Thanks for the booklist.
I have heard that Zinn's People's History is very interesting, but I've not yet read it.
The author was an avowed socialist and wrote the book to advance socialism. If my children get the book from the library, so be it, but I would not recommend it to them. A review from the New York Times by Walter Kirn is
here.
I previewed
A People's History of the United States via
Amazon's "Look Inside" feature and in the first pages the following occurred to me:
1) The time period pre-dates the establishment of the United States by approximately 300 years.
2) The landmass described is Bahamas and Cuba, not what became the United States.
3) "Spaniards" are described, motivated by a quest for gold and a route to the Orient... whereas the ancestors/founders of the US were largely English and motivated by a quest for freedom from religious persecution.
In the "Afterword" Zinn reveals his aims/purpose, his bias/perspective, and that his work drew criticism regarding omissions... similar to the criticisms which he had given earlier works about their omissions. While Zinn extols socialism, I do not see that profits from his authorship were distributed to those of lesser means... if this occurred, it did not come to my attention.
There is good and bad in everything. Be cautious. Ask questions.
