Available on Amazon
Posted on 07/02/2026 3:01:01 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
In the film “Good Will Hunting,” Matt Damon’s character looks with disdain at a U.S. history book he spots in the office of his therapist, played by Robin Williams. “You want to read a real history book, read Howard Zinn’s ‘A People’s History of the United States,’ ” Mr. Damon’s character says. It will “knock you on your a—.”
When that movie came out in 1997, Zinn’s ruthlessly negative alternative history was poorly regarded by professional historians but beloved by legions of left-leaning readers. First published in 1980, “A People’s History” became popular mostly by word of mouth. It was the sort of book that a cool Marxist social studies teacher, the kind who sat cross-legged on his desk and asked kids to call him by his first name, might’ve slipped to his brighter students.
With periodic updates over the decades, Zinn’s opus ballooned to more than 700 pages. But its message could be summarized in two words: America stinks. The author believed most history textbooks offered only a whitewashed “nationalist glorification of country,” he told the New York Times. In response, he oversimplified the story in the opposite direction. America’s Founding Fathers? Just wealthy white men guarding their fortunes. Abraham Lincoln? A half-hearted abolitionist who was concerned about protecting “the interests of the very rich.” World War II? Sure, the Nazis were bad, Zinn concedes, but the U.S. and her allies didn’t really “represent something significantly different.”
“A People’s History” reads like a cross between a children’s book and a prosecutor’s brief. America’s downtrodden masses are uniformly brave and heroic; its leaders are one-dimensional villains. The author catalogs our nation’s every moral failure and unfulfilled promise. Every American should know about the evils of slavery and other stains on our past. But Zinn’s indictment scrupulously avoids...
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
Yes it is. Horrible indoctrination.
Okay Howard, show me another country who's history is better.
Notice how often communists preface their titles with the phrase “People’s...”?
That’s to fool the gullible.
Maybe the Venezuelan earthquake exposes the truth about the thirty year history of Chazista style socialism? Put th narrative out there, even over the top, inevery forum we can. I wonder what Zinn or Carlson have to say about Japanes attack on Pearl Harbor against the backdrop of their atrocities across China, yet their continurd embrace of their own culture and their abundant prosperity in the followig era of US dominance?
A Horseshiiite book, as has been expounded on for many, many years here and just about everywhere else.
I saw that in the film. One of many nudges out of Hollyweird.
That book has caused more damage to this country, than any other book.
Notice how often communists preface their titles with the phrase “People’s...”?
The People’s Temple.
That is Howard's problem.
We started out with ideals and have tried to live up to them. Imperfectly because we are only human but we have tried.
He does not agree with those ideals.
He prefers the "guy with big stick runs everything" sort of county. Because he deludes himself that he would be the one with the big stick.
The two most destructive books in history are the 'Communist Manifesto' and the Quran.
The two most destructive books in history are the ‘Communist Manifesto’ and the Quran.
Most normal Americans have never read those, unlike Zinn’s book.
I caught it too. I didn’t know anything about Zinn at the, but I knew it had to be Left-wing propaganda since Robin Williams was in the movie.
He prefers the “guy with big stick runs everything” sort of county. Because he deludes himself that he would be the one with the big stick.
He would be one of those who would be first against the wall while pleading, “But I am one of you!”
There was a British ancient historian of some note, Russell Meiggs (1902-1989), whose ancestors were Americans--I believe it is the same family despite the different spelling.
They think they are smart and they are objectively quite clever but they have always lived in a high trust society that is part of a world governed by Western Civilization norms and values. A world where their life has value just because they are a fellow human being.
They don't understand that their value to the guy with the big stick is less than zero.
Gotta add ‘Rules for Radicals’ ..
How many schools taught that book?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.