A People's History of the United States
A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinnby Howard Zinn
Shares rank 9 of 51 history books by recommenders
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.
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.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Grounded, analytical account of US history
“shows a more grounded history of this country”
Comment from 1 Mar 2026 in “This System Can Go Fuck Itself and Burn in Hell” “the most salient analysis of US history”
Comment from 18 Oct 2026 in “Zuckerberg's Meta Takes Down No Kings Instagram During Protest Day”
Other history books people recommend
The four most recommended other history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dawn of Everythingby David Graeber and David Wengrow | 23 | 5 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Cadillac Desertby Marc Reisner | 18 | 0 | 100% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Boxby Marc Levinson | 16 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Sapiensby Yuval Noah Harari | 13 | 9 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| A People's History of the United Statesby Howard ZinnThis page | 8 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Howard Zinn covers this pretty well”
“the most salient analysis of US history”
“The peoples history of the united States by Howard Zinn covers many attempts Luke this. he makes a case for what works and what doesn't.”
“should be required reading for every student and every voter”
“A truly fantastic book. I'm glad to hear of more people checking it out.”
“were surprised at how true this is”
“shows a more grounded history of this country”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.