The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency [Paperback]

Howard Zinn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 3, 2007

Here, in the magisterial yet plain-spoken style of A People's History of the United States, is historian Howard Zinn's long-awaited telling of these last six years of United States history, a time when catastrophic machinations of war have dictated our foreign and domestic policy, and when voices of resistance have appeared in the unlikeliest places.
Perhaps more than any other American, Howard Zinn has helped us understand ourselves by deepening our understanding of our own history.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The visionary historical work of professor and activist HOWARD ZINN (1922–2010) is widely considered one of the most important and influential of our era. In his work, including A People’s History of the United States, its companion volume Voices of a People’s History of the United States, and countless other titles, Zinn affirms the power of the people to influence the course of events.

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press (July 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583227695
• ISBN-13: 978-1583227695
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.2 x 7.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #875,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Middle East > Iraq
  • #32 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Historical Study > Social History

More About the Author

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent update on the USA since 2001, April 24, 2008

By 

William Podmore (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency (Paperback)

The most recent edition of American historian Howard Zinn's classic A People's History of the United States ended with Bush's declaration of a `war on terror'. This brief volume brings the story up to date.

Zinn explains how Bush misled people into the wars. "It was part of a historic pattern in U.S. foreign policy to tell the American people that war was necessary to defend the United States against a threat, or to bring liberty and democracy to other countries, while the real motives for war - the profits of corporations, the control of vital raw materials, the expansion of the U.S. empire - were concealed."

He sums up that Bush's two wars have not brought democracy, freedom or security to the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan and have not weakened terrorism. Far from bringing democracy abroad, the wars were violating democracy in the USA. The PATRIOT Act extended the state's power to intercept communications and gave it the power to search people's homes without their knowledge.

Zinn particularly condemns the US state's authorisation of torture. He notes that when the US Senate was considering a bill to ban torture, Vice President Cheney visited senators to argue against the bill. Late in 2006, Congress passed, and President Bush signed, a bill allowing the CIA to continue harsh interrogation - torture - of suspected terrorists in secret CIA prisons abroad. This bill also ended the right of habeas corpus for anyone, including US citizens, whom the President or the secretary of defense designated as an `unlawful enemy combatant'.

In 2006 Congress passed a military budget of $500 billion and arms and oil firms got huge profits, while education and medical care were cut. Chief Executive Officers got 400 times the wage of the average worker, while the minimum wage stayed where it was ten years ago, at $5.15 an hour.

Most Americans now oppose the war and want to withdraw the troops, and President Bush has the lowest ratings of any president in history.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency, September 27, 2007

By 

James in Raleigh - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency (Paperback)

Well thought out and balanced regarding how inapropriatley Bush and his administration is marshalling the unique resources of the US and not in the best interests of the world. Among the most precious of these resources is the Values it stands for and the Goodwill it had earned over centuries.

The message is not an argument but a reasoned voice for what is just.

A short book yet not a "quick" read and well worth the time.

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great Zinn book, November 3, 2011

By 

Richard J. Peppin (Rockville, MD) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency (Paperback)

Just a few months ago Zinn died. It was sad for me. To me Zinn was a real progressive, expressing ideas that just made sense. "Unravelling.." is a short book but so insightful and so well written, for me it is a "keeper." Highly recommended.