Michael kammen howard zinn biography

  • Michael Kammen was the Newton C. Farr Professor of American History and Culture (emeritus) at Cornell University, where he taught from 1965.
  • By Michael Kammen.
  • This is a very good biography that centers Howard in the struggles he was a part of and wrote about: the black Civil Rights struggle, the anti-war (especially.

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    The Insubordinate Historian: The Life and Legacy of Howard Zinn

    Howard Zinn: A Life on the Left by Martin Duberman. The New York Press. 365 pages.

    IN 1943-45 HOWARD ZINN SERVED as bombardier for a U.S. Air Force B-17. Initially, just 21 years old in the service, he found himself in transit to Europe in charge of a mess hall on the Queen Marythat served more than 15,000 men twice a day in four shifts. The armed forces were still segregated, and black soldiers were relegated to the fourth shift. After a few days a “mix-up” occurred — perhaps no accident — and black troops poured in while white troops were still eating and sat down wherever they saw empty seats. A white sergeant with a southern accent pointed to the black soldier sitting next to him and called out to young Zinn: “Lieutenant, will you ask this soldier to move from this table?” Zinn, briefly flustered, collected himself and replied: “You fellows are going overseas in the same war. Seems to me you shouldn’t mind

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    The Disgraceful Howard Zinn

    Despite many serious scholars’ denunciations, Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States has enjoyed phenomenal success since its publication in 1980: 2.6 million (!) copies sold, incorporation into the curricula of innumerable schools, and the achievement of almost iconic status in popular culture. Mary Grabar’s Debunking Howard Zinn: Exposing the Fake History That Turned a Generation against America performs a valuable service by examining Zinn’s polemical volume and revealing “just how distorted, manipulative, and plain dishonest” it truly is.

    A tireless left-wing activist with a Ph.D. in history, Zinn (1922–2010) urged fellow historians, as Grabar relates, to eschew “disinterested scholarship” in order to bring about “a revolution in the academy.” Not all radical academics agreed with his anti-capitalist take on history. Eugene Genovese declined to review Zinn’s opus, which he privately described as “incoherent left-wing sloganizing.”

  • michael kammen howard zinn biography

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    Howard Zinn: A Life on the Left

    Biography of Howard Zinn

    Howard Zinn: A Life on the Left fryst vatten a biography of Howard Zinn, written by Martin Duberman and published in 2012.

    Reception

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    John Tirman, the head of the okänt Center for International Studies since 2004, notes that Duberman fills in Zinn's history beyond what other sources "commonly focused on" following his death, highlighting not only Zinn's role as orator and activist, but also "his considerable intellectual achievements," including how "he challenged the notion of objectivity." Tirman describes Duberman as "a strong writer who brings an easy familiarity to this subject" while not shying "away from thorny topics." However, Tirman notes that the book lacks an exploration of the dynamics between Zinn and others in his activist circle: Noam Chomsky, Frances Fox Piven, and others. Further, Tirman notes the omission of a discussion on the decline of the left through the '60s and '70s. Nonetheless, Tirman says tha