Imperialism is usually associated with voracious and belligerent European states like Britain, France, Spain and Portugal. They conquered and colonized much of the world. By the time the U.S. entered the international arena in the late 19th century, there wasn’t much left to grab but Spain was weak and vulnerable. The U.S. war with Spain […]

2 CDs Interview by David Barsamian. Recorded at Harvard.

Thomas Carlyle, the 19th century English essayist, described history as a “distillation of rumor.” How is the past constructed? Who does the constructing? What is included, occluded and omitted? What values and attitudes are promoted? Is history, as some would contend, a collection of neutral observations amassed by disinterested scholars? History is in fact a […]

2 CDs A classic Zinn lecture with Q&A. Introduced by Alfred McCoy, Zinn gives the Harvey Goldberg lecture. Goldberg, who died in 1987, was a legendary University of Wisconsin-Madison history professor. Zinn connects the 3 Ds – democracy, dissent and disobedience. He talks about what happens to galvanize people to form movements and struggle for […]