The Untold History of the United States

Reading this alongside watching the DVD of the television series was extremely helpful. Initially disturbed by the possibilities that the movie "JFK" brought up, I have read a number of books around the Kennedy assassinations. This book sets this couple of incidents in a wider persecutive. The early history dating from the time of the Spanish-American war through the First World War and the period before WWII - which is where the television series starts - illustrates very well that such incidents are not actually aberrations but consistent with policy that has been in process for a long time.The recent economic meltdown of 2008 following the subprime loans debacle has produced a wider array of critics of the military industrial complex and the philosophy behind the world's development and directions. Oliver Stone's and Peter Kuznick's book is timely in light of this but also in view of recent events in the Ukraine and also the recent Obama initiative to recognise Cuba. In following US history from the turn of the twentieth century up to the Obama administration it is possible to realise why so few of our hopes and dreams have come to fruition.The baby boom generation hoped for so much but lost so many of their inspirational leaders in the prime of their life. But for a few twists and turns the atom bombs never may have been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and so many young men would not have lost their lives or been permanently scarred from the waste of Vietnam.As people are seeking another way forward in the years ahead that will allow a better distribution of wealth, better use of our precious earth, without having to seek an outcome like that suggested by the film "Interstellar" this is a great place to start. In fact I would suggest it is essential to place our future in more accurate historical context.I never could quite understand why people had such a negative attitude toward the USA and its influence in the world. This book opened my eyes and I would imagine it will help many others.

Some of the reviews criticize the book for focusing on the dark side of history, but this focus is noted at the beginning of the book so it should not be unexpected. It casts a very critical eye on 20th century American history. I'm not sure how much of this is "untold", but I believe unless you are an avid student of history (which I am not) you will probably learn new details. Since there is no such thing as an unbiased book, I would not take this as definitive source but rather as another data point and follow up further on those topics which might be of greater interest or concern.I gave this book 5 stars because of the story it tells about the interplay of American attitudes and actions around the world during the past century. And again, since the book focuses on poor or misguided decisions and the consequent actions, it doesn't paint a flattering picture. However, I believe that there is value in looking at this because it helps provide some insight into the state of the world today and the lens through which many other nations may view the US.

This is a fascinating work for history buffs especially. This book when combined with the t.v. series shown on Showtime network, also available on Netflix, or DVD, is eye opening. This is the alternative view of what we've been taught of U.S. history during the twentieth century, and up to the Obama administration. I was surprised about how Truman came to be nominated by the Democrats to run as opposed to vice president Wallace. So many different angles to well known historical events, that shed a different light on them. All of this is backed up by actual facts that can be researched. My conclusion is that so much recent history has been suppressed or told in half truths, after being spun. This is the flip side of the same coin.

This is a refreshingly BS-free version of American history, unencumbered by the usual mile wide/inch deep K-12 textbook spin. I doubt, however, that Oliver Stone had very much to do with the book itself. Oliver Stone produced and directed a much too brief video adaptation of the book to accompany its publication, but there's no way to summarize a massive book like this into a single video. The recent 6-hour, 3-part PBS series on WWI is a good example of the kind of thing that this book also does very well. I think the Oliver Stone video is still available on YouTube. But that video in no way replaces the book itself.

There is quite a bit left out history books for political and religious reasons. I started to be very concerned when subjects were being left out of the curriculum..... civics, geography etc. This book fills in the blanks in US History. My background is I research so I always approach books like this with a big dose of skepticism.....until I run down 20 or so of the foot notes to their primary sources. They check out, are correct..... and complete. They create context and fill in the blanks. You may not agree with all of the conclusions but the events are correct and the fact that they have been "left out" of even college history texts is a reason to be concerned. That adage about those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it rings true.... Can you say Vietnam/Afghanistan?

Excellent account of history not taught in the current educational environment. Factual and richly annotated, it belongs in every institution of higher learning and on every shelf. Beautifully complements the works of Howard Zinn and illuminates American history that isn't written from the point of view of the victor. Addresses issues and questions that should be commented on and asked by everyone. You may also see a DVD of the same name, which puts pertinent images to the words.

Stunning. Will you agree with everything put forward? Probably not. Is there some bias? Of course. What history is not biased by even the most careful historian. Is the content valuable? Without question. It is a sad day when any person disregards a noble intent to represent truth and adapt their priors accordingly.

Infuriating book. Indignant wholesale trashing of America's past over the past 75-odd years spoiled by some astonishingly sloppy inaccuracies - Madrid and Barcelona apparently being heavily bombed in WW2, and Kuwait being 'part of Britain'. (Someone explain to the authors what a Protectorate is). Some recurring and heavy political slanting - without any real evidence to substantiate the stance - is jarring, and makes you wonder just what the authors' agenda is, and - worse - makes you start to doubt the veracity of many of the events being described. An 'untold history' is a fine concept...but without providing examples of what the 'official history' of assorted events/people/actions swere, it tarts to become a bit meaningless after a while. Not to mention becoming increasingly irritating with its lazy writing/editing.

