Reviews

Historian, leftist activist, author of the popular People's History of the United States (New Pr., 1995) and other works of history, politics, and drama, retired professor Zinn has compiled 61 previously published essays on various historical topics and illuminates here his passionate commitment to social justice and political and economic democracy. The essays are arranged in six categories: race, class, war, law, history, and "means and ends." Lucid and at times poignant, they convey Zinn's belief that a historian's judgment about what should be written reflects her or his values. Some of the riveting events covered include the social revolution of the Civil Rights Movement, Allied atrocities during World War II, the murderous suppression of the Attica, New York, prison rebellion, and the hagiographic persistence of the Christopher Columbus narrative. Recommended for academic and public libraries.‘Charles L. Lumpkins, Bloomsburg Univ. Lib., Pa.