In this companion volume to the Showtime documentary series of the same name, film director Oliver Stone and historian Peter Kuznick challenge prevailing orthodoxies of American history as it is most often taught. The traditional notion of American exceptionalism still shapes our understanding of our place in the world; most Americans are loath to admit that the United States has any imperial pretensions, though the evidence reveals a different story. Stone and Kuznick construct a meticulously documented "People's History of the American Empire" that offers startling context to the policies that put us at war in two Muslim countries, and they show why even an antiwar administration finds it so difficult to cleave a new path.
"Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick have done what many would consider impossible. They have written a political history of the United States in the 20th Century that tells us exactly how the United States became an empire through conscious decisions, and how the struggle to maintain that empire will go on despite which political party holds office. It is a brilliant survey of the untold story."—Lloyd C. Gardner
"Howard [Zinn] would have loved this 'people's history' of the American Empire. It's compulsive reading."—Daniel Ellsberg
"Many books have been written about specific episodes of American intervention and military aggression. And yet the master narrative remains intact: the U.S. is the 'indispensable nation,' relied upon by people and nations around the world to preserve the peace and defend freedom. The immense contribution of The Untold History of the United States is to shatter the conventional wisdom, challenging readers to re-conceptualize the American role in the world.... Everyone who reads [this book] will learn something new and be compelled to examine long held assumptions. For students of U.S. history, this is an invaluable work."—Carolyn Eisenberg