This is a powerful socio-political history of the most powerful nation that has ever graced the planet. A country that will have us believe...and we would like to believe...that it is the bastion of freedom and democracy. This has been the 'American century' and this book tells us how they achieved this platitude. It is not I might add with any sort of diplomatic grace, humility or democratic panache. This book will outline to you how they got it so wrong?The authors present a well referenced, researched and informed viewpoint that is hard to ignore. The evidence is overwhelming, the western world, with few exceptions, has been run by what can only be termed as a cacophony of self seeking, arrogant, racist, sub intellectuals for the last hundred years. That Regan used to fall asleep during his morning briefings just about sums up the quality! Those who have occupied that most esteemed of political offices over the last hundred years have left a US democratic legacy that is battered and bleeding, maybe mortally so. A legacy that has seen the ruin of their international reputation and that is also catapulting them into a financial meltdown. It is a story pitted with political, financial and military disasters on such a grand scale that it beggars belief.I will say however that the fact that they also did a lot of good is hardly highlighted at all in the book. In any case, the good is totally overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of bad. They made decisions that left millions dead, destroyed entire countries and nullified what should be basic world commodities, that of a reasonable amount of world peace and stability without the threat or risk of an armageddon. The lies, deceit and sheer arrogance practiced by most of these historic figures (and administrations) belies belief. Here we find the true reasons behind the unlawful or unwarranted sovereign interventions in Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Grenada, Iraq and Afghanistan, the clandestine and bloody subterfuge involved in supporting rogue states and dictators, state authorised assassinations, the common use of torture by government agencies and the lack of conformity to domestic and international laws. In turn there are lost opportunities to shackle the growth of nuclear weapons, the eternal shame of their unnecessary use and the basic system incompetences involved in alleged near misses.The list is endless and it makes very sad reading. Sad because most of us know that it is true and that the people of the US deserve better. Sadder still is that I could write the same review about the UK. A very comprehensive and authoritative book brilliantly researched that is superbly written. One of my best reads ever.

CLEARLY, the old ways of doing things don't work, the world is changing fast, and America is confused about its place and how to hold onto its power.And clearly, it has so many problems in its own backyard, it's not going to be able to continue bossing the rest of the world.That's a good thing, because as this book shows, it hasn't made a great job of much of its global policing and self-aggrandising in the past.I found the saddest part was how some very nasty, not very bright people get the very top job in the USA, and that Obama has been such a let-down, just as Tony Blaire ultimately was for Britain.Read it!

I bought this book when it came out, being a fan of Stone’s. Platoon and Salvador are two of my favourite movies, and I liked one or two of his others as well.However I only just got round to reading it and it made a hell of an impression. Some of it I already knew, but it filled in a lot of gaps, and most of all by offering a continuous narrative it provides continuity and perspective.For instance, it is easier to understand why Carter and in a similar way Truman were liable to be seen as weak if you understand the pressurised situation they arrived in when first in post, if you have followed the events of the previous presidency. Apparently this syndrome was also important for Johnson who was terrified of being seen as weak, so much so that maybe he never really generated his own opinion about Vietnam, just did what he felt pressured into doing.The theme of this book is to me that in the last hundred years the US government has constantly been pressured by the interests of its own multinational companies to protect their interests, and in most cases these interests have overwhelmed ethical considerations and caused the USA to subvert and destroy stable and democratic countries all over the world, often arranging military coups to substitute tyrants for democracy if it means the interests of US investment can be furthered. There are many quotes from US politicians boasting of their lack of concern for the native populations.The authors are very savage on Woodrow Wilson, showing that his humanitarian “14 points” all about self-determination of nations were complete hogwash, and that he had no compunction about overruling any nation if it was in US interests to do so.For me one of the most interesting points was about the development of nuclear weapons. I had tended to believe that the use of the bomb in Japan was that it ended the war maybe a year earlier than it otherwise would have. Stone and Kuznick mount a convincing argument that this was not true. Japan were looking to surrender anyway, they just wanted assurances that their Emperor would not be deposed. The real reason for using the bomb was because Truman was new in post, felt out of his depth and wanted something to frighten the Russians with when he negotiated with them.The only two presidents who come out well in this book are FDR and JFK. Roosevelt comes across as a truly remarkable man who at various points insisted on prioritising an ethical point of view against one of economic or political advantage.JFK is drawn as a man just hitting his stride and developing a determination to withdraw from Vietnam and beginning to question a lot of the USA’s cruel colonisation of Latin America in the months before his death.I am not quite convinced about the narrative on the cold war in this book. The chapter on Truman invites us to conclude that actually the Russians were really quite nice guys with only self defence in mind and the cold war was actually quite unnecessary and down to US paranoia. Well I have read several biographies of Stalin and I don’t quite buy this view. Stalin sets the bar for ruthlessness in 20th century politics, and wanted to spread communism – if possible – as much as the US wanted to spread their version of democracy. Having said that there is no argument but that the US overreacted and also that there were many situations where the Russians would have been happy to play ball with peace initiatives.Eisenhower is the man although often now remembered for his speech at the end of his career as president warning about the dangers of the military industrial complex who actually did more than anyone to develop this complex, expanding military expenditure and American military adventurism exponentially.The most horrific thing in this book for me however is the role of the CIA. There are innumerable occasions through many decades when the fundamental role of the CIA seems to have been to covertly destroy stable democratic countries and install tyrannical murderous leaders who have been bribed to protect US interests. They did this not once or twice but many many times – Guatemala, El Salvador, Afghanistan, Chile, Iran, Iraq, and many other countries. Funny way of exporting democracy.If you are interested in the politics of the USA this book is not to be missed.

This is a good book to read and is written better than so many American books. It gives a good overview of the backstory to many historical events and probably should be read alongside some of Anthony C Sutton's monographs for added detail.It is a story of an American Republic corrupted by the world in reality corrupted by its obsessive-compulsion to direct the world. The destruction of the British Empire and the access US corporations gained to raw materials from that empire spawned a global race for oil and minerals which in recent years has reached into the backyard of the Soviet Union and a new Great Game.The book is especially weak on European inputs. The role of Harold Macmillan, British PM in liaising between Kennedy and Khrushchev is ignored. Likewise the fact that the US cut off the British from nuclear technology with the McMahon Act and forced the 1945 Labour Government to build its own atomic bomb and the Conservatives to have Penney build a hydrogen bomb.The key aspects of The Mackinder Plan are not discussed which is the reason the US needs control of Europe through Occupation or Missile DefenceOtherwise good