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A People's History of American Empire

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The word "propaganda" has an almost universally negative connotation. Whenever we use it, we generally mean to refer to systematic and deliberate misinformation. But it's worth remembering that the word is etymologically derived from the same root as the word "propagate," to increase or grow. Propaganda, as the word was originally used, is simply a means of spreading the news, of getting the word out to large numbers of people, of disseminating information that needs to be disseminated.

It's in this original sense of the word that A People's History of American Empire is propaganda. Using the medium of the comix or graphic novel, Howard Zinn, Mike Konopacki, and Paul Buhle get the word out about a side of U.S. history that almost never gets taught in public schools, and about which many Americans even today remain clueless. Their treatment is entertaining and accessible--which means that it has a potentially huge audience--but neither patronizing nor simplistic--the book contains an extensive bibliography, and references both graphics and narrative claims. It's ideal for folks who have neither the time nor inclination to read Zinn's bulky classic A People's History of the United States, from which much of the volume is mined.

The format is ingenious. Zinn (wonderfully drawn, by the way) is the up-close narrator of the book. He begins by expressing bewilderment that the U.S. response to 9/11 has followed the same old violent pattern that the U.S. (and, of course, not only the U.S.) has typically adopted when threatened. This response, Zinn argues, ultimately only makes matters worse because it does nothing to get to the root causes of unrest. It is "an old way of thinking," one that tragically keeps following the same destructive script, and Zinn proceeds throughout the rest of the book to chronicle its many historical manifestations, ranging from the Wounded Knee massacre to the invasion of Cuba, Hawaii, the Philippines, and Central American nations such as El Salvador and Nicaragua (according to a list published by the State Department in 1962, the U.S. militarily intervened 103 times in foreign countries between 1798 and 1895). Zinn also discusses governmental and big business response to domestic workers' strikes (the Pullman strike and the Ludlow massacre, for example), and draws a connection between this "internal" imperialism and the "external" variety.

Of particular interest are Zinn's treatments of what he calls the "cool war," a culture and ethnic battle over black music in the 1950s, and the current Iraq War.

Another especially interesting feature of the book is its inclusion of Zinn's life story (derived from his autobiographical You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train) which traces his childhood poverty (and tenderness for his parents), his radicalization, his repudiation of violence following his service in World War II, his activism at Spelman College (which led to his dismissal), and his anti-war work--including the famous peace mission to Vietnam--during the Vietnam conflict.

Although the story of the insidious partnership between state and money is shocking and even horrifying at times, Zinn ends the book on an upbeat note. There's much to be hopeful about, he insists, when one considers the extraordinary achievements of the last fifty years. Legal racial apartheid in the U.S. was ended; the Vietnam war was stopped by public protests; velvet revolutions throughout Europe and South Africa succeeded in overthrowing tyranny in relatively bloodless fashion. So "to be hopeful in bad times is not foolishly romantic," Zinn concludes. "It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness" (p. 263).

Both of those messages deserve propagation.

This book absolutely blew me away. I'm a big Howeard Zinn fan and remember using his book "A People's History of the United States" in high school for research projects.

This book takes Howard Zinn's arguments and presents them in a graphic adaptation that makes history come alive. There's real emotion in this book and it's a true page turner. During much of our own history we have been imperialistic and have taken advantage of the rest of the world to advance our own agendas, without regards to the suffering these actions have caused in many countries around the world. Let's turn back to compassion, collaboration and start promoting real sustainable development. In an election year this book should be convincing enough!

I just picked up this book today, and I don't often just start reading a book then buy it, but this one was well worth it. A brutal expose of the injustice going on in America, and perpetuated by it. Not just an expose of the "Rich Elite" and their hold on our supposed Democracy, but all those they've hurt to make an extra dishonest dollar as if they did not have enough already.

It takes a while to get through the book, because you can't take too much at one sitting. Make sure you've got your meds. We killed the Indians, but you know that, and dominated the Chinese of the canneries and the railroads, and enslaved the blacks, and shot the people who joined unions, locked up the Japanese ... hey but that's only in this country. You should see what we've been doing in the rest of the world.

If you have always been the type of person to question the history textbooks you grew up with as a kid, this is your graphic non-fiction masterpiece. Adapted from Zinn's acclaimed grassroots history of the USA, this book is well illustrated and serves to select specific episodes and periods of our own countrys history that for some reason, we do not know correctly. There is much more to explore about history than to accept what is "commonly, automatically" assumed and that is propagated by the corporate news networks and ideologically-charged education censorship committees that select history texts at the state level...Howard Zinn opens the door towards the truth.

