Howard Zinn, United States historian, author and social critic, is fairly well known in many circles, but there are still many who are unaware of his ideas. In an effort to discuss the United States specifically post 9/11 and reach an audience that is more likely to seek out YouTube videos or graphic novels rather than traditional reading materials, Zinn has changed things things up a bit. His latest offering is called “A People’s History of American Empire” and expresses ideas through images and characters rather than text.

Below is a great animated video made from an excerpt of that new graphic novel. The video, entitled “Empire or Humanity? What the Classroom Didn’t Teach Me about the American Empire,” is narrated by Viggo Mortensen and taken from an essay Zinn wrote that’s available on Tomdispatch.com. (To read the unabridged essay “Empire or Humanity?” go to Tomdispatch.com.)

The book itself hits shelves today
I’ll have a more extensive review of it up in the next few days so be sure to check back! For now, check out the panel below and to check it out yourself!

“From A People’s History of American Empire: A Graphic Adaptation by Howard Zinn, Mike Konopacki, and Paul Buhle. Copyright © 2008 by Howard Zinn, Mike Konopacki, and Paul Buhle. Reprinted by arrangement with Metropolitan Books, an imprint of Henry Holt and Company, LLC. All rights reserved.”