You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train A Personal History of Our Times book cover

You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train A Personal History of Our Times

Sale price$19.20Regular price $24.00
A stunning, collectible edition of Howard Zinn’s landmark memoir that chronicles his lifelong commitment to social justice and steadfast belief that ordinary people can change history

A Beacon Classics edition, featuring spot gloss cover and retro, classic palette

Is change possible? Where will it come from? Can we actually make a difference? How do we remain hopeful?

Howard Zinn—activist, historian, and author of A People’s History of the United States—was a participant in and chronicler of some of the landmark struggles for racial and economic justice in US history. In his memoir, You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train, Zinn reflects on more than thirty years of fighting for social change, from his teenage years as a laborer in Brooklyn to teaching at Spelman College, where he emerged in the civil rights movement as a powerful voice for justice. A former bombardier in World War II, he later became an outspoken antiwar activist, spirited protestor, and champion of civil disobedience. Throughout his life, Zinn was unwavering in his belief that “small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.” This repackaged edition will inspire a new generation of readers to believe that change is possible.

Howard Zinn

Published: Nov 04, 2025

ISBN: 9780807024119

SKU: 9780807024119

Publisher: Beacon Press

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About the Author

Howard Zinn

Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922 – January 27, 2010) was an American historian, playwright, and socialist thinker. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn wrote over 20 books, including his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United States. In 2007, he published a version of it for younger readers, *A Young People's History of the United States*.

Zinn described himself as "something of an anarchist, something of a socialist. Maybe a democratic socialist." He wrote extensively about the Civil Rights Movement, the anti-war movement and labor history of the United States. His memoir, *You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train* (Beacon Press, 2002), was also the title of a 2004 documentary about Zinn's life and work. Zinn died of a heart attack in 2010, at age 87.

**Source**: [Howard Zinn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Zinn) on Wikipedia.

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