A Young People's History of the United States: Revised and Updated

by Howard Zinn, Rebecca Stefoff (Adapted by), Ed Morales (Contribution by)

Overview

A Young People's History of the United States brings to US history the viewpoints of workers, enslaved people, immigrants, women, Black people, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, American Indians, and others whose stories, and their impact, are rarely included in books for young people.

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 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.

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781644212516
Publisher:	Seven Stories Press
Publication date:	01/03/2023
Series:	For Young People Series
Pages:	544
Sales rank:	80,016
Product dimensions:	13.00(w) x 18.40(h) x 1.80(d)
Age Range:	10 - 15 Years

About the Author

The visionary historical work of professor and activist HOWARD ZINN (1922–2010) is widely considered one of the most important and influential of our era. After his experience as a bombardier in World War II, Zinn became convinced that there could no longer be such a thing as a “just war,” because the vast majority of victims in modern warfare are, increasingly, innocent civilians. In his books, including A People’s History of the United States, its companion volumeVoices of a People’s History of the United States, and countless other titles, Zinn affirms the power of the people to influence the course of events.

REBECCA STEFOFF is the author of more than 100 nonfiction books for children and young adults, and she has adapted several best-selling history books for younger readers.

Table of Contents

A Note on this Edition xi

Introduction xiii

Introduction Ed Morales: A New Narrative xvii

Part 1

Columbus and American Indians 1

Black and White 23

Who were the Colonists? 39

Tyranny Is Tyranny 57

Revolutions 71

The Women of Early America 89

As Long as Grass Grows or Water Runs 105

War with Mexico 123

Slavery and Emancipation 137

The Other Civil War 155

Robber Barons and Rebels 171

The American Empire 187

Part 2

Class Struggle 203

World War I 221

Hard Times 237

World War II and the Cold War 259

Black Revolt and Civil Rights 277

Vietnam 299

Surprises 315

The Latino Emergence 337

Under Control? 381

Politics as Usual 395

Resistance 409

The End of the Twentieth Century 423

The "War on Terrorism" 437

War in Iraq, Conflict at Home 451

Our Voices Need to be Heard 469

Conclusion Howard Zinn: "Rise Like Lions" 485

Glossary 497

Index 499

About the Authors 518

Editorial Reviews

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

From the Publisher

2024-01-09
A new edition of late author Zinn’s 2007 work, which was adapted for young readers by Stefoff and based on Zinn’s groundbreaking 1980 original for adults.

This updated version, also adapted by Stefoff, a writer for children and teens, contains new material by journalist Morales. The work opens with the arrival of Christopher Columbus and concludes with a chapter by Morales on social and political issues from 2006 through the election of President Joe Biden seen through the lens of Latinx identity. Zinn’s work famously takes a radically different perspective from that of most mainstream history books, viewing conflicts as driven by rich people taking advantage of poorer ones. Zinn professed his own point of view as being “critical of war, racism, and economic injustice,” an approach that felt fresh among popular works of the time. Unfortunately, despite upgrades that include Morales’ perspective, “a couple of insights into Native American history,” and “a look at the Asian American activism that flourished alongside other social movements in the 1960s and 1970s,” the book feels dated. It entirely lacks footnotes, endnotes, or references, so readers cannot verify facts or further investigate material, and the black-and-white images lack credits. Although the work seeks to be inclusive, readers may wonder about the omission of many subjects relating to race, gender, and sexuality, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, Indian boarding schools, the Tulsa Race Massacre, Loving v. Virginia, the Stonewall Uprising, Roe v. Wade, Title IX, the AIDS crisis, and the struggle for marriage equality.

A refreshed version of a classic that doesn’t hold up to more recent works. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-16)

Kirkus Reviews