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The Concise Untold History of the United States
A companion to Oliver Stone’s ten-part documentary series of the same name, this guide offers a people’s history of the American Empire: “a critical overview of US foreign policy…indispensable” (former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev); “brilliant, a masterpiece!” (Daniel Ellsberg); “Oliver Stone’s new book is as riveting, eye-opening, and thought-provoking as any history book you will ever read. It achieves what history, at its best, ought to do: presents a mountain of previously unknown facts that makes you question and re-examine many of your long-held assumptions about the most influential events” (Glenn Greenwald).
In November 2012, Showtime debuted a ten-part documentary series based on Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick’s The Untold History of the United States. The book and documentary looked back at human events that, at the time, went underreported, but also crucially shaped America’s unique and complex history over the twentieth century.
From the atomic bombing of Japan to the Cold War and fall of Communism, this concise version of the larger book is adapted for the general reader. Complete with poignant photos, arresting illustrations, and little-known documents, The Concise Untold History of the United States covers the rise of the American empire and national security state from the late nineteenth century through the Obama administration, putting it all together to show how deeply rooted the seemingly aberrant policies of the Bush-Cheney administration are in the nation’s past and why it has proven so difficult for Obama to change course.
In this concise and indispensible guide, Kuznick and Stone (who Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Garry Wills has called America’s own “Dostoevsky behind a camera”) challenge prevailing orthodoxies to reveal the dark truth about the rise and fall of American imperialism
In November 2012, Showtime debuted a ten-part documentary series based on Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick’s The Untold History of the United States. The book and documentary looked back at human events that, at the time, went underreported, but also crucially shaped America’s unique and complex history over the twentieth century.
From the atomic bombing of Japan to the Cold War and fall of Communism, this concise version of the larger book is adapted for the general reader. Complete with poignant photos, arresting illustrations, and little-known documents, The Concise Untold History of the United States covers the rise of the American empire and national security state from the late nineteenth century through the Obama administration, putting it all together to show how deeply rooted the seemingly aberrant policies of the Bush-Cheney administration are in the nation’s past and why it has proven so difficult for Obama to change course.
In this concise and indispensible guide, Kuznick and Stone (who Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Garry Wills has called America’s own “Dostoevsky behind a camera”) challenge prevailing orthodoxies to reveal the dark truth about the rise and fall of American imperialism
336 pages, Paperback
First published October 14, 2014
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About the author
Oliver Stone
102 books232 followersOliver Stone is the multiple Oscar-winning writer and director of Platoon, JFK, Born on the Fourth of July, Natural Born Killer, Midnight Express, and many other films.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 16, 2015
For me, I studied European history which includes both WW and the Cold war where America is portrayed as the Chivalrous hero the comes riding in on a white horse to save Europe from the cruel dictators but this book shows another view that is not normally captured in school text books.
I believe that this book is incredible in terms of what it has brought to light regarding America, revealing how cruel and manipulative it truly is, while balancing a fine line at times which has endangered many people.
There is so much (for me) that I was unaware of about such as (Part SPOILERS, apologies) how America reacted and behaved during WWII & the Cold War,and how they basically mass produced Nuclear bombs and missiles while threatening everyone they considered a communist enemy. Even willing to blow up China, Vietnam and Korea during the Cold war. Imagine what the world would be today should a mistake have been made out of their sheer arrogance, stemming from their nuclear monopoly.
This book is definitely worth reading to gain a truly new and fascinating insight on America and it's past. Thank you for reading this and apologies for any offence should there be any. I sincerely hope you take the time to read this book. :)
I believe that this book is incredible in terms of what it has brought to light regarding America, revealing how cruel and manipulative it truly is, while balancing a fine line at times which has endangered many people.
There is so much (for me) that I was unaware of about such as (Part SPOILERS, apologies) how America reacted and behaved during WWII & the Cold War,and how they basically mass produced Nuclear bombs and missiles while threatening everyone they considered a communist enemy. Even willing to blow up China, Vietnam and Korea during the Cold war. Imagine what the world would be today should a mistake have been made out of their sheer arrogance, stemming from their nuclear monopoly.
This book is definitely worth reading to gain a truly new and fascinating insight on America and it's past. Thank you for reading this and apologies for any offence should there be any. I sincerely hope you take the time to read this book. :)
December 24, 2018
A very important book
The way history of the West and in particular the US during the 19th, 20th and 21st century is described here is somewhat unusual but nevertheless realistic. Most history books describing the same period assume that the politicians in charge are bursting with integrity. The history of the period 1930 to today shows that this is not the case not had it been any different if one goes back further.
The way history of the West and in particular the US during the 19th, 20th and 21st century is described here is somewhat unusual but nevertheless realistic. Most history books describing the same period assume that the politicians in charge are bursting with integrity. The history of the period 1930 to today shows that this is not the case not had it been any different if one goes back further.
