David Forbes

Itís sad that Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky are often lumped in the same boat, simply as ìleftist intellectuals.î

Iíve never gotten that, myself. Despite his indisputable brilliance in the field of linguistics, Chomskyís fallen flat in his political endeavors, with self-righteousness and an overly conspirational worldview leading him to some blindingly stupid and morally bankrupt decisions (backing the Khmer Rouge).
Zinn, however, has demonstrated not just a powerful intellect but considerable common sense and perspective in his works, especially his masterpiece, ìA Peopleís History of the United Statesî (Perennial, 729 pp. $18.95), first published in 1980 and updated every so often since, most recently in 2003.
Ever since its founding, various factions have vied to establish firmly Americaís nature, be it a shining city on a hill, a land of innovators, enterprising merchants or ruggedly individualist frontiersmen.

All are equally hogwash of course. First and foremost, America is a nation of outcasts. After all, everyone here is either the descendant of people who had to leave somewhere else or they are the people who still have to leave somewhere else, for immigration never really dies down as an issue in this land, does it?

Those outcasts did of course, include freethinkers, dissidents and individualists (rugged or otherwise). It also included religious nutjobs, murderers and other assorted criminals, the utterly poor, millions of slaves, indentured servants, con artists, fortune-seekers and any other type you can think of.

Every last one of them thrown into a new land, to lash out at, exploit and try to build their own version of a ìnew worldî (often on top of the corpses of those already here). Thatís the history of America in a nutshell and it explains many of the situations in which we find ourselves today.

Zinnís story is thus one rarely told, but close to the heart of this country. His story is that of everyone on the lowest rung, on the outs of society, on the wrong end of power. This being a country of outcasts, this is a huge array.

He tells it well. Sparsely, simply, factually and very, very well. Zinn is one of the few writers Iíve seen who can pack a single page chock full of facts and still have it read like one of the best novels out there.

His perspective is controversial to many, doubtless, but he admits from the beginning that it is far from the only one. While someone can continue to regard many of our nationís heroes as such after reading this book, it will be with a far different eye.

If anything, ìA Peopleís Historyî gives anyone reading it the realization that the rich and powerful have received far too much of Americaís tale from nigh on near the beginning.

It also makes on realize that times of turmoil are nothing new and that no matter how often those with power would like workers, outcasts and minorities to simply settle down and do what theyíre told, it rarely happens. Rebellion is, after all, just as American as mothers and apple pie, judging by how much of it Zinn brings to light.

So too are wonderful things like race riots and foreign interventions. Even in Americaís most isolationist ìgolden age.î One handy statistic Zinn brings to light: between 1795 and 1895, the U.S. intervened militarily abroad a total of 108 times.

Useful bits of information like that are scattered throughout every bit of this book, along with countless compelling stories. Plenty of books claim to be revolutionary, claim to turn conventional history along with its common myths and fables on its head. Here, however is one that actually lives up to its claim, that follows its course through to the modern day and that spares no one in its indictments.

The constant parade of uprisings, strikes and slow, staggering attempts at improving things in the face of all odds can be heart-wrenching and inspiring all at the same time.

To read it is to be introduced to a whole cast of oft-forgotten rebels, hellraisers and ordinary folks. Read it as a counterpoint, read it to incite or read it to learn. But read it all the same. Youíll be a wiser person afterwards.
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David Forbes, who writes book reviews for the Daily Planet, may be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Suggestions and comments are always welcome.