The American anarchist, primitivist philosopher, and author John Zerzan critiques agriculture-based civilization as inherently oppressive and advocates drawing upon the life of hunter-gatherers as an inspiration for what free society should look like. Subjects of his criticism include domestication, language, symbolic thought, and the concept of time.

This book includes sixteen essays ranging from the beginning of civilization to today's general crisis. Zerzan provides a critical perspective about civilization.

A People's History of Civilization includes chapters about:
Patriarchy
The City and its Inmates
War Enters the Picture
The Bronze Age
The Axial Age
The Crisis of Late Antiquity
Revolt and Heresy
Modernity Takes Charge
Who Killed Ned Ludd
Cultural Luddism
Industrialism and Resistance
Decadence
WWI
Civilization's Pathological Endgame

In recent years, John Zerzan, co-editor of Black and Green Review, has successfully toured Europe to speak from his primitivist perspective regarding contemporary civilization. Zerzan calls Eugene, Oregon home.