Former U.S. Senator and potential presidential candidate Rick Santorum brought up a book debate at the National Rifle Association. At the group’s annual convention last month, the republican took aim at the late Howard Zinn, an author of A People’s History of the United States. Santorum claimed:

    "Do you know the most popular textbook that's taught in our high schools in America is written by a man named Howard Zinn, who is an anti-American Marxist, and that is the most common textbook?"

PolitiFact rated the claim for its truthfulness. According to PolitiFact writer Joshua Gillin, it rates MOSTLY FALSE. Gillin said, there’s one critical difference.

“The problem is, it’s not a textbook,” Gillin said. “It’s considered what they call a trade book and historians do seem to like it.”

Zinn was born in Eastern Europe in 1922 and grew up in Brooklyn. It’s difficult to prove Zinn ever officially joined the Communist Party, but his politics were definitely left-leaning until his death.

Zinn received a Ph.D. in history and taught for more than 20 years at Boston University. He also authored several books, including A People’s History of the United States. The book has sold more than 2 million copies since its publication in 1980. The book is pretty pointed in its recollection of U.S. history and more often than not, the United States is painted in the wrong.

The book has its fair share of critics, both conservatives and liberals, including negative pieces in The New Republic and the American Federation of Teachers.

But, there’s no evidence that the book is the most popular textbook that’s taught in high schools. Popular could mean best liked, instead of most widely used, but one expert said that’s impossible to measure. There is also little evidence to support the core claim, that Zinn’s book is taught more than any other book. Because of those facts, PolitiFact rated it MOSTLY FALSE.

SOURCES: POPULAR SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS