The People's Historian
The Outsized Life of Howard Zinn
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The People's Historian
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Narrated by:
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By:
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Dave Zirin
About this listen
From The Nation magazine columnist and New York Times bestselling author Dave Zirin, The People's Historian is a deeply researched biography of Howard Zinn, the beloved author of the classic national bestseller with more than four million copies sold, A People's History of the United States.
The People’s Historian shows Zinn’s presence on the great canvases of the 20th century: from the Depression to World War II to the Civil Rights Movement to the war in Vietnam all the way until his death in 2010. With intimately researched stories from Zinn’s life and career, such as the way Atlanta's small Spelman College, where Zinn taught as a young professor, helped launch the Civil Rights Movement, Zinn's work traveling to Hanoi to engineer the release of POWs, and his continuing influence in the emerging Democratic Socialist movement, The People’s Historian explores Zinn’s past while also demonstrating how his 75 years of political engagement with the social struggles of his time informs our perilous present.
With input from family and access to Zinn's personal papers, The People's Historian paints a picture of the man behind A People's History, examining his work and legacy in the broader context of the United States.
Critic Reviews
“Dave Zirin’s biography of Howard Zinn, the great people’s intellectual, is a triumph…a measured, finely tuned narrative of an undeniably sweet but complicated scholar who transformed how we Americans see ourselves” —Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Prometheus
“David Zirin - our premier sports historian and cultural critic - has written a brilliant and heartfelt book on the great Howard Zinn - our premier peoples’ historian and social critic! In these grim and dim times, we so badly need Zinn’s genuine witness of deep humanity and prophetic voice of hope and compassion!” —Dr. Cornel West, New York Times bestselling author of Democracy Matters
“In this compelling portrait of the indomitable Howard Zinn, Dave Zirin offers a definitive account of the nation’s most influential radical historian… Arriving at an urgent moment, this book reminds us that Howard Zinn still has much to teach about resisting the latest threats to American democracy."
—Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of #From Black Lives Matter to Black Liberation
“Dave Zirin always comes on time because he never stops writing beautiful prose pointed at injustice. The People's Historian shook free an understanding of Zinn I'd never felt, and made me know that we are so, so prepared to live and fight in 2026.”
—Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy: An American Memoir
“The People’s Historian is a rousing, defiant portrait of an unapologetic progressive, his battles, and adversaries written in the quintessential Zinn spirit, Zirin standing up while others are checking out.”
—Howard Bryant, author of Kings and Pawns, Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America
"There are rare moments when the right biographer tells the story of an epic figure. This is one of them. Dave Zirin’s masterful recounting of the life of Howard Zinn is rich in political detail and ideological insight, yet delightfully warm and compelling in its storytelling. Zirin has given us an exceptional biography of the people’s historian.
—John Nichols, New York Times bestselling author of It’s OK to be Angry About Capitalism
“Howard Zinn spoke truth to power… In Dave Zirin, Zinn now has the right biographer: Zirin has given us a book that is clear-eyed and thoughtful and personal and full of levity. A clarion call we have never needed more than in the present moment.”
—Jonathan Coleman, author of Long Way to Go: Black and White in America
“David Zirin - our premier sports historian and cultural critic - has written a brilliant and heartfelt book on the great Howard Zinn - our premier peoples’ historian and social critic! In these grim and dim times, we so badly need Zinn’s genuine witness of deep humanity and prophetic voice of hope and compassion!” —Dr. Cornel West, New York Times bestselling author of Democracy Matters
“In this compelling portrait of the indomitable Howard Zinn, Dave Zirin offers a definitive account of the nation’s most influential radical historian… Arriving at an urgent moment, this book reminds us that Howard Zinn still has much to teach about resisting the latest threats to American democracy."
—Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of #From Black Lives Matter to Black Liberation
“Dave Zirin always comes on time because he never stops writing beautiful prose pointed at injustice. The People's Historian shook free an understanding of Zinn I'd never felt, and made me know that we are so, so prepared to live and fight in 2026.”
—Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy: An American Memoir
“The People’s Historian is a rousing, defiant portrait of an unapologetic progressive, his battles, and adversaries written in the quintessential Zinn spirit, Zirin standing up while others are checking out.”
—Howard Bryant, author of Kings and Pawns, Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America
"There are rare moments when the right biographer tells the story of an epic figure. This is one of them. Dave Zirin’s masterful recounting of the life of Howard Zinn is rich in political detail and ideological insight, yet delightfully warm and compelling in its storytelling. Zirin has given us an exceptional biography of the people’s historian.
—John Nichols, New York Times bestselling author of It’s OK to be Angry About Capitalism
“Howard Zinn spoke truth to power… In Dave Zirin, Zinn now has the right biographer: Zirin has given us a book that is clear-eyed and thoughtful and personal and full of levity. A clarion call we have never needed more than in the present moment.”
—Jonathan Coleman, author of Long Way to Go: Black and White in America
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