Charles Page Smith (best known by his middle name) was a Baltimore native and United States historian, author, professor and community activist. A veteran of World War II, he was awarded a Purple Heart for his service. Smith was the author of over 20 books, including the eight-volume A People’s History of the United States (the title of which served as inspiration for Howard Zinn) and JOHN ADAMS, which was awarded the Bancroft Prize in 1963 and was a finalist for the National Book Award. As a professor, he taught at UCLA and later was the founding provost of Cowell College at the University of California, Santa Cruz. As an activist, he was a lifelong advocate for the homeless, community organization and improving the prison system. Page Smith died in August 1995, one day after the death of his beloved wife, Eloise.

Books by Page Smith

Tragic Encounters: A People's History of Native Americans

by Page Smith - History, Nonfiction

During the last years of his life, historian Page Smith concentrated on composing a history of Native Americans after the first European contact. This manuscript was discovered unpublished after his death. Using his wonderful technique of narrative, discovering in the events of each period the thematic overview of that period, Smith again turns to contemporaneous documents to provide the structure and substance of his story. From Jamestown to Wounded Knee, the story of these Native peoples from coast to coast is explored, granting these oppressed and nearly destroyed people a chance to tell their own broad story.