This book proved to be an enlightening read. It both teaches and inspires. Howard Zinn gave us a perspective of the real story of American history previously inaccessible to us – history from the point of view of real people – immigrant workers, American women, the working poor, laborers of factory, Africans and Native Americans. United States, originally published in 1980, as a non-fiction work by American political scientist and historian Howard Zinn. Zinn seeks to show us American history through the eyes of ordinary people rather than through the views of biased historians. A People's History is included in high school and college curricula across the United States and is a favorite of American homeschoolers everywhere. This has dramatically changed the way the story is now presented. In a 2004 interview, Zinn said, "You could say it took twenty years, twenty years of teaching American history and gathering materials and so on, but not knowing that I would be writing." this book. When I started writing, it took me less than a year to write it. I wrote it because after the movements of the sixties, people became radicalized and became dissatisfied with traditional history and wanted stories that showed working people, black people, Native Americans and women. And I was aware that no such book existed, no such story existed. So I decided to try to fill this gap. (1)A popular history begins with the story of the first encounters of the natives with Christopher Columbus. Zinn's views on the reality of these first encounters are significantly different from the stories we hear as children. We find that Columbus is traditionally depicted as peaceful...... middle of paper ...... views and tells us about a powerful social evolution based on the ever-widening gap between the majority of the American population ("the 99%") and the rich minority ("the 1%)" (Zinn, p. 619-621, 1995). Zinn's "prophecy" of a society where "the rich get richer and the poor are getting poorer” has been repeatedly attacked by conservatives and others Given the events of recent years, the banking crisis, and the rise of the Occupy movement in 2011, Zinn's theories regarding the 99% are surprisingly unsound. insightful, even predictive, of the 21st century times Zinn is always careful to avoid painting his predictions with too broad a brush. Zinn's careful examination of the problems between the rich and the ever-poor population continues today. Works Cited Zinn, Howard, Interview with Joel Whitney for Geurnica – A Magazine or Art & Politics, October. 27, 2004