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A People's History of American Empire: A Graphic Adaptation (American Empire Project) Paperback – Illustrated, April 1, 2008

by Howard Zinn (Author), Mike Konopacki (Author), Paul Buhle (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 366 ratings
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Adapted from the bestselling grassroots history of the United States, the story of America in the world, told in comics form

Since its landmark publication in 1980, A People's History of the United States has had six new editions, sold more than 1.7 million copies, become required classroom reading throughout the country, and been turned into an acclaimed play. More than a successful book, A People's History triggered a revolution in the way history is told, displacing the official versions with their emphasis on great men in high places to chronicle events as they were lived, from the bottom up.

Now Howard Zinn, historian Paul Buhle, and cartoonist Mike Konopacki have collaborated to retell, in vibrant comics form, a most immediate and relevant chapter of A People's History: the centuries-long story of America's actions in the world. Narrated by Zinn, this version opens with the events of 9/11 and then jumps back to explore the cycles of U.S. expansionism from Wounded Knee to Iraq, stopping along the way at World War I, Central America, Vietnam, and the Iranian revolution. The book also follows the story of Zinn, the son of poor Jewish immigrants, from his childhood in the Brooklyn slums to his role as one of America's leading historians.

Shifting from world-shattering events to one family's small revolutions, A People's History of American Empire presents the classic ground-level history of America in a dazzling new form.

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Previous page
  1. Part of series
    American Empire Project
  2. Print length
    288 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Metropolitan Books
  5. Publication date
    April 1, 2008
  6. Dimensions
    8.5 x 0.85 x 10.9 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0805087443
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0805087444
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“At the heart of this wide-ranging comics indictment of American Empire are the terrific human stories of those who have resisted--including wonderful autobiographical episodes from author Howard Zinn's own courageous and inspiring life.” ―Joe Sacco, author of Safe Area Gorazde

“Ingenious in its conception and brilliant in execution, this comics version of Howard Zinn's classic history breathes new life into the stories of people who never thought their stories would be told. It is urgently necessary for our times: read this book and see how to raise your voice against all the forces that would drown you out. A modern activist's primer!” ―Ben Affleck

About the Author

Howard Zinn, author of numerous acclaimed histories, taught history and political science at Spelman College and Boston University, and received the Lannan Literary Award, among many others. A People's History of the United States was a finalist for the 1981 National Book Award. Born in 1922, Zinn died in 2010.

Mike Konopacki has collaborated on five collections of cartoons, and his work is regularly syndicated. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Metropolitan Books; S&s Hdcvr ed. edition (April 1, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0805087443
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0805087444
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.7 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 0.85 x 10.9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 366 ratings

About the author

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Howard Zinn

Howard Zinn

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Howard Zinn (1922-2010) was a historian, playwright, and activist. He wrote the classic A People's History of the United States, "a brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those ... whose plight has been largely omitted from most histories" (Library Journal). The book, which has sold more than two million copies, has been featured on The Sopranos and Simpsons, and in the film Good Will Hunting. In 2009, History aired The People Speak, an acclaimed documentary co-directed by Zinn, based on A People's History and a companion volume, Voices of a People's History of the United States.

Zinn grew up in Brooklyn in a working-class, immigrant household. At 18 he became a shipyard worker and then flew bomber missions during World War II. These experiences helped shape his opposition to war and passion for history. After attending college under the GI Bill and earning a Ph.D. in history from Columbia, he taught at Spelman, where he became active in the civil rights movement. After being fired by Spelman for his support for student protesters, Zinn became a professor of Political Science at Boston University, were he taught until his retirement in 1988.

Zinn was the author of many books, including an autobiography, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, the play Marx in Soho, and Passionate Declarations. He received the Lannan Foundation Literary Award for Nonfiction and the Eugene V. Debs award for his writing and political activism.

Photographer Photo Credit Name: Robert Birnbaum.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
366 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Low Hertz
5.0 out of 5 stars While a great introduction read the real books by Zinn
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2011
Verified Purchase
Zinn is dealing with subjects that were whitewashed in history. When one objectively looks
at the nation, the facts are that the South's economy was based on horrendous slavery.
The land was inhabited by millions of Native Americans. Britain was ending the slave
trade and limiting expansion into Native lands. For the common man, slave, or Indian
our history is tragic.

