Voices of a People's History of the United States, 10th Anniversary Edition

History is sometimes written with the goal of documenting the attitudes or opinions of a particular class of people, such as the intellectuals, the politicians, the scientists, or the warriors. Each of these groups has made important contributions to human accomplishment, which should not be forgotten or discarded under the guise of some egalitarian or multicultural reading of history. But when the stories of these groups are documented in history, too often other voices are deafened, and these voices represent the vast majority of historical participants. It is not enough to view history through the eyes of intellectuals, politicians, or warriors. For an historical account to be meaningful, it must offer insight into the collaborations, opinions, belief structures, and longings of those who chose not to become famous, but instead chose to indulge themselves in the unique fascinations that each historical epoch possesses.But because most humans throughout history did not record their experiences, the historian is left wanting for accurate appraisals of these experiences. Diaries, journals, and other personal writings can assist the historian in this regard, and there have been many uses of these throughout the historical literature. It is important to remember though that because of the paucity of these personal documents, one should not be too hasty in imputing the opinions of their authors to the entire population at the time. One cannot view them as representing the "voices of the people" without establishing this with (difficult) statistical analysis.Sometimes however these documents were written more as a catharsis, as a way of expressing, in a strong and determined way, an idea, grievance, or opposition to the status quo. The opening quotation in the book by Frederick Douglass reinforces this view, for in that quotation Douglass essentially states that power must be challenged before it can be defeated (Douglass does not want to stop with mere words though, for in the same quotation he asserts the need for physical confrontation if necessary).It is in this light that this book should be read. It is a collection of essays and letters that reveal attitudes that are not the typical ones that one would be exposed to in United States secondary schools. Those readers familiar with the author's earlier book on United States history will appreciate this book even more, but both can be read independently of each other. This is not a book that will please the elitist historian who discounts any view of history that does not magnify the contributions of intellectuals or military leaders over and above the "common" person. It is a book for those who are genuinely interested in the moods and aspirations of the people of a given time, if only from a limited vantage point. It will certainly upset the intellectual equilibrium of anyone who holds to a view of American history that has been sanitized by the educational establishment.

Excellent condition; well packaged.

Liked the quality of the product; liked the speed of delivery. Everything as promised.

The author is very excellent,of course, but he too transparent in his desire to impose his own views on what he is ultimately trying to do. Our US history has been written from a bias point of view all the years I have been reading it. I know and except this. I know that every account has been written much of the time like a propaganda leaflet. Zinn, however, is exaserbating the same problem by writing with his own obvious bias -same in reverse. We live in a gray world when it comes to our Country's leadership. Big mistakes and selfish driven motives. But that's the human element that we must learn and live with. I see no reason to make a case to make our history look so shameful in every respect. I think Zinn has some ulterior motives of his own.

I bought this book because it was my history text book and i needed to. I did not like the format of it for studying purposes.It would do better for general reading because in that regard it was interesting . It basically a bunch of first person accounts of events taken place in history which is interesting .first person accounts are not the same as facts though because how you are feeling at the time for an event isnt the same as the facts of the event and this book would have been easier to study if There was more then 1 paragraph before each 1st person account explaining what is happening.

Outstanding transaction! Book almost new! Purchase price was very reasonable! Thank you! Highly recommend this seller!

Great book!! Get educated people

Great book! Only reason it didn't get five stars is because the dialects of english trhough out time were neat but made it hard to understand what was being pointed out. It is great to read each chapter after reading a couple chapter from " A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES."It is a must read for millennials!