Zinn's book and accuracy

[asher]

I'm looking for a less Eurocentric history spine for my 7th. Grader and see many of you use Zinn's A Young People's History of the United States: Columbus to the War on Terror (For Young People Series). I've seen criticism on the accuracy of the information, but I believe some of that is colored by the political biases of the critic. What is your take?

[Farrar]

I've never found any outright errors in Zinn's books. Which is not to say that he doesn't have something wrong somewhere. Most history books - especially when authors start writing more comprehensive things like he has - end up with at least a few things that are outright wrong.

 

I think there's a lot more good criticism of his conclusions. That's much more debatable. He's obviously discussing certain facts, certain ideas, certain events and leaving out others. Which is *fine* - he has a strong perspective. I mostly agree with him, but I would be hesitant to use his books on their own without some other resources for more balance.

[Tanaqui]

I agree with Farrar and also your assessment of why people tend to criticize his book. There's a reason all those criticisms are from conservatives, and it's not because liberals are super biased. I mean, we can be as biased as anybody else, lol, but just like I hope at least *some* conservatives will criticize a factually incorrect work that props up their beliefs, at least *some* liberals will do the same.

 

I think there's a lot more good criticism of his conclusions. That's much more debatable. He's obviously discussing certain facts, certain ideas, certain events and leaving out others.

 

And the thing is, unless you're writing the world's most boring encyclopedia, everybody does that. If you try to include everything, and give everything equal weight, you end up with a very heavy paperweight. Anything useful is lost in the mess.

[asher]

Thanks for your input, Farrah and Tanaqui.

Edited March 27, 2017 by asher

[MistyMountain]

He admits that he is writing from a biased point of view of the side of the oppressed. His information is very good but it is obviously skewed. I have used it along other stuff. I mostly side with him but I do like to have balance and include other sides too.

[SeaConquest]

I'm planning to use it as a follow up to a History of US. Do you all think they work well together?

[Tanaqui]

I'm planning to use it as a follow up to a History of US. Do you all think they work well together?

 

I can think of worse pairings, but I found combining it with A Different Mirror just worked a bit better.