Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have a Bachelor's degree focused on history and public policy, as well as a Law degree. In every stage of my education, I have insured that the study of American History was incorporated into my schedule. As an undergraduate student, I read this book alongside "A History Of The American People" by Paul Johnson. I will not comment on subjective issues regarding Zinn's piece, such as readability, because they aren't as pivotal as the book's content. Zinn's treatise is touted 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." The problem lies with the fact that while the tale is told by, and in the words of the aforementioned groups, Zinn doesn't chronologically recount the events that formed our country, as the reader would assume. Rather, at any given stage of our country's history, he selectively discusses topics that, in his opinion, are the most important to discuss. From the first page, it is easy for the reader to notice this trend, and observe that his choice of topics is guided by an overarching socialist agenda. By subjectively choosing to fill his book with incidents of racism, sexism and xenophobia, Zinn attempts to wield his literary brush, and paint the United States as an evil empire. He attempts to convince the reader that Uncle Sam became a prominent, global superpower through a degree of rape, prejudice and oppression that is unequaled by any other nation. All the while, he poorly cites his sources, and fails to discuss foundational moments of our history in sufficient detail. In short, I feel that this book could be highly ranked as opinion editorial, as it has the same degree of objectivity as a political commentator such as Al Franken or Bill Maher. But Zinn's piece is not purported to be one of opinion. Rather, it is said to be a detailed account of American History (ALL of it, not just selective pieces) and it fails to accomplish that goal. If one want's to read a more objective account of America's history, noting both our successes and failures alike, Paul Johnson's "A History of the American People" is a far better choice.