“‘There are certain historical moments when learning is more compressed and intense than others,’ wrote Howard Zinn, a month after 9/11. The historian was writing in a moment of tremendous, escalating violence, and he sensed more death and destruction looming. Zinn could hear a familiar melody in the drum taps coming out of the White House, from the pages of the New York Times, and in the academic institutions where he taught. His line about certain historical moments has been ringing in my ears. Compressed learning continues to exact a horrid cost.”