Vietnam: The Logic of Withdrawal

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VIETNAM
The Logic of Withdrawal

Howard Zinn

Haymarket Books (September 2012)

Paper • ISBN-13: 9781608463053 • US $15.00 • 144 pgs.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Of the many books that challenged the Vietnam War, Howard Zinn’s trenchant argument from 1967 stands out as one of the best—and most influential. At the height of the Vietnam War, it helped sparked a national debate and gave urgent voice to the growing antiwar movement. This edition includes a new introduction from the author.

PRAISE:

“Howard Zinn has had the courage to carry the general argument against further American involvement in the war in Vietnam to its logical conclusion. His is the best statement of the case for American withdrawal that has appeared to date. Until the case for withdrawal had been stated with the clarity and conviction that Zinn has brought to it, the debate about Vietnam was necessarily limited; in other words, it has tended to be a debate within certain unstated but clearly understood limitations. Mr. Zinn has also dispelled the fog of words, the shameless double-talk, and the myths that have beclouded American understanding of the issues, the alternatives and the real meaning of the war in Vietnam. An invaluable contribution to the dialogue on the subject.”

Carey McWilliams, editor of The Nation

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Howard Zinn (1922–2010) was a historian, playwright, and activist. He wrote the classic A People’s History of the United States, “a brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those … whose plight has been largely omitted from most histories” (Library Journal). The book, which has sold more than 2.6 million copies and been translated into 23 foreign editions, has become a cultural touchstone, encouraging interest in “people’s histories” in universities and activist meetings alike. In 2009, History aired The People Speak, an acclaimed documentary co-directed by Zinn, based on A People’s History and a companion volume, Voices of a People’s History of the United States. As Noam Chomsky wrote, “Howard Zinn’s work literally changed the conscience of a generation.”

Zinn grew up in a working-class, immigrant household in Brooklyn. At eighteen, he became a shipyard worker and flew bomber missions over Europe during World War II, experiences which helped to shape his opposition to war and his interest in the lives of working people. After attending college under the GI Bill and earning a Ph.D. in history from Columbia University, he taught at Spelman College, a historically African American women’s college, where he became active in the civil rights movement. After being fired by Spelman for his support for student protesters, Zinn became a professor of Political Science at Boston University, where he taught until his retirement in 1988. He wrote over forty books.