Voices of a People’s History of the United States was published by Seven Stories Press in 2004, co-edited with Anthony Arnove. It is conceived as a companion volume to A People’s History: where that book told the story of American resistance in Zinn’s own voice, this book lets the resisters speak for themselves — through speeches, letters, poems, testimonies, pamphlets, and songs.
The collection spans from Columbus’s arrival (represented by Bartolomé de las Casas’s horrified account of Spanish atrocities) to the post-9/11 antiwar movement. Each section corresponds roughly to a chapter of A People’s History, providing the primary documents that Zinn drew upon: Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman,” Chief Joseph’s surrender speech, Eugene Debs’s Canton anti-war address, Fannie Lou Hamer’s testimony before the Democratic National Convention, Martin Luther King’s “Beyond Vietnam” sermon.
The book’s value is pedagogical: it provides teachers and students with the actual texts of American dissent — many of them excluded from standard anthologies — arranged historically and introduced with brief contextual notes. It was adapted into a theatrical performance (with readings by actors including Viggo Mortensen, Danny Glover, and Marisa Tomei) and a documentary film.
Collecting Voices of a People’s History
First edition (Seven Stories Press, New York, 2004): Trade paperback original.
Market values:
- First edition, signed: $50–$150
- First printing, very good: $15–$40