The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy

Howard Zinn

Seven Stories Press, Jan 4, 2011 - History - 752 pages

No other radical historian has reached so many hearts and minds as Howard Zinn. It is rare that a historian of the Left has managed to retain as much credibility while refusing to let his academic mantle change his beautiful writing style from being anything but direct, forthright, and accessible. Whether his subject is war, race, politics, economic justice, or history itself, each of his works serves as a reminder that to embrace one's subjectivity can mean embracing one's humanity, that heart and mind can speak with one voice. Here, in six sections, is the historian's own choice of his shorter essays on some of the most critical problems facing America throughout its history, and today.

Contents

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: 13
• The Southern Mystique from The American Scholar: 23
• A Quiet Case of Social Change from The Crisis: 31
• Finishing School for Pickets from The Nation: 40
• The New Abolitionists: 47
• The Reluctant Emancipator from The Nation: 68
• Freedom Day in Selma from SNCC The: 76
• Hattiesburg from SNCC The: 93
• The Selma to Montgomery March from The Nation III: 115
• When Will the Long Feud End? from the Boston Globe: 144
• LaGuardia in the Jazz Age from The Politics of History: 168
• The Wobbly Spirit from The Nation: 182
• The Ludlow Massacre from The Politics of History: 188
• The Limits of the New Deal from New Deal Thought: 209
• Who Owns the Sun? from the Boston Globe: 227
• The Secret Word from the Boston Globe: 230
• On Rewarding People for Talent and Hard Work from Z Magazine: 233
• War I Just and Unjust War from Declarations of Independence: 239
• The Bombing of Royan from The Politics of History: 280
• A Matter of Perspective from Vietnam The Logic of Withdrawal: 293
• The Logic of Withdrawal: 301
• The Logic of Withdrawal: 308
• Dow Shalt Not Kill from The New South Student: 314
• Aggressive Liberalism from The Politics of History: 322
• The Curious Chronology of the Mayaguez Incident from the Boston Globe: 335
• The CIA Rockefeller and the Boys in the Club from the Boston Globe: 338
• Whom Will We Honor Memorial Day? from the Boston Globe: 341
• What Did Richard Nixon Learn? from the Capital Times Madison Wisconsin: 344
• Means and Ends from Declarations of Independence: 349
• Terrorism Over Tripoli from Failure to Quit: 374
• The Case Against War in Iraq from the Boston Globe: 378
• What Do We Do Now? from The Progressive: 381
• What War Looks Like from The Progressive: 385
• After the War from The Progressive: 390
• Law I Law and Justice from Declarations of Independence: 397
• The Crisis of American Confidence: 436
• The Bill of Rights from Failure to Quit: 445
• Testifying at the Ellsberg Trial from The Real Paper: 453
• The Movement Wins in Camden from Liberation: 460
• Punishment from Justice in Everyday Life: 466
• Attica from The Saturday Review: 477
• The Biggest Secret from the Boston Globe: 482
• Where to Look for a Communist from Newsday Z Magazine: 485
• Fallen Idol from Z Magazine Failure to Quit: 490
• Upton Sinclair and Sacco Vanzetti Introduction to Boston: 495
• Columbus and Western Civilization from Open Magazine Pamphlet Series: 513
• The Uses of Scholarship from The Saturday Review The Politics of History: 533
• Historian as Citizen from the New York Times Book Review: 543
• Secrecy Archives and the Public Interest from The Midwestern Archivist: 549
• Freedom Schools from The Nation: 562
• The New History from the Boston Globe: 574
• The Greatest Generation? from The Progressive: 576
• A University Should Not Be a Democracy from The Progressive: 581
• The Marines and the University from the Boston Phoenix: 593
• How Free is Higher Education? From Failure to Quit: 607
• Je Ne Suis Pas Marxiste from Z Magazine Failure to Quit: 614
• Jack Londons The Iron Heel Introduction to The Iron Heel: 619
• Discovering John Reed from the Boston Globe: 626
• The Limits of Denial from the TomPaine com: 633
• Americas Blinders from The Progressive: 636
• Beyond the New Deal from The Nation: 642
• Violence and Human Nature from Declarations of Independence: 647
• NonViolent Direct Action from the American Journal of OrthoPsychiatry: 665
• The New Radicalism from The New Left: 673
• The Spirit of Rebellion from the Boston Globe: 687
• Beyond Voting from the Boston Globe: 690
• Changing Minds One at a Time from The Progressive: 693
• The Optimism of Uncertainty from Failure to Quit: 698
• Anarchism Introduction to Herbert Reads Anarchy Order: 703
• The World from Newsday The Progressive: 716
• Failure to Quit from Failure to Quit: 719
• Election Madness from The Progressive: 725
• Against Discouragement speech at Spelman College: 730
• SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING: 737
• ALSO BY HOWARD ZINN: 743
• ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 745
• ABOUT SEVEN STORIES PRESS: 747

About the author

HOWARD ZINN’s (1922–2010) great subject isn’t war, but peace. After his experience as a bombardier in World War II, he became convinced that there could be no such thing as a “just war,” as the vast majority of modern warfare’s victims are made up of innocent civilians. In his books, including A People’s History of the United States and its companion volume, Voices of a People’s History of the United States, Zinn affirms the power of the masses to influence major events. Through a lifetime of pointed scholarship and principled civil disobedience, he has led and continues to lead generations in the ways of peace.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy
• Author: Howard Zinn
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press, 2011
• ISBN: 1583229469, 9781583229460
• Length: 752 pages
• Subjects: History / Social History; History / United States / General; Social Science / Discrimination