A People's History of American Empire: A Graphic Adaptation

A People's History of American Empire: A Graphic Adaptation

A People's History of American Empire: A Graphic Adaptation

A People's History of American Empire: A Graphic Adaptation

Paperback(S&s Hdcvr ed.)

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Overview

Adapted from the bestselling grassroots history of the United States, the story of America in the world, told in comics form

Since its landmark publication in 1980, A People's History of the United States has had six new editions, sold more than 1.7 million copies, become required classroom reading throughout the country, and been turned into an acclaimed play. More than a successful book, A People's History triggered a revolution in the way history is told, displacing the official versions with their emphasis on great men in high places to chronicle events as they were lived, from the bottom up.

Now Howard Zinn, historian Paul Buhle, and cartoonist Mike Konopacki have collaborated to retell, in vibrant comics form, a most immediate and relevant chapter of A People's History: the centuries-long story of America's actions in the world. Narrated by Zinn, this version opens with the events of 9/11 and then jumps back to explore the cycles of U.S. expansionism from Wounded Knee to Iraq, stopping along the way at World War I, Central America, Vietnam, and the Iranian revolution. The book also follows the story of Zinn, the son of poor Jewish immigrants, from his childhood in the Brooklyn slums to his role as one of America's leading historians.

Shifting from world-shattering events to one family's small revolutions, A People's History of American Empire presents the classic ground-level history of America in a dazzling new form.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780805087444
Publisher: Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.
Publication date: 04/01/2008
Series: American Empire Project
Edition description: S&s Hdcvr ed.
Pages: 288
Sales rank: 508,988
Product dimensions: 8.76(w) x 10.84(h) x 0.73(d)
Age Range: 14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Howard Zinn, author of numerous acclaimed histories, taught history at Spelman College and Boston University, and received the Lannan Literary Award, among many others. A People's History of the United States was a finalist for the 1981 National Book Award. Born in 1922, Zinn died in 2010.

Mike Konopacki has collaborated on five collections of cartoons, and his work is regularly syndicated. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

Paul Buhle is a senior lecturer in history at Brown University and the editor of the Encyclopedia of the American Left, among other books. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Reading Group Guide

Questions for Discussion

1. One thing that sets this book apart, particularly as a work in the "graphic novel" genre, is its great variety of visual imagery. We find within these pages various photographs, maps, printed-page excerpts, diagrams, posters and poster-like advertisements, newspaper and magazine clippings, political cartoons, and, of course, many drawings both comics-based and realistic. Point out memorable examples of each of these categories.

2. What is meant in this book by the word "empire"? Discuss this key term with your fellow students.

3. Define "ghost dance." Also, who was Black Elk? What does he mean when he states (on page 17): "The nation's hoop is broken and scattered"?

4. The phrase "Certain White Men" appears on more than one occasion in these pages. When, and in what context, does the phrase first appear? Who does this phrase signify, both specifically and generally?

5. Eugene V. Debs makes his first appearance in this book on page 22. Who was Debs? Why was he both revered and hated? For what is he best known today? And where else do we encounter him in these pages?

6. Page 28 gives us a full-page illustration of America's so-called "Open Door Policy," which is said to hang on "two hinges—military and economic expansionism." What does this policy mean? How does it work? Where has it been utilized, over the years and across the globe?

7. In the bottom panel of page 33, we see a maid (or domestic servant) waiting on a wealthy white person. It's a scene that we find more than once in A People's History (although in this case, given the speech balloon appearing at far right, the drawing might be ironic). Where else in this book do we see such an illustration?

8. Explain the origin of the term "yellow journalism," as detailed in Chapter II. Also, explain why—as we find a bit later, in Chapter IV—"This Machine Kills Fascists" is written upon Woody Guthrie's guitar.

9. What was the Sykes-Picot Agreement? For whom was the agreement named? What did it achieve? And how, per page 87, was this agreement "essentially codified" by the 1919 Peace Treaty of Versailles?

10. Who was Emma Goldman? Why is she remembered by history? We are "introduced" to her on page 101—but, actually, we've seen her name previously in this book. Can you find where? (Hint: It's on a poster in the "Resistance to War" section of Chapter IV.)

11. This work is presented, both visually and textually, as though its main author, the great historian Howard Zinn, were delivering a lecture. Zinn is our narrator; we as readers are "attending" his lecture. But with Chapter V, we find that Zinn's own story—his remarkable life—intersects with the very history at hand. The American story, then, includes (however partially) the Zinn story. Discuss how Zinn's life has informed his arguments and beliefs. How has his biography has shaped his personal philosophy?

12. Just above the sequence of five photographs at the bottom of page 121, we read: "Many of our wars were launched on the quicksand of public deception." Explain what this means, paying particular attention to the "quicksand" metaphor, and also explain how this remark applies to each of the five wars pictured.

13. Who are the two men depicted at the bottom right of page 159? Where have we seen them before in this book (as represented with these very same portraits)? What is each saying about race and the U.S. military?

14. Who are the four girls shown amid flames in the bottom-right panel of page 178? Can you tell who they are, even though they are not named specifically?

15. On page 191, in the "Manifesto of the Wounded Knee Airlift," we read: "The frustration and disillusionment we may at times feel are only the result of a misunderstanding of our real ability to affect the course of this country's policies." And earlier, on page 99, we see a speech balloon along the same lines: "So you see, protest DOES work!!" Where else in these pages did you grasp this message?

16. The exact same unflattering—yet "presidential"—illustration appears on pages 193 and 204 of this book. What is the gist of this self-contained political cartoon? Name as many of the faces and logos in this illustration as you can.

17. On page 203, Zinn asks us, rhetorically, "Was there a connection between Watergate and Vietnam? Of course! It was the same policy." What does he mean by this? And do you agree with him? Explain.

18. As a reader of this book, and as a viewer of its graphic imagery, account for the "secret agent" (or even "film noir"?) characteristics of the artwork rendered on page 238—the shading, coloring, perspectives, subject matter, silhouetting, shadowing, etc.

19. What did you make of the fact that this detailed, often disturbing (if not downright tragic) record of America's blood-lust for money and power—that is, its ongoing quest for empire—ends with the words "a marvelous victory"? Did this seem apt, or credible, to you? Or foolish? Or ironic? Or naive? Explain.

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