# A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

8 Hacker News commenters recommended A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a grounded, analytical account of US history that shows what has and hasn't worked, and some say it should be required reading.

## Why people recommend it

- Grounded, analytical account of US history (2 comments): "shows a more grounded history of this country" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47210734)) "the most salient analysis of US history" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50137290))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dawn-of-everything.md): 23 recommend
- [Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cadillac-desert.md): 18 recommend
- [The Box by Marc Levinson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/box.md): 16 recommend
- [Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sapiens.md): 13 recommend
- [Chip War by Chris Miller](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chip-war.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062397346?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780062397348) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn", https://hackerapproved.com/p/a-people-s-history-of-the-united-states/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).