Washington, Jefferson and the rest of the Founding fathers were all slave holders, so much of
all men are created equal.

The Revolution was for the Aristocratic Class to increase profits, continue slavery and expand
into lands that were already owned by Native Americans.

He chronicles American foreign policy and our many wars objectively, exploring the real
reasons we went to war, looking at the motivations.

The criticisms about using the Atomic bomb, that some here have attacked, the only Hiroshima was
selected as a city that was still standing. But it was not filled with solders, most of the Japanese
solders were dead, it was filled with children, old men and woman. Talk to anyone from Japan about the
population.

The fairy tale we make of America, the land of the free is hardly true. The common man got nothing
from the revolution except to serve in miserable armies. The French were the real victors,
supplying 90% of our gunpowder and troops. When the British surrendered, there were more French Troops
on the battle field than American, the French had the harbor blockaded so the British couldn't escape
and the English general tried to surrender to the French.

Stand aside and look at the world from the slave, the poor, the Natives and what do you see?

Washington had a policy of exterminating Eastern Native Tribes, so many solders deserted because
they weren't being fed, paid, cold without proper clothing, and their farms were failing. Washington
would round them up and have their friends form firing squads "you have to teach them a lesson:".

Really, read A People's History for a more scholarly and complete and compelling approach. This is the reader's digest version.
4 people found this helpful
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Michael Carl Debenedictis
5.0 out of 5 stars The true American people's drama...not just "Rich, White, Elite American History"
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2010
Verified Purchase
After reading this graphic adaptation of the history text it created based on I immediately bought the original history text, "A People's History of the United States", and am currently sucked into it. If I had been offered history classes that taught history this way when I was in grade school, high school, and previous college experience I would have taken it more seriously and immersed myself in history, philosophy, and studies of sociology as I have come to in the last few months since reading this graphic adaptation and then the history text it was based on.

The graphic adaptation gives a contextual, more human reference, and more relatable feel to the true human and everyday life impact of the history we simply read about. It gave a reality to the topic matter breezed over in school and really made me understand the humanity behind it all that had to deal with, roll with, and simply make do with the best opportunities they were given, and then take great, defiant leaps and bounds over hurdles to earn the rest of the freedoms we simply are given - with no work involved on our part - upon birth.

This book is excellent. I recommend it. After reading it, and being sucked into "A People's History of the United States", I am even driven to feel that history classes titled "American History" that only touch on history - as told from the stand-point of the rich, white elites would best rather referred to as "Rich, White, Elite American History". The only true classes that can begin to be called "American History" must adapt the lessons taught in Howard Zinn's "A People's History of American Empire" and "A People's History of the United States" - the only history, philosophy, sociology, or reference text that I've come across so far that truly captures the human drama of the middle class, poor whites and blacks, slaves and indentured servants, women, and factory and farm workers in American history.

I give this book a 10 out of 10, 25 out of 25, and 100 out of 100. Howard Zinn is truly an American in all aspects of the word in it's truest, deepest, and most selfless, and patriotic sense in imparting history in it's most truthful, actual, factual, and honest form.
7 people found this helpful
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Suzanne Ross
5.0 out of 5 stars A People's History of the American Empire
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2012
Verified Purchase
When my 10 year old granddaughter opened up this book, she immediately sat down to get a good glimpse of it. Finding it very appealing on skimming over it, she kissed the book and said "Thank you, Mema" the way kids say that about the most wonderful gift you just gave them. She then read the whole book over the next 24 hours and, upon finishing it, said "Now I have to read it again". She started again. We were spending a weekend together. She has since picked up the book several times, when visiting me, to reread certain sections. For Isabelle, this book is a treasure, and she has noted how much her teachers needed to read this book so that they didn't continue to impose the myths they insisted she learn about who Columbus and George Washington really were. She appreciated the information she garnered about the Native Americans and the Africans brought to this country to become slaves. Isabelle also immediately loved and admired the illustrations. This is the kind of book our children and grandchildren need to be given.
34 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Pascal
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent livre
Reviewed in France on June 17, 2020
Verified Purchase
l'histoire des Etats-Unis vue par un grand intellectuel américain, Howard Zinn. Homme engagé dans le mouvement des droits civiques, il a su retracer l'histoire de son pays de manière objective, sans concession et avec un grand talent !
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Giovanni Dondi dall'Orologio
5.0 out of 5 stars veramente interessante
Reviewed in Italy on November 10, 2019
Verified Purchase
ottimo per preparare una conferenza sull'argomento
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Michael Best
5.0 out of 5 stars The content is critical but the tone of the drawing ...
Reviewed in Canada on September 6, 2016
Verified Purchase
The content is critical but the tone of the drawing is light. (The photos are fascinating.) Despite the possible contrast, the book is a well told story as well as a reminder that the official story often overlooks some crucial facts.
One person found this helpful
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Alan
5.0 out of 5 stars You'll have a tea?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 25, 2015
Verified Purchase
Great novel, great art, great ineterst in Howard Zinn.

