Howard Zinn - by Martin Duberman (Paperback)

About the Book

Published to great acclaim in hardcover, Martin Duberman's "Howard Zinn" was described by Michael Kammen in the Los Angeles Review of Books as "biography at its best, written by a master of the craft and a man who has lived the activist life and combined that with serious scholarship and innovative teaching." For the millions moved by Howard Zinn's personal example of political engagement, here is a brilliant new biography of perhaps the most widely celebrated popular interpreter of American history and one of America's most admired progressive voices.
"Profoundly moving and perfectly timed" (Blanche Wiesen Cook), "compulsively readable and elegant" ("ForeWord"), "engaging" (History News Network), and "thoughtful" ("Reason Online"), this fascinating account places Zinn at the heart of the signal events of modern American history--from World War II to the McCarthy era, the civil rights and the antiwar movements, and beyond. A bombardier who later renounced war, a son of working-class parents who earned a doctorate at Columbia, a white professor who taught at the historically black Spelman College in Atlanta--the author of "A People's History of the United States" blazed a bold, iconoclastic path through the turbulent second half of the twentieth century. Drawing on the previously closed Zinn archives and illustrated with never-before-published photographs, Howard Zinn brings to life this towering figure--the people's historian who himself made history, changing forever how we think about our past.

Book Synopsis

Published to great acclaim in hardcover, Martin Duberman's Howard Zinn was described by Michael Kammen in the Los Angeles Review of Books as "biography at its best, written by a master of the craft and a man who has lived the activist life and combined that with serious scholarship and innovative teaching." For the millions moved by Howard Zinn's personal example of political engagement, here is a brilliant new biography of perhaps the most widely celebrated popular interpreter of American history and one of America's most admired progressive voices.

"Profoundly moving and perfectly timed" (Blanche Wiesen Cook), "compulsively readable and elegant" (ForeWord), "engaging" (History News Network), and "thoughtful" (Reason Online), this fascinating account places Zinn at the heart of the signal events of modern American history--from World War II to the McCarthy era, the civil rights and the antiwar movements, and beyond. A bombardier who later renounced war, a son of working-class parents who earned a doctorate at Columbia, a white professor who taught at the historically black Spelman College in Atlanta--the author of A People's History of the United States blazed a bold, iconoclastic path through the turbulent second half of the twentieth century. Drawing on the previously closed Zinn archives and illustrated with never-before-published photographs, Howard Zinn brings to life this towering figure--the people's historian who himself made history, changing forever how we think about our past.

Review Quotes

"Biography at its best, written by a master of the craft and a man who has lived the activist life and combined that with serious scholarship and innovative teaching."
--Michael Kammen, Los Angeles Review of Books

"This intelligent book reminds us of the titanic moral struggles in American history and those who engaged with them."
--The Washington Post

"Owing to Duberman's own passionate commitment to social justice and his exclusive access to Zinn's papers, his authoritative biography brings Zinn's colorful voice back to life."
--ForeWord Reviews

"If you're a fan of Howard Zinn . . . you'll want to pick up this excellent biography."
--The Progressive

"Imagine! The best of Howard Zinn and Martin Duberman between two covers. Everyone interested in A People's History and a future of justice and hope will benefit from Martin Duberman's insightful, vividly written, splendid biography. Howard Zinn: A Life on the Left is profoundly moving and perfectly timed as we regroup and reconsider our world's needs."
--Blanche Wiesen Cook, University Distinguished Professor at John Jay College and The Graduate Center, CUNY, and author of Eleanor Roosevelt

"Martin Duberman has written a fine biography. He brings us the extraordinary life of Howard Zinn, in an account that is well-informed and empathetic, sometimes gently critical, but always aware of the driving passion for direct action in the cause of social justice that was the core of Howard Zinn's being."
--Frances Fox Piven

"Howard Zinn was one of the truly great figures of twentieth-century American radicalism--an academic who shocked much of the academy by giving us a 'people's history' of our own country. We are fortunate that the author of this biography is Martin Duberman, himself an activist as well as an academic, who brings his passion to these pages."
--David McReynolds

"When Howard Zinn died I hoped that someone would document the extraordinary life of this extremely kind and brave man--but I never dreamed that it would be done by someone with the craft and vision of Martin Duberman. This book is destined to be a classic of twentieth-century history."
--Mark Kurlansky, author of Nonviolence and 1968

"Martin Duberman's masterful biography promises to bring the story of Howard's life and work to new generations of readers."
--Paul Buhle, editor of A People's History of American Empire

"A masterful biography. . . . With his typically meticulous research, Martin Duberman has ferreted out the facts and given us a complete picture, warts and all."
--Doug Ireland

About the Author

Martin Duberman is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at the CUNY Graduate School. The author of more than twenty books, Duberman has won a Bancroft Prize and been a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in New York City.