Synopses & Reviews
From the bestselling author of
A People's History of the United States comes this selection of passionate, honest, and piercing essays looking at American political ideology.
Howard Zinn brings to Passionate Declarations the same astringent style and provocative point of view that led more than a million people to buy his book A People's History of the United States. He directs his critique here to what he calls "American orthodoxies" -- that set of beliefs guardians of our culture consider sacrosanct: justifications for war, cynicism about human nature and violence, pride in our economic system, certainty of our freedom of speech, romanticization of representative government, confidence in our system of justice. Those orthodoxies, he believes, have a chilling effect on our capacity to think independently and to become active citizens in the long struggle for peace and justice.
Synopsis
From the best-selling author of A People's History of the United States comes Passionate Declarations, a collection of essays that dares to challenge America's political ideology. Acclaimed author and activist Howard Zinn unveils the ugly truths behind what we have come to accept as the status quo, and turns what he calls "American Orthodoxies" on their head. Zinn argues that these orthodoxies can affect our capacity to think independently and to become active citizens in the long struggle for peace and justice.
Among the many topics Zinn takes on are Vietnam and the question of just and unjust wars; intrusions on our Constitutional rights to privacy and free speech; the history of inequitable taxation; injustice to blacks; and indifference to pervasive poverty. Often drawing on personal experience, Zinn describes how our own government has betrayed the trust of its citizens. Passionate Declarations is a clarion call for independent thinking and action on the part of all Americans.
Howard Zinn (1922-2010) was a historian, playwright, and activist. He wrote the classic A People's History of the United States, which has sold more than two million copies and was featured in a documentary on the History Channel. His other writings include the play "Marx in Soho" and his autobiography You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train. He received the Lannan Foundation Literary Award for Nonfiction and the Eugene V. Debs award for his writing and political activism.
"A shotgun blast of revisionism that aims to shatter all the comfortable myths of American political discourse." -- Los Angeles Times
Synopsis
"A shotgun blast of revisionism that aims to shatter all the comfortable myths of American political discourse." -- Los Angeles Times
From the bestselling author of A People's History of the United States comes this selection of passionate, honest, and piercing essays looking at American political ideology.
Howard Zinn brings to Passionate Declarations the same astringent style and provocative point of view that led more than a million people to buy his book A People's History of the United States. He directs his critique here to what he calls American orthodoxies --that set of beliefs guardians of our culture consider sacrosanct: justifications for war, cynicism about human nature and violence, pride in our economic system, certainty of our freedom of speech, romanticization of representative government, confidence in our system of justice. Those orthodoxies, he believes, have a chilling effect on our capacity to think independently and to become active citizens in the long struggle for peace and justice.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 303-332) and index.
About the Author
Howard Zinn is a historian, playwright, and social activist. He was a shipyard worker and Air Force bombardier before he went to college under the GI Bill and received his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He has taught at Spelman College and Boston University, and has been a visiting professor at the University of Paris and the University of Bologna. He has received the Thomas Merton Award, the Eugene V. Debs Award, the Upton Sinclair Award, and the Lannan Literary Award. He lives in Auburndale, Massachusetts.