I use the first book at least once during each of my American history classes and keep it close at hand for reference when reading other American history books. What sets this book apart from other extensive American history books is that Zinn focused on the people of American history, rather than events (which often are just background for spotlighting the people). Seeing this perspective helps to fill in the voids left by other books that focus on movements and events.
I would be remiss if I did not discuss the big elephant in the room -- Zinn's political leanings; if you are not familiar with Zinn, he is a leftist political observer, historian, and writer. Those leanings do show up in this writing, mostly when he is writing of immigrant and lower scoio-economic classes of people. If you are more on the conservative side of the political spectrum, those leanings are more of a shout than a whisper. It is also male-heavy, so it could be used as a companion to books dedicated to women's history or any other minority history books. I would encourage all people along the political spectrum to read this book, as it gives so much detail to the people behind and in front of the big movements and events; yet I would recommend this book as a companion piece to other resources and not as a stand-alone, which is why I took a star off the rating.
As for the second book -- I read the first book back in 2000 and it was already five years old, so there was little on the presidency of Clinton. I picked up The Twentieth Century as that (small) book picks up where the first one ends and takes you through G. W. Bush's first term/9-11/OEF & OIF. Overall, both books 4/5 stars.
6
1