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A review by mad_about_books
A People's History of American Empire: The American Empire Project, a Graphic Adaptation by Paul Buhle, Mike Konopacki, Howard Zinn
5.0
I fully expected to breeze through A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF AMERICAN EMPIRE in one sitting. I was so wrong! For the record, I am 74 years old. I've lived through at least half of the situations covered in the book. I am also 50 years past reading comic books. The 'graphic novel' format turned out to be distracting, forcing me to re-read some of the captions several times to separate the words from the images. It is a 'graphic' history book. One of the time-consuming aspects of reading this book was googling some of the facts, all of which were verifiable from legitimate sources. It is not a 'novel.' It is left leaning and will certainly find its way onto a banned book list somewhere in deep red America.
When I started reading A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF AMERICAN EMPIRE, the United States, once again, seems on the brink of war… the war Americans and the world cannot afford… war with Russia. As Russian troops hover on the border of Ukraine, and Putin rattles the Russian saber, things look bleak indeed. Will this result in annihilation or another instance of American empire building with Ukraine falling under the heel of Washington?
From the time American children enter school, they are taught about American exceptionalism, my country always right, my country never wrong. The United States has been building empire since its inception. The Monroe Doctrine, manifest destiny, the Mexican-American War, the Indian wars are clear examples of empire building. Throughout its history, the US was exceptionally good at indiscriminately killing Native American women and children, exceptionally good at promoting the superiority of the white race, exceptionally good at kowtowing to rich businessmen no matter how they made their money or how badly they treated their employees, and exceptionally good at using war to exemplify patriotism. American exceptionalism can be boiled down to two words… violence and money.
A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF AMERICAN EMPIRE does a good job of illustrating the hypocrisy of 'separation of church and state.' Empire building in the name of Christ was and is de rigueur. While preaching, the true religion of empire building was and is war profiteering.
There is no doubt that in this era of extreme political division in the United States, the left will read this book one way and the right exactly the opposite. This simplified history stands on its merits and will appeal to young people with its graphic presentation. It is a fitting history for a world where brevity rules.
When I started reading A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF AMERICAN EMPIRE, the United States, once again, seems on the brink of war… the war Americans and the world cannot afford… war with Russia. As Russian troops hover on the border of Ukraine, and Putin rattles the Russian saber, things look bleak indeed. Will this result in annihilation or another instance of American empire building with Ukraine falling under the heel of Washington?
From the time American children enter school, they are taught about American exceptionalism, my country always right, my country never wrong. The United States has been building empire since its inception. The Monroe Doctrine, manifest destiny, the Mexican-American War, the Indian wars are clear examples of empire building. Throughout its history, the US was exceptionally good at indiscriminately killing Native American women and children, exceptionally good at promoting the superiority of the white race, exceptionally good at kowtowing to rich businessmen no matter how they made their money or how badly they treated their employees, and exceptionally good at using war to exemplify patriotism. American exceptionalism can be boiled down to two words… violence and money.
A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF AMERICAN EMPIRE does a good job of illustrating the hypocrisy of 'separation of church and state.' Empire building in the name of Christ was and is de rigueur. While preaching, the true religion of empire building was and is war profiteering.
There is no doubt that in this era of extreme political division in the United States, the left will read this book one way and the right exactly the opposite. This simplified history stands on its merits and will appeal to young people with its graphic presentation. It is a fitting history for a world where brevity rules.