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I'm not a very big consumer of comic books, but after reading A People's History of American Empire
The book is a collaboration between Zinn, several other researchers, and well-known political cartoonist Mike Konopacki. A People's History of American Empire reads similar to A People's History of the United States except the format gives you the impression that you are at a lecture by Howard Zinn. Konopackiuses a Zinn cartoon character who discusses not only how the US became an empire, but how Zinn himself was influenced in becoming a radical historian. Zinn talks about how his dad was part of a union, how he read a great deal as a kid, and how he was once beaten at an anti-fascist march. These experiences and being a pilot during WWII had tremendous influence in his decision to become a teacher and an historian.
An aspect of the book that struck me was that it began its discussion of empire with the US takeover of Native American land in the later part of the 19th Century. Zinn believes that if we are going to talk about the US as empire that it begins with the theft of land from Native nations, which was epitomized in the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee, where the US military killed an estimated 300 unarmed Lakota indians.
Zinn also devotes some of the book to the radical labor, women's suffrage, and civil rights movements. Throughout the book, the authors argue that we need to recognize how US empire works at home and abroad, and that quite often the struggles against US imperialism in other countries is tied to struggles for justice here. An example of suppressed history that the book illustrates is about the great American writer Mark Twain. Most people are familiar with Twain's fictional works, particularly Huckleberry Finn, but many people are unaware that Twain wrote about US imperialism in essays such as To the Person Sitting in the Darkness and The War Prayer, which everyone ought to read. Twain was also a member of the Anti-Imperialist League and even suggested during the US slaughter in the Philippines that the government change the US flag and put skulls in place of the stars.
In regards to US foreign policy, the book begins with the US invasions and occupations of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. After the so-called Spanish American War, the book looks at the US involvement in WWI, WWII, the Cold War, and several examples of US intervention since the early 1950s. With each section, readers are presented the basic story line, with characters, events, and what the US policy was in each instance. Quite often, there are images of newspaper headlines or original photos that accompany the cartoon-like characters. In every instance, not only is a story being told, but original source material is being used. For example, in the chapter on how the US overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran, readers are presented with information on how the CIA help removed President Mossadegh in 1953 and put in his place the ruthless dictatorship of the Shah. All of the characters are cartoons except Mossadegh, who is represented with an actual photo from the time of the CIA coup. There is a bubble quote with an original statement from him that says, "My only crime is that I nationalized the Iranian oil industry and removed the network of colonialism and political and economic influence of the greatest empire on earth."
A People's History of American Empire would make an excellent text to use with middle, high school, and college age students, but is also a great resource for those wanting to understand the "unofficial" history of the US.
Howard Zinn, A People's History of American Empire