August 16, 2023
El análisis que se hace en este libro sobre el papel que ha jugado Estados Unidos en la historia mundial me ha parecido increíble. Estamos acostumbrados a ver retratado a EU en los libros, documentales o películas como el gran salvador que solo lucha por la paz mundial y la autodeterminación de los pueblos, aquí se nos muestra una cara mucho más oscura y bastante oculta. Gran parte de los hechos que aquí se cuentan los ignoraba así que he aprendido muchísimo. Fascinante lectura.
July 25, 2017
It was an interesting experience for me, as someone born as a subject to the soviet empire, to re-read some of the soviet propaganda I was fed as a kid.
August 1, 2025
Struggling to understand how the USA came to power in the world?
Easy to read background historical moments are examined and put into context.
Easy to read background historical moments are examined and put into context.
February 2, 2017
Fascinating insofar as it explains a perspective of the last hundred years, and for a while it's an entirely harrowing affair. But the more you read, the more you realize that this is not only a version of history but a conveniently distorted one at that.
I've been a fan of Oliver Stone for years. He represents a necessary voice in Hollywood, one that looks at American history and wants to help interpret it. He's frequently been criticized for how he does this, most notably in the conspiracy theory-heavy JFK, but that doesn't really diminish his value.
Still, even as a fan I can't help but judge him from the context he represents, the world of film, and how he gets that wrong in this book, in mischaracterizations of Gladiator and Black Hawk Down (both directed by Ridley Scott, oddly enough). Stone has demonstrated in the past that he's not above pettiness, expressing disgust that Top Gun was a bigger box office hit than his Platoon. Ridley Scott also beat him at his own game, you see?
And that's the problem. Stone's analysis can be toppled in this way. This is not to say it isn't valid in its way or that it doesn't score points here and there (although speculation has no place in history, no matter how compelling a figure like Henry Wallace appears in this book), but that his reasoning is identifiably flawed. Stone came from a generation disillusioned by Vietnam. This is easily proven, as easily proven as the real plots of Ridley Scott's films (rather than the ones suggested in this book).
What this creates is a distortion, no matter how well-intentioned. This is a familiar narrative, "untold" insofar as it has yet to become the dominant one despite fifty years of unrelenting pressure to make it so, somewhat ironically savaged by the more nuanced and less judgmental work of Stone in his body of films.
This book is well worth reading as a testament to that dedication, but in leaving out a hundred and fifty years of history, and so ruthlessly attempting to control the message, it fails the same job countless others have attempted over the years, to provide an authoritative version of "where things went wrong." History, like life, is generally more nuanced than that.
I've been a fan of Oliver Stone for years. He represents a necessary voice in Hollywood, one that looks at American history and wants to help interpret it. He's frequently been criticized for how he does this, most notably in the conspiracy theory-heavy JFK, but that doesn't really diminish his value.
Still, even as a fan I can't help but judge him from the context he represents, the world of film, and how he gets that wrong in this book, in mischaracterizations of Gladiator and Black Hawk Down (both directed by Ridley Scott, oddly enough). Stone has demonstrated in the past that he's not above pettiness, expressing disgust that Top Gun was a bigger box office hit than his Platoon. Ridley Scott also beat him at his own game, you see?
And that's the problem. Stone's analysis can be toppled in this way. This is not to say it isn't valid in its way or that it doesn't score points here and there (although speculation has no place in history, no matter how compelling a figure like Henry Wallace appears in this book), but that his reasoning is identifiably flawed. Stone came from a generation disillusioned by Vietnam. This is easily proven, as easily proven as the real plots of Ridley Scott's films (rather than the ones suggested in this book).
What this creates is a distortion, no matter how well-intentioned. This is a familiar narrative, "untold" insofar as it has yet to become the dominant one despite fifty years of unrelenting pressure to make it so, somewhat ironically savaged by the more nuanced and less judgmental work of Stone in his body of films.
This book is well worth reading as a testament to that dedication, but in leaving out a hundred and fifty years of history, and so ruthlessly attempting to control the message, it fails the same job countless others have attempted over the years, to provide an authoritative version of "where things went wrong." History, like life, is generally more nuanced than that.
December 9, 2019
An eye opening and compelling read of the rights and wrongs of the U.S. leadership from the start of the previous century up until the Obama presidency. It's astounding to read - and thus - realize how close the world could have come to a completely different "world order" if it hadn't been for choices made by either presidents, the advisors surrounding them, or the reading of the actual situation at hand. Well written, bold and juxtaposed to current affairs spanning more than a century. Well worth the read!
September 7, 2017
The most accurate history-book ever written.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews