It may be, as Chomsky writes in his foreword, that radical historian Howard Zinn has taught us "that objectivity is... problematic in historical writing," but a little more objectivity would have improved this study of Zinn's life and work. Zinn, now 81, is best known for A People's History of the United States, a look at American history from the point of view of the "dispossessed." Joyce comprehensively charts Zinn's life: the son of working-class Jews in New York City, Zinn served in the U.S. Army during WWII before getting his doctorate in history from Columbia. Joyce dutifully details Zinn's career as an activist/academic, his activism (for civil rights, against the Vietnam War) creating problems for him in his academic life. In fact, he was fired from Spellman College in the early 1960s for his activism, and later, while teaching at Boston University, he battled with the school's conservative president John Silber. There's little doubt that Zinn's life and work have taught and inspired many. But while Joyce (professor emeritus of history at East Central University in Oklahoma) occasionally takes issue with some of Zinn's more radical positions, such as his desire to abolish all U.S. prisons, Joyce's stated admiration for Zinn gets in the way of a balanced biography. Much of the book is based on Zinn's own recollections or those of friends and others sympathetic to him. As a result, this book's appeal is likely to be limited to the historian's fellow travelers. (Oct.)