I did sneak a read before passing it on through www.redditgifts.com, and am very happy that it will find another eager reader.

Even if you'd never read that kind of thing, it's worth a buy to pass on.

Go on.

Ah Go on. Go on.Go on.Go on.
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Christian Johann
5.0 out of 5 stars Macht alles Zinn
Reviewed in Germany on December 11, 2011
Verified Purchase
A People's History of American Empire ist im Grunde eine Comicversion einer Vorlesung von Howard Zinn (1922-2010), einem der wichtigsten sozialistischen Historiker und Bürgerrechtler der USA. Sein Werk A People's History of the United States ( A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present ) gilt als eines der wichtigsten Bücher zur amerikanischen Geschichte, weil es diese aus der Perspektive der Unterdrückten, der Arbeiter und der Opfer erzählt. In dieser grafisch aufgearbeiten Version der Thesen Zinns tauchen dann auch alle relevanten Themen, Ideen und Schlaglichter auf, die er über die vielen Jahre seines Wirkens verbreitete.

Inhaltlich geht es in erster Linie um das ja auch schon im Titel erwähnte Imperium der USA. Welche Gedankenwelt liegt diesem Imperium zugrunde? Welche Ausformungen nimmt dieses Imperium an? Und, vielleicht am wichtigsten in der Logik Zinns: Woran sehen wir, dass die Logik und die Schattenseiten dieses Imperiums auch heute noch die Außenpolitik der USA beeinflussen oder gar bestimmen?

Die Einteilung der Geschichte der USA in Kapitel innerer Unterdrückung und äußerer Interessenwahrung führt jedem schnell vor Augen, wie menschenverachtend eine kleine Clique an der Spitze der Regierung vorging, wenn es darum ging, ihren Profit sicherzustellen. Die Niederschlagung von Arbeiteraufständen, die Unterstützung "anti-kommunistischer" Diktatoren im Ausland und die Vorenthaltung essentieller Bürgerrechte für die eigene Bevölkerung sind in einer Mischung aus gezeichneten Episoden aufgearbeitet, die immer wieder von Fotografien oder Originaldokumenten unterbrochen sind. Dazwischen finden sich immer wieder "Zinnfos", kleine von Zinn eingeworfene Informationsschnipsel, die das ganze Greuel meist noch untermauern.

Geeignet ist dieses Buch für alle, die sich einen schnellen Überblick über ausbeuterische Machenschaften einflussreicher Strippenzieher in der US-Regierung verschaffen möchten. Zinns Perspektive "von unten" hat nach all den Jahren nichts von ihrer Wirkung verloren. Egal ob Wounded Knee, Iran-Contra-Affäre, Pentagon-Papers, Irak-Invasion - menschenverachtende Züge imperialer Politik fehlen in keinem Jahrhundert. Aber trotzdem ist der Comic keine Abrechnung oder bloße Verdammung der USA. Trotz seiner Wut auf die Politik der USA verlor Zinn nicht den Glauben an die Demokratie. Das Buch an sich zeigt ja schon eine seiner Überzeugungen, nämlich dass Widerstand und Selbstbestimmung auf Aufklärung beruhen. Immer wieder hebt Zinn hervor, das Protest und Demonstrationen dabei halfen, Misstände zu beheben. Immer wieder mussten Menschen dafür kämpfen, gehört zu werden. Insofern wird auch die große Hoffnung Zinns in diesem Geschichts-Comic wunderbar transportiert - nämlich, dass eine aufgeklärte und gebildete Bevölkerung menschenverachtenden Machenschaften ein Ende bereiten kann.
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