People's History of the United States

1980. First Edition . Signed. ZINN, Howard. A People's History of the United States. New York: Harper & Row, (1980). Octavo, original navy cloth, original dust jacket. $5200.First edition of Zinn's controversial work that challenged ""a generation to rethink America’s past,"" signed and dated by him across the expanse of the title page, in very scarce dust jacket.Zinn, who died in 2010, was ""proudly, unabashedly radical,"" a lifelong activist and groundbreaking historian whose People's History peeled back ""the rosy veneer of much of American history to reveal sordid realities that had remained hidden for too long."" Writing of Andrew Jackson, he said: ""If you look through high school textbooks and elementary school textbooks in American history, you will find Jackson the frontiersman, soldier, democrat, man of the people—not Jackson the slaveholder, land speculator, executioner of dissident soldiers, exterminator of Indians"" (New York Times). ""Zinn was a force in the civil rights movement and one of the originators of oral history and history 'from below'… He constantly referred to the need for intellectuals to act as citizens, and he set an example of what citizenship means: taking founding principles seriously, raising his voice and grappling with political issues"" (Washington Post). With People's History, Zinn challenged ""a generation to rethink America's past"" (Boston Globe). In a 2008 interview he said: ""I guess if I want to be remembered for anything it's for introducing a different way of thinking about the world, about war, about human rights, about equality… Also, getting more people to realize… [that] power ultimately rests in people themselves and they can use it… I want to be remembered as somebody who gave people a feeling of hope and power that they didn't have before"" (Washington Post). To fellow historian Eric Foner, this still controversial work represents a major ""step toward a coherent new version of American history"" (New York Times). First edition, first printing. Text fresh with only faint soiling to lower fore-edge of about-fine book; light edge-wear, crease to rear panel of very good dust jacket. An especially scarce signed copy.