Howard Zinn published 4 novels, 23 non-fiction books, 3 plays and 6 other books, beginning with Disobedience and Democracy (1968). The best-known is A People's History of the United States (1980).
Updated September 2026
Where to start with Howard Zinn
Start here
A People's History of the United States
Howard Zinn's most-read book.
Standalone novels in order
A People's History of the United States (1980)
The Twentieth Century (2003)
Original Zinn (2006)
A People's History of American Empire (Jan 2008)
Non-fiction in order
SNCC: The New Abolitionists (1964)
New Deal Thought (1966)
Disobedience and Democracy (1968)
The Politics of History (1970)
The Twentieth Century, a People's History (1984)
Declarations of Independence (1990)
Failure to Quit (1993)
The Zinn Reader (1997)
The Future of History (1999)
Howard Zinn on History (2001)
Terrorism and War (2002)
Artists in Times of War (2003)
Passionate Declarations (2003)
Voices of a People's History of the United States (2004)
Howard Zinn on Democratic Education (2005)
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress (2006)
The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency (2007)
The Bomb (2010)
Howard Zinn on War (2011)
Howard Zinn Speaks Collected Speeches 19632009 (2012)
The Historic Unfullfilled Promise (2012)
The Indispensable Zinn (2012)
Truth Has a Power of Its Own (2019)
Plays in order
Marx in Soho (1999)
Emma (2002)
Three Plays (2010)
Other books in order
LaGuardia in Congress (1958)
The Southern Mystique (1964)
Vietnam (1967)
Justice in Everyday Life (1974)
The Power of Nonviolence (2002)
A People's History of the Vietnam War (2004)
About Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn was an American historian and a veteran of World War II. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn wrote more than 20 books, including his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United States in 1980. In 2007, he published a version of it for younger readers, A Young People's History of the United States.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Howard Zinn FAQ
- How many books has Howard Zinn written?
- Howard Zinn published 4 novels, 23 non-fiction books, 3 plays and 6 other books that we list, as of September 2026.
- What order should I read Howard Zinn's books in?
- Publication order is a safe choice; the full list is above. Most readers start with A People's History of the United States.
- What is Howard Zinn's last book?
- The Indispensable Zinn (2012).
- What is Howard Zinn's most famous book?
- A People's History of the United States (1980) is Howard Zinn's most widely read book.
Authors like Howard Zinn
Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.