A People's History of the United States
Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History of the United States is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of -- and in the words of -- America's women, factory workers, African Americans, Native Americans, working poor, and immigrant laborers.
Stats for nerds
53recommend
116mentions
102people
2008–2026years
48% recommend47% neutral5% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- You should read A People's History of the United States!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_People%27s_History_of_the_Un...
- This sort of thing has been happening for 500 years. The People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn should be required reading for every student and every voter.
- Some friends and I read "A People's History of the United States" a while back and were surprised at how true this is. US classroom history textbooks hold civil disobedience up as the One True Way to bring change, but it's alarming how often the backdrop of famous acts of civil disobedience was in fact incredible violence.
Our conclusion in our impromptu book club was that made sense: why would the state schools give students lots of examples of how violence against the state was an effective negotiating tool? It was extremely jarring to reconcile with the image of US history we'd been imbued with up to that point, which of course was also a reflection of our socioeconomic status at the time.
As a counterpoint, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants" is also taught in schools, so it's possible I'm just selectively remembering things.
- An excellent essay. Very grim but honest and likely resonates with most people on some level.
America has been a cruel place to be poor since day one. I encourage everyone to read Howard Zinn’s ‘A People's History of the United States’ as it shows a more grounded history of this country. The US needs a workforce of starving, ill, desperate people in order to work. That’s how the system was built: on the backs of African slaves and the European poor.
The unspoken rule of this society is that everyone should rely on their family for help and not the government. This is why life is especially cruel for those with little to no family.
Those who embrace and celebrate AI when there’s a chance it could lead to mass unemployment and suffering should take a long hard look in the mirror.
- Since you linked that nice biology article I'm guessing you already know about "The Machinery of Life," that book seems like it would be good. The Kurzgesagt Immune System book is probably even better as it's intentionally written at an accessible level.
Organic Chemistry as a Second Language is maybe my favorite introductory text of all time though it might be a little dry if you aren't already interested.
It has its own political bend but I would recommend "A People's History of the United States." There's a lot of quality graphic novels out there that are interesting in a different way than textbooks that can teach a lot of history. I'm thinking of Persepolis as an example.
- Here are some books that pop bubbles, but must be read with humility to avoid becoming its own new bubble, as the world is complex and contains contradictions:
Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States
Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel
Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma
Ayn Rand's the Fountainhead
Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics
Julian Jaynes's the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
Iain McGilchrist's the Master and his Emmisary
Varlam Sharlamov's the Kolyma Tales
Jacques Ellul's Propaganda: the Formation of Men's Attitudes (or alternatively Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death)
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