Howard Zinn credits the bombing missions he flew as an Air Force bombardier in World War II as part of what shaped his opposition to war and inspired much of his writing — including his play Daughter of Venus.

Zinn, a historian, a playwright, a social activist wrote Daughter of Venus during the Cold War as a commentary on the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989, Zinn put the play aside, thinking it was no longer relevant.

“But when George Bush declared the war on terrorism, I thought, ‘Idiocy is not over,’” says Zinn. “Terrorism has replaced Communism as the excuse for maintaining an enormous nuclear arsenal and intervening militarily in other countries in the world. So I adapted the play from a Cold War situation to a threat of terrorism situation.”

Howard Zinn's Daughter of Venus originally ran on BU Today.