YES, this is a People's History for those with short attention span, but who doesn't have a short attention span these days? A fast and entertaining read. It's interesting, even if you have read Zinn's original Magnum Opus and/or its spawn.

Adding Howard Zinn's personal experience to the tie the stories together really works well, and gives the book a personal element.

This is definitely a PG comic....as in requiring Parental Guidance. I think this would be a great way to introduce alternative history to your children, when they are ready (like studying the same stuff at school), but this book can be quite graphic. It at least warrants discussion.

This is a great book by Howard Zinn - some things you may already know, others you probably don't and show some of the events that our nation should not be proud of - and, unfortunately, are still pertinent. To demonstrate a reason why an unregulated free market is not a good idea is during the Spanish-American War. In Cuba, according to Zinn, 5,462 soldiers and officers died during the war, but only 379 died as a result of being in battle. The remaining 5000+ died from rotting canned beef from Armour, the same company that makes the hot dogs that kids like to bite. With that in mind, think how many people have died because of substandard work supporting our troops in Iraq. Electrocutions from poor connections in shower areas, water that is not safe for consumption, people being smuggled into Iraq from other nations to serve food.

I was honestly disappointed when I saw it was a "comic book".
But after reading the first few pages I realized it was just as good as the full original people's history of the u.s.
I think it is very accessible for high school students and for someone who suspects they have an interest but not willing to put forth the time and effort to read the original non-graphic form.
I recommend it as "light" heavy reading.
Neil Gahn

Love or hate it, this book is historically accurate and presents a viewpoint and perspective which is missing even from advanced college level American History courses. For that reason alone, Mr. Zinn must be given credit. Ultimately, politics is simply a matter of opinion -there is no right or wrong and this book (like all history books) is purely political.

Mr. Zinn's politics just happen to be skewed to the left, but there is plenty to learn from him nonetheless. Most importantly is that a citizen or resident of this country should understand that our tremendous standard of living and civil liberties (relative to other societies) we enjoy came about as a result of mixed laizez faire/central economic planning and empirialistic/oppressive actions of a global scale. There could not have been a U.S. absent the systemic annilihatiion of "native" americans (who themselves were imigrants) or various imperial battles and wars which ultimately left the U.S. as the world's only superpower (which status is currently being challenged by the economic emergence of China).

All empires end and history shows us that the formation of these empires tends to be much more benign and bloodless than when they fall apart. I for one do not wish me or my children to be alive when American empire disintigrates (as it most certainly will if action is not taken and which to a certain extent is happening presently).

This is a brilliant book for simply setting out the facts of American empirialism in an easy to read format (which necessarily leaves out alot of stuff). For those who are interested in a much more in depth view I highly recommend his full length novels (ironically one reviewer criticized this effort for lack of criticism of the Clinton administration - well butthead, he has a whole chapter on Clinton in his book and he's no less critical of Clinton than he is of Bush.)

Hopefully the conclusion you will come to (and a conclusion which probably requires a reading of his full length book) is that depending on your socio-economic status (and there are only two true classes in American society - the super wealthy (which includes most politicians as they must pander to this crowd in order to finance their campaigns) and everyone else) American empire either REALLY works for you or it simply works for you (i.e., you're in the top 1% of wage and income earners or you're not and since the standard of living of people at the lowest rung of American empire still have a standard far above similarly situated people anywhere else on the planet, generally speaking you're better off).

Ruling minority elites (both Democrats and Republicans) share power (and keep you under control) by creating class conflicts within the majority sub-class (i.e. anyone without true wealth) and pit those people against one another (i.e., the upper middle class against the lower middle or lower class) e.g. families making $50k/yr against those making $200k/yr in order to distract YOU from the fact that 1% of the population controls (and will continue to control) 40% of the resources. Historically when that didn't work, that societal energy is chanelled into policital "reforms" (by allowing minor changes in class structure and wealth distribution such as that brought about by the labor movement of the 30's or the civil rights movement of the 60's) or even better, into foreign wars where a common "enemy" is identified for everyone to be more concerned about (whether it be Indians, Mexicans, Germans, Communists or "Terrorists") while at the same time expanding U.S. empire and influence.

