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A Young People's History of the United States

Part of For Young People Series

Author Howard Zinn
Contributions by Rebecca Stefoff
Paperback
$22.95 US
Seven Stories Press | Triangle Square
5.49"W x 7.96"H x 0.92"D  
On sale Jun 02, 2009 | 464 Pages | 9781583228692
Grades 6-12
Reading Level: Lexile 1010L | Fountas & Pinnell Z
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A Young People’s History of the United States brings to US history the viewpoints of workers, slaves, immigrants, women, Native Americans, and others whose stories, and their impact, are rarely included in books for young people. A Young People’s History of the United States is also a companion volume to The People Speak, the film adapted from A People’s History of the United States and Voices of a People’s History of the United States.

Beginning with a look at Christopher Columbus’s arrival through the eyes of the Arawak Indians, then leading the reader through the struggles for workers’ rights, women’s rights, and civil rights during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and ending with the current protests against continued American imperialism, Zinn in A Young People’s History of the United States presents a radical new way of understanding America’s history. In so doing, he reminds readers that America’s true greatness is shaped by our dissident voices, not our military generals.

“In many years of searching, we have not found one history book to recommend…until the just published A Young People’s History of the United States. This is the edition of A Peoples History that we have all been waiting for.” — Deborah Menkart, Executive Director, Teaching for Change.

“I have been teaching, with complete class sets, Howard Zinn’s A Young People’s History of the United States for two years now…Many times, through Zinn’s book, I am able to reach students and have them participate in discussions when they have previously shown no interest in history at all…For many of my students, this is the first real book they have read cover to cover in their young lives.” — Sol Joye, Neil Armstrong Middle School, Forest Grove, OR
© Seven Stories Press
HOWARD ZINN’s (1922–2010) great subject isn’t war, but peace. After his experience as a bombardier in World War II, he became convinced that there could be no such thing as a “just war,” as the vast majority of modern warfare’s victims are made up of innocent civilians. In his books, including A People’s History of the United States and its companion volume, Voices of a People’s History of the United States, Zinn affirms the power of the masses to influence major events. Through a lifetime of pointed scholarship and principled civil disobedience, he has led and continues to lead generations in the ways of peace. View titles by Howard Zinn
“Zinn has written a brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those who have been exploited … the book is an excellent antidote to establishment history … While the book is precise enough to please specialists, it should satisfy any adult reader.” —Library Journal

“In many years of searching, we have not found one history book we would recommend to them—until [the] just published A Young People's History of the United States. This is the edition of A People's History that we have all been waiting for.” —Deborah Menkart, executive director, Teaching for Change

“Zinn's work exemplifies an approach to history that is radical, regardless of its subject or geographical location. He tells us the untold story, the story of the world's poor, the world's workers, the world's homeless, the world's oppressed, the people who don't really qualify as real people in official histories. Howard Zinn painstakingly unearths the details that the powerful seek to airbrush away. He brings official secrets and forgotten histories out into the light, and in doing so, changes the official narrative that the powerful have constructed for us. He strips the grinning mask off the myth of the benign American Empire. To not read Howard Zinn is to do a disservice to yourself.” —Arundhati Roy

“[Zinn] gives a real insight into history that is often left out of textbooks. Highly recommended.” —Socialist Review

About

A Young People’s History of the United States brings to US history the viewpoints of workers, slaves, immigrants, women, Native Americans, and others whose stories, and their impact, are rarely included in books for young people. A Young People’s History of the United States is also a companion volume to The People Speak, the film adapted from A People’s History of the United States and Voices of a People’s History of the United States.

Beginning with a look at Christopher Columbus’s arrival through the eyes of the Arawak Indians, then leading the reader through the struggles for workers’ rights, women’s rights, and civil rights during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and ending with the current protests against continued American imperialism, Zinn in A Young People’s History of the United States presents a radical new way of understanding America’s history. In so doing, he reminds readers that America’s true greatness is shaped by our dissident voices, not our military generals.

“In many years of searching, we have not found one history book to recommend…until the just published A Young People’s History of the United States. This is the edition of A Peoples History that we have all been waiting for.” — Deborah Menkart, Executive Director, Teaching for Change.

“I have been teaching, with complete class sets, Howard Zinn’s A Young People’s History of the United States for two years now…Many times, through Zinn’s book, I am able to reach students and have them participate in discussions when they have previously shown no interest in history at all…For many of my students, this is the first real book they have read cover to cover in their young lives.” — Sol Joye, Neil Armstrong Middle School, Forest Grove, OR

Author

© Seven Stories Press
HOWARD ZINN’s (1922–2010) great subject isn’t war, but peace. After his experience as a bombardier in World War II, he became convinced that there could be no such thing as a “just war,” as the vast majority of modern warfare’s victims are made up of innocent civilians. In his books, including A People’s History of the United States and its companion volume, Voices of a People’s History of the United States, Zinn affirms the power of the masses to influence major events. Through a lifetime of pointed scholarship and principled civil disobedience, he has led and continues to lead generations in the ways of peace. View titles by Howard Zinn

Praise

“Zinn has written a brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those who have been exploited … the book is an excellent antidote to establishment history … While the book is precise enough to please specialists, it should satisfy any adult reader.” —Library Journal

“In many years of searching, we have not found one history book we would recommend to them—until [the] just published A Young People's History of the United States. This is the edition of A People's History that we have all been waiting for.” —Deborah Menkart, executive director, Teaching for Change

“Zinn's work exemplifies an approach to history that is radical, regardless of its subject or geographical location. He tells us the untold story, the story of the world's poor, the world's workers, the world's homeless, the world's oppressed, the people who don't really qualify as real people in official histories. Howard Zinn painstakingly unearths the details that the powerful seek to airbrush away. He brings official secrets and forgotten histories out into the light, and in doing so, changes the official narrative that the powerful have constructed for us. He strips the grinning mask off the myth of the benign American Empire. To not read Howard Zinn is to do a disservice to yourself.” —Arundhati Roy

“[Zinn] gives a real insight into history that is often left out of textbooks. Highly recommended.” —Socialist Review

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