In the ethos of an
approach, championed by Howard Zinn, to studying history unshackled
by the dominant narratives of the oppressors and victor, Chris Harmon
gives a fascinating examination of world developments in ways most of
us have never looked at in normative history classes.
From the publisher:
“Chris Harman describes the shape and course of human history as a
narrative of ordinary people forming and re-forming complex societies
in pursuit of common human goals. Interacting with the forces of
technological change as well as the impact of powerful individuals
and revolutionary ideas, these societies have engendered events
familiar to every schoolchild—from the empires of antiquity to the
world wars of the twentieth century.
In a bravura
conclusion, Chris Harman exposes the reductive complacency of
contemporary capitalism, and asks, in a world riven as never before
by suffering and inequality, why we imagine that it can—or
should—survive much longer. Ambitious, provocative and
invigorating, A People's History of the World delivers a vital
corrective to traditional history, as well as a powerful sense of the
deep currents of humanity which surge beneath the froth of
government.”
“An indispensable
volume.”—Howard Zinn
