Howard Zinn: A Radical American Vision

by Davis D. Joyce

Book Overview

This first-ever biography of historian and activist Howard Zinn traces in broad strokes the story of his life, placing special emphasis on his involvement in both the Civil Rights movement and the Viet Nam War protests. Besides discussing the major shaping events of his life, biographer and historian Davis Joyce summarizes each of Zinn's books within the context of his life, analyzes the evolution of Zinn's ideas, and concludes with a preliminary...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591021316
• ISBN13: 9781591021315
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Prometheus Books
• Length: 275 Pages
• Weight: 2.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Needed now more than ever

This is a major book that is a must-read for anyone interested in one of the foremost radical figures of the twentieth century. Readers familiar with Zinn will remember his as a historian, activist, and proponent of radical social reform. He was a leader in the Civil Rights movement and one of the early opponents of the Vietnam War. His book "A People's History of the United States" has sold over a million copies and is considered a classic. At age 80 Zinn continues to write, lecture, and promote his views of a better America through radical social reform. Always controversial and sometimes considered un-American, this is a great book about an American icon, and is a must-read, as noted by Noam Chomsky, "For those who value the diversity of American voices and appreciate the importance of radically different viewpoints outside the mainstream." Davis Joyce is a first rate scholar and highly readable writer who can make you feel as if you were sitting at the kitchen table with him and a cup of coffee discussing Zinn and social issues of the day. He is that good. A superb job by a talented author. Highly recommended.

Howard Zinn fan

I am a Howard Zinn fan and was thrilled to find that someone had written a biography of this amazing man. After reading Mr. Joyce's biography, I find myself even more thrilled, more in awe and deeply respectful of Howard Zinn. Mr. Zinn says about The People's History of the American People that this is the unreported history of the marginalized people. Reading Mr. Joyce's biography, you can understand even more why Mr. Zinn thought that writing their history was so important. The thing is that Mr. Zinn's life falls in the same category: a part of history that is under-reported and needs to be analyzed and studied. His life is very instructive and a clear guide to anyone interested in progressive causes. I wanted to find out what Mr. Zinn had read, that along with his actual life experiences had inspired him. And boy did I get my answer. Starting with economics and economic theory, including the sweetest story ever about Charles Dickens, and moving on to Richard Wright and others. If you feel the need to understand the passions that have moved Mr. Zinn, then finding out what he was reading is very instructive. Thanks to Mr. Joyce for giving readers a guide. As if I needed anything to stoke the Zinn Passion, this book did it.

Zinn on childrearing; and on being a WWII bombardier

One reviewer wants to know Howard and Roslyn Zinn's thoughts on child-rearing. I don't know if they've published anything about that, but their daughter has, and the Zinns probably had some influence because Myla and her brother Jeff did not turn out too badly. With her husband, Jon Kabot-Zinn, Myla has written a book called Everyday Blessings, a detailed exploration of the meaning of respectful child-rearing. The reviewer also wants to know if Howard Zinn shared his progressive ideas while serving in the Army Air Corps during WWII. Someone should ask him that, but here's some context. Zinn's writing is informed by study and personal experience. He attended college after WWII on the GI bill, and earned a B.A. from NYU in 1951 and Ph.D from Columbia in 1958. In mid-April, 1945, he was a bombardier with the 490th Bomb Group and, from the air, he participated in the napalm bombing of Royan, the French seaside resort favored by Picasso. Nineteen years later, Zinn visited Royan, on the ground, and scoured public records in its town library. From documents and interviews he gathered in Royan, Zinn was able to inform and correct the historical account of the bombing of Royan written by historians who were not there. Zinn's detailed account of the circumstances of the bombing of Royan is published in The Politics of History and also included in The Zinn Reader. The story is an eye-opener, both from the perspective of what happened after D-Day and in tracing the evolution of Howard Zinn's ideas. If radical means detailed and in context, he's radical all right. Zinn's public speaking and his history books are enormously popular because he never forgets the story- telling. He's funny, and makes good use of irony. by Bonnie Britt

biography at its best

Publishers Weekly complained about this book: "...a little more objectivity would have improved this study of Zinn's life and work." This is the standard criticism, even dismissal of socially conscious intellectuals by mainstream gatekeepers in the United States. And what an outrage by that standard is a biography of the "people's historian" written by one of his ilk, and to top it off, an introduction by that radical Noam Chomsky! But, in fact, this is the combustion that makes the book exciting and enlightening and will lead readers to read all the works of all three socially conscious scholars. Dr. Davis Joyce is an Oklahoma historian, one of the few in that state who is knowledgeable and writes of that state's radical roots. Joyce edited "'An Oklahoma I Had Never Seen Before': Alternative Views of Oklahoma," a book in the Zinn mode of "people's history," a great gift to Oklahoma readers and students. For readers not from Oklahoma, the book would be enlightening for those who assume that Oklahoma is about as "heartland" and conservative as a state can be. As Joyce, Zinn, and other socially conscious historians have demonstrated, there are deep socially and politically radical roots in every nook and corner of the country, many of them embedded in the most oppressed communities.Howard Zinn, as a young scholar, learned that about his country when he went South in 1956, staying 8 years with deep involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. Afterwards, that experience informed his scholarship and teaching and raised a model for a generation of aspiring scholars, that of the activist-scholar, making knowledge and critical skills available to the people.That Davis Joyce admires Zinn is no secret. Clearly, Joyce took on the biography project to delve more deeply into the sources and motivations that created such an amazing citizen of the United States. The presumed "objectivity" of mainstream biographers amd historians more often than not mask support for oppressive structures and the status quo. Anyone who does not do so is then labeled "unobjective."Read this book and judge for yourself, trust your own judgment.

Review of Howard Zinn

Davis Joyce's book, Howard Zinn: "A Radical American Vision", is a delightful read. As an individual who typically doesn't read biographies, I was pleasantly surprised by the readability of this work. Zinn, who I had heard about only in passing, is an exceptional person. His radicalism has extended from the civil rights era to the present. He is a man who views history as a tool to demonstrate the need for action in current society. I was particularly interested in the discussions between objective and subjective reporting of history. Most people now recognize that any view of any event is seen through subjective eyes. To pretend otherwise is sheer hypocrisy. Its good to see that some individuals in the profession of history recognize Zinn's view.Zinn seems driven to work for the benefit of the downtrodden. A review of his work documents his struggle with authority, with his need to be a family man and provider, with his need to be recognized within his profession. This makes his story one of remarkable dedication. I appreciate Mr Joyce bringing to my attention the ongoing life and struggle of this extraordinary man. By reading this work I was inspired to purchase Zinn's A People's History. I am looking forward to further enlightenment of our people's history.Frank Shanklin, Ada