Available nationally for the first time, celebrated historian Howard Zinn's stripped and powerful observation of the mindsets that preside over American government is a singular historical document just two years after it was initially published. Based on a talk delivered in the weeks following the historic election of Barack Obama, The State of the Union is a sobering look at whether the new president could turn the euphoria of a nation toward enacting the change his supporters had hoped for. Ever more urgent in its prescience, this powerful and radical analysis of the opportunities for change now stands out as a deeply important book from an equally important moment in American history.