Democrat elites maintain power by pandering to their constituency as to how the need to raise taxes on their "wealthy" neighbors. Republican elites do it by pandering in the reverse: your middle class "wealth" will be further reduced if you let the Democrats in - i.e, Republican's are the only people who can keep the flood to a trickle and vice versa, Democrats are the only way the lower class can get resources and assistance - which is complete b.s. Of course, neither party addresses or wants to advocate serious corporate and true wealth taxation and redistribution or comprehensive immigration reform, because that would be inconsistent with the agendas of those who keep them in power and donate to their campaigns and ultimately Zinn's teachings show us is that American emperialism has basically benefitted this minority class of society (anybody can join this class btw - you just have to be either really lucky, really smart, really talented or have parents that were - usually it's a combination of the four).

Once you come to this understanding (and you probably cannot without the benefit of Zinn's teachings which also requires the reading of his full length book) you realize Zinn's ultimate conclusion (which, for whatever reason he keeps veiled - I think it's because he wants you to reach it yourself) which is that current American "Democracy" $%&$&$ sucks and is only truly benefitting a privileged few. He's basically advocating for the Democratic restructing of our society to wrest power and resources away from 1% of the population and distribute it more equally (which btw you have the power to do under our current system).

I think he's correct, because under the current state of affairs if the forced polarization of America (i.e., the falsely created class conflict of interest between middle and lower class) continues (which only benefits the corporate and political elites) it will end in a fairly messy way (as all societys and empire's that collapse do.) Let's begin the discussion and end it in an orderly fashion - getting an accurate understanding of the world you live in is the first step - Buy this book!

Howard Zinn, best known for his excellent "A People's History Of the United States," here dives into the graphic novel format with "A People's History Of American Empire" which looks at the long history of U.S. aggression going back to 1898. Some reviewers are already crying fowl, claiming Zinn is some sort of anti-American Liberal, but if you actually read the material you realize Zinn is a champion of American values and is simply documenting a side of American history that is not readily discussed or explored in your average textbook or in the histories written by those who march step by step with rigid. traditionalism.

"A People's History Of American Empire" uses stunning illustrations, classic texts and recorded history in photos and documents to compile a chronicle of America's role in the world through the years. Zinn, Mike Konopacki and Paul Buhle begin with massacre of America's indigenous population, then they look at America's early imperial adventures in the Philippines and Cuba, always with a great eye for capturing key moments with epic visuals and clear, precise dialogue. The information and facts are nicely processed and presented, any reader will easily be able to digest historical events with both clarity and insight.

What is so great about Zinn's work here is that he gives the Third World a real voice. Some nationalist reviewers are probably angry or confused because this isn't a book giving the usual pomp and glory to figures like Teddy Roosevelt, Churchill or Kennedy, instead the book allows us to meet giants of history that sadly, most Americans have no idea existed. We learn about Nicaragua's liberation icon, Augusto Sandino and Iran's Mohammed Mossadegh, who nationalized his nation's oil, provoking a CIA-backed coup. Through pictures, dialogue and illustrations, we see history through the eyes of those we usually consider "backwards" or "underdeveloped," when in fact, their countries of full of heroic titans and great struggles for freedom and democracy. We are raised to only believe in the greatness of the red, white and blue, but we never bother to listen to what the citizens of the nations we intervene in have to say. We like condemning Soviet crimes or aggression, but we never bother to look at our own history in places like Central America or Iran.

The book also looks at little-known U.S. history as the struggles of immigrants, anti-war activists during World War 1 and the writings of characters like Emma Goldman are explored. We meet heroic domestic characters who again, are brushed aside in general histories like the black soldiers who refused to fight in Vietnam, this again makes the work a valuable resource.

"A People's History Of American Empire" might anger readers for what it has to say, but it is all supported by facts. Consider the sections on Reagan's brutal wars in Central America, the Mozote massacre carried out by U.S.-backed troops in El Salvador is well documented as well as the Contra terror war against Nicaragua's elected Sandinista government. Equally well-documented is the CIA's coup against Iran's elected government which is expertly documented here in a clear, visual style that allows the reader to understand what happened and how events lead to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Zinn does not make excuses for radical Islamists, but he does look at how U.S. foreign policy aided in inflaming regional tensions.

This is a valuable illustrated work because it doesn't just give us wonderful art, it presents ideas, information, facts and history with that art. "A People's History Of American Empire" is no less than the secret history of the United States, secret only because nationalism or ignorance keep us from fully discussing our history. Like the best works, it entertains and illuminates, informs and moves. A valuable teaching tool and a must for collectors of pop scholarship.