‘Like if John Sayles directed Forrest Gump’: the incredible life of historian Howard Zinn

The life of the hugely influential ‘people’s historian’ is explored in a wide-ranging new book that brings in everything from wars to civil rights to Matt Damon Matt Damon may play a great hero in The Odyssey, but one of the star’s own heroes is also set for his time in the spotlight. In Massachusetts in the 1970s and 80s, Damon grew up close to Howard Zinn, now the subject of The People’s Historian, a biography by Dave Zirin. “Frankly,” Zirin said, “the fact that he’s Matt Damon and oh by th...

By Martin Pengelly