Studs Terkel, the great historian, says the U.S. suffers from a kind of national Alzheimer's disease. Aided and abetted by the media and the education system there are aspects of history that are simply forgotten. Take say the Nuremberg trials after World War II where the top Nazis faced justice. What were they accused of? Attacking other countries without cause. The judges spoke as one when they declared: "To initiate a war of aggression is the supreme international crime that contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." Many legal scholars say the judgment at Nuremberg could apply to the U.S. attack on Iraq. However Nuremberg and its significance is air-brushed out of history.

Howard Zinn, professor emeritus at Boston University, is perhaps this country's premier radical historian. He was born in Brooklyn in 1922. His parents were poor immigrants. During World War II, he saw combat duty as an air force bombardier. After the war, he went to Columbia University on the GI Bill. He was an active figure in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. Today, he speaks all over the country before large and enthusiastic audiences. His masterpiece, A People's History of the U.S. continues to sell in huge numbers. His latest book is Voices of a People's History.