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A review by 600bars
A People's History of American Empire: The American Empire Project, a Graphic Adaptation by Paul Buhle, Mike Konopacki, Howard Zinn
4.0
Sad to rate this low because I don't know how they could have gotten around the issues I had with it. Overall I would recommend this, but if I had half stars I would give it 3.5. I bought this as a gift for my aunt and uncle. They are like your typical democrats who aren't super political. There are several military members on that side of the fam, and they are big fans of Hamilton which should be enough information. One day my aunt randomly texted me that she wanted to read A People' History of the United States by Howard Zinn. I was shocked! Not Reading is one of her personality traits (which is fine we all have different ways of learning), so that really surprised me right off the bat, but of all books to request! I was so excited I offered to do it book club style, because I myself have been meaning to read that.
I saw this graphic adaptation and I thought it might be a good Christmas gift. I don't think she really has any experience reading comics either, but sometimes I find that if I consume information in multiple formats (like listening to a podcast on the matter or watching a documentary and reading the book or watching a fictional movie then watching a documentary about the same event) it sticks in my mind better. I read it before giving it to her and I spent most of reading trying to imagine what it would be like for her to read.
The upside is there is soooo much information packed in here, and the downside is there is sooo much information packed in here. I don’t really know how else they could have laid it out because by definition the US empire is like a spiderweb kaleidoscope and it would be impossible to simply lay things out in chronological order. On top of that, the book is kindof a graphic adaptation of a people’s history by Howard Zinn, but it also includes his lectures and info about his life. I think the presentation is supposed to be that of a lecture he is giving and we are hearing the info. Idk if I liked that device but I also am cutting the editors some slack because it’s really really impossible to neatly format a work like this.
Similarly, they have to rapid fire every single topic. We start with the internal colonization of the indigenous people of the americas, then we learn about cuba, and the philippines and the spanish american war, then WW1, brief interlude chronicling Zinn’s childhood and how he became radicalized, WW2, interlude on the postwar music scene, the civil rights movement, the vietnam war, the iran contra affair, the pentagon papers, operation AJax, and throughout we are getting tie ins to the war on Terror. Aren’t you exhausted! This is all vital information, but as an example I am currently listening to a 20 hour podcast that covers the ~10 pages about Cuba we get here. I started thinking maybe this would be perfect to show someone who doesn’t know that much about these parts of history, but maybe it’s better for someone who already broadly knows about all of this and here we can see the whole zoomed out view.
One thing I thought was really effective was the little “ZINNformation” panels. These are inserted to make a parallel to more recent events. On page 164 we learn about the gulf of Tonkin, which was used as the pretext to get into the Vietnam War. the Zinnformation panel reminds us that the same playbook was used in the early 2000s, but instead of naval vessel attacks in vietnam we had WMDs in Iraq. I thought these were excellent to illustrate the fact that they are all operating from the same playbook. This is the thing that I would like my loved ones to come away from the book understanding, and these panels do a wonderful job in drawing those connections.
I wasn’t in love with the art style, but I think the artists knew that it can be tricky to convey such dark topics in a cartoon style (I firmly believe this can be done to great effect tho, I haven’t read Maus but have heard nothing but praise, and the work of Joe Sacco is very cartoony but VERY effective). To get around this, there are many actual photographs inserted among the drawings. The photos are usually of atrocities and many are fairly famous, like the child running from the napalm or pics from abu grahib. There are so many photos of people hanging, being tortured torture and many photos piles of bodies in ditches. I think this is a good thing because we can’t look away or sanitize reality.
The negative reviews of this book that aren’t about the formatting or art style make me sooooo sad lol, I guess if he’s biased I have identical biases, but at the same time what is the argument against any of the information presented here? It’s all been proven to be true. Also, it’s pretty clear that this is meant to be an alternative to the history we learn in schools. I haven’t read any of Zinn’s actual work but at least here he came off as a social democrat and not even intensely radical. All the photos of bodies in mass graves are real. Time and time again the United States has waged wars or proxy wars to gain access to materials and cement their position. It’s to the point where, if this book were fiction, I would say this is getting repetitive and the plot should be changed up!
My Obaachan, who grew up in Japan and came to the US at 30, had always idealized the United States. She was a huge fan of Jimmy Carter, and as a result my aunt also has great respect for him. I wondered what she would think about this, as this book makes it clear that Jimmy continued the exact same foreign policy line as those before and after him. (page 207– Jimmy Carter was elected president in 1976 on populist promises that he would cut the pentagon budget and end arms sales to oppressive regimes. His very first budget increased funding to the Pentagon by 10 billion dollars :) ) I am many years into complete and utter disillusionment with the democratic party, but I feel like someone who isn’t would either have a very rude awakening or double down to avoid cognitive dissonance.
It is a painful experience to realize how much horror your own country is responsible for, especially for someone who feels attached to it. I personally do not understand how anyone can learn the basic facts of US history and still feel proud of this country. I mean even without all of this knowledge literally slavery and its aftereffects alone should be enough. I don’t see how you can think we have a democracy when the people did/do not get a say in who runs the CIA or what type of shenanigans they get up to. The book shows how time and again there is massive popular resistance to war, but the wars are waged anyway. The chapter in the prisons for people avoiding the draft also demonstrated striking hypocrisy (92-95). Religious freedom is literally in the first amendment, and yet many of the people in the jail were from religious sects like the Mennonites whose religion forbade joining the war. The entire book shows several instances where freedom of the press is suppressed, and freedom of expression via protest is stamped out by killing and arresting people every time!! How can anyone not see the hypocrisy?
