate the fortress walls of "the cannon." Is opening alternate and multiple vistas to our children really so threatening? What are we afraid they will learn? Heaven forbid they be critical and engaged citizens in our society!!

Just a note: This, combined with Volume 2, is the same as the single volume of Zinn's Young People's History of the United States, so no need to get them all.

This book and its companion Volume 2 are the perfect introduction to US history. Based on Zinn's larger work, this focuses on a younger audience. It is informative and provides prospective that is different than the material taught in schools. Every child in the US should read these books.

My public school IB 5th grade class has thoroughly enjoyed this text and the different viewpoints on history that it offers. It is a wonderful resource for initiating 'turn and talks' and making connections.

my 13 yr old dtr has really enjoyed learning the real history of our country reading this book. nice companion to the traditional texts read in schools.

My 15 year old needed this book for her Honors American History class over the summer. Couldn't find it anywhere! Thanks to Amazon, we got it quickly and she read it within a week, finished her 4 page report on it in no time at all.

This set does a good job of covering what little is taught in schools - public and private.I bought it for a foreign national - wht was interested.