#6 in History
A People's History of the United States
- 702
- Pages
- about 13 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“A People’s History of the United States” retells American history from below, as the story of a majority exploited by a small elite. It works best as a starting point: a first map of any era, to be followed by more specialised studies. The book is openly a counter-history, and some readers find its portrayal of religious figures too uniformly favourable. At over seven hundred pages, it takes time.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
A People's History of the United States is a 1980 nonfiction book by American historian and political scientist Howard Zinn. In the book, Zinn presented what he considered to be a different side of history from the more traditional "fundamental nationalist glorification of country". Zinn portrays a side of American history that can largely be seen as the exploitation and manipulation of the majority by rigged systems that hugely favor a small aggregate of elite rulers from across the orthodox political parties.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.4 across 367 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 71% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the History average of 8.0. That is how 8.3 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.3 | 46 | 13% |
| Hardcover | 8.4 | 321 | 88% |
Frequently asked
How long is A People's History of the United States?
It has 702 pages — longer than 83% of the ranked books in History.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — History — with scores between 7.8 and 8.4, closest to this book.