Like I said I’ve been long disillusioned but I tried to read this through the eyes of someone who actually believes in the American Project. I don’t expect I’m going to make my aunt a communist or anything, but I do think that every citizen should be aware of the contents in this book. Though it is a bit jumbled and glosses over a lot, there’s not really a good way to encompass every single thing that needs to be said. I still haven’t read A People’s History but I am looking forward to it.
I saw this graphic adaptation and I thought it might be a good Christmas gift. I don't think she really has any experience reading comics either, but sometimes I find that if I consume information in multiple formats (like listening to a podcast on the matter or watching a documentary and reading the book or watching a fictional movie then watching a documentary about the same event) it sticks in my mind better. I read it before giving it to her and I spent most of reading trying to imagine what it would be like for her to read.
The upside is there is soooo much information packed in here, and the downside is there is sooo much information packed in here. I don’t really know how else they could have laid it out because by definition the US empire is like a spiderweb kaleidoscope and it would be impossible to simply lay things out in chronological order. On top of that, the book is kindof a graphic adaptation of a people’s history by Howard Zinn, but it also includes his lectures and info about his life. I think the presentation is supposed to be that of a lecture he is giving and we are hearing the info. Idk if I liked that device but I also am cutting the editors some slack because it’s really really impossible to neatly format a work like this.
Similarly, they have to rapid fire every single topic. We start with the internal colonization of the indigenous people of the americas, then we learn about cuba, and the philippines and the spanish american war, then WW1, brief interlude chronicling Zinn’s childhood and how he became radicalized, WW2, interlude on the postwar music scene, the civil rights movement, the vietnam war, the iran contra affair, the pentagon papers, operation AJax, and throughout we are getting tie ins to the war on Terror. Aren’t you exhausted! This is all vital information, but as an example I am currently listening to a 20 hour podcast that covers the ~10 pages about Cuba we get here. I started thinking maybe this would be perfect to show someone who doesn’t know that much about these parts of history, but maybe it’s better for someone who already broadly knows about all of this and here we can see the whole zoomed out view.
One thing I thought was really effective was the little “ZINNformation” panels. These are inserted to make a parallel to more recent events. On page 164 we learn about the gulf of Tonkin, which was used as the pretext to get into the Vietnam War. the Zinnformation panel reminds us that the same playbook was used in the early 2000s, but instead of naval vessel attacks in vietnam we had WMDs in Iraq. I thought these were excellent to illustrate the fact that they are all operating from the same playbook. This is the thing that I would like my loved ones to come away from the book understanding, and these panels do a wonderful job in drawing those connections.
I wasn’t in love with the art style, but I think the artists knew that it can be tricky to convey such dark topics in a cartoon style (I firmly believe this can be done to great effect tho, I haven’t read Maus but have heard nothing but praise, and the work of Joe Sacco is very cartoony but VERY effective). To get around this, there are many actual photographs inserted among the drawings. The photos are usually of atrocities and many are fairly famous, like the child running from the napalm or pics from abu grahib. There are so many photos of people hanging, being tortured torture and many photos piles of bodies in ditches. I think this is a good thing because we can’t look away or sanitize reality.
The negative reviews of this book that aren’t about the formatting or art style make me sooooo sad lol, I guess if he’s biased I have identical biases, but at the same time what is the argument against any of the information presented here? It’s all been proven to be true. Also, it’s pretty clear that this is meant to be an alternative to the history we learn in schools. I haven’t read any of Zinn’s actual work but at least here he came off as a social democrat and not even intensely radical. All the photos of bodies in mass graves are real. Time and time again the United States has waged wars or proxy wars to gain access to materials and cement their position. It’s to the point where, if this book were fiction, I would say this is getting repetitive and the plot should be changed up!
My Obaachan, who grew up in Japan and came to the US at 30, had always idealized the United States. She was a huge fan of Jimmy Carter, and as a result my aunt also has great respect for him. I wondered what she would think about this, as this book makes it clear that Jimmy continued the exact same foreign policy line as those before and after him. (page 207– Jimmy Carter was elected president in 1976 on populist promises that he would cut the pentagon budget and end arms sales to oppressive regimes. His very first budget increased funding to the Pentagon by 10 billion dollars :) ) I am many years into complete and utter disillusionment with the democratic party, but I feel like someone who isn’t would either have a very rude awakening or double down to avoid cognitive dissonance.
It is a painful experience to realize how much horror your own country is responsible for, especially for someone who feels attached to it. I personally do not understand how anyone can learn the basic facts of US history and still feel proud of this country. I mean even without all of this knowledge literally slavery and its aftereffects alone should be enough. I don’t see how you can think we have a democracy when the people did/do not get a say in who runs the CIA or what type of shenanigans they get up to. The book shows how time and again there is massive popular resistance to war, but the wars are waged anyway. The chapter in the prisons for people avoiding the draft also demonstrated striking hypocrisy (92-95). Religious freedom is literally in the first amendment, and yet many of the people in the jail were from religious sects like the Mennonites whose religion forbade joining the war. The entire book shows several instances where freedom of the press is suppressed, and freedom of expression via protest is stamped out by killing and arresting people every time!! How can anyone not see the hypocrisy?
Like I said I’ve been long disillusioned but I tried to read this through the eyes of someone who actually believes in the American Project. I don’t expect I’m going to make my aunt a communist or anything, but I do think that every citizen should be aware of the contents in this book. Though it is a bit jumbled and glosses over a lot, there’s not really a good way to encompass every single thing that needs to be said. I still haven’t read A People’s History but I am looking forward to it.