Howard Zinn
Born 24 August 1922 · Died 27 January 2010
Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922 – January 27, 2010) was an American historian, playwright, and socialist thinker. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn wrote over 20 books, including his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United States. In 2007, he published a version of it for younger readers, A Young People's History of the United States.
Zinn described himself as "something of an anarchist, something of a socialist. Maybe a democratic socialist." He wrote extensively about the Civil Rights Movement, the anti-war movement and labor history of the United States. His memoir, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train (Beacon Press, 2002), was also the title of a 2004 documentary about Zinn's life and work. Zinn died of a heart attack in 2010, at age 87.
Source: Howard Zinn on Wikipedia.
Quotes
“If those in charge of our society — politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television — can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves.”
Declarations of Independence: Cross-Examining American Ideology 1991 : "America “There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people for a purpose which is unattainable.”
"Terror Over Tripoli" 1993 , from The Zinn Reader 1997 “I am supposing, or perhaps only hoping, that our future may be found in the past's fugitive moments of compassion rather than in its solid centuries of warfare.”
A People's History of the United States, Chapter 1 “Capitalism has always been a failure for the lower classes. It is now beginning to fail for the middle classes.”
A People's History of the United States “It is possible, reading standard histories, to forget half the population of the country. The explorers were men, the landholders and merchants men, the political leaders men, the military figures men.”
A People's History of the United States, Chapter 6
Quotes from Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0), chosen with AI.
Books by Howard Zinn in order
Books by Howard Zinn in the order they were published, from SNCC, the New Abolitionists (1964) to The Indispensable Zinn (2012).
- 1SNCC, the New Abolitionists
SNCC, the New Abolitionists1964 - 2The Southern Mystique
The Southern Mystique1964 - 3Vietnam
Vietnam1967 - 4Disobedience and Democracy
Disobedience and Democracy1968 - 5The Politics of History. --
The Politics of History. --1970 - 6A People's History of the United States
A People's History of the United States1980 - 7Declarations of Independence
Declarations of Independence1990 - 8You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train1994 - 9The Zinn Reader
The Zinn Reader1997 - 10Marx in Soho
Marx in Soho1999 - 11Howard Zinn on War
Howard Zinn on War2001 - 12Terrorism and War
Terrorism and War2002 - 13The Power of Nonviolence
The Power of Nonviolence2002 - 14Passionate Declarations
Passionate Declarations2003 - 15The Twentieth Century
The Twentieth Century2003 - 16Voices of a People's History of the United States
Voices of a People's History of the United States2004 - 17Howard Zinn on Democratic Education
Howard Zinn on Democratic Education2005 - 18Just War
Just War2005 - 19A Power Governments Cannot Suppress
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress2006 - 20A People’s History of American Empire
A People’s History of American Empire2008 - 21The Bomb
The Bomb2010 - 22Howard Zinn Speaks Collected Speeches 19632009
Howard Zinn Speaks Collected Speeches 196320092012 - 23The Historic Unfullfilled Promise
The Historic Unfullfilled Promise2012 - 24The Indispensable Zinn
The Indispensable Zinn2012