Historical Dictionary of the 1960s - by James Stuart Olson (Hardcover)

About the Book

Few eras in U.S. history have begun with more optimistic promise and ended in more pessimistic despair than the 1960s. When JFK became president in 1960, the U.S. was the hope of the world. Ten years later American power abroad seemed wasted in the jungles of Indochina, and critics at home cast doubt on whether the U.S. was really the land of the free and the home of the brave. This book takes an encyclopedic look at the decade--at the individuals who shaped the era, the civil rights movement, the antiwar movement, the women's movement, and the youth rebellion. It covers the political, military, social, cultural, religious, economic, and diplomatic topics that made the 1960s a unique decade in U.S. history.

Book Synopsis

Few eras in U.S. history have begun with more optimistic promise and ended in more pessimistic despair than the 1960s. When JFK became president in 1960, the U.S. was the hope of the world. Ten years later American power abroad seemed wasted in the jungles of Indochina, and critics at home cast doubt on whether the U.S. was really the land of the free and the home of the brave. This book takes an encyclopedic look at the decade--at the individuals who shaped the era, the civil rights movement, the antiwar movement, the women's movement, and the youth rebellion. It covers the political, military, social, cultural, religious, economic, and diplomatic topics that made the 1960s a unique decade in U.S. history.

Review Quotes

.,."an excellent dictionary covering the turbulent 1960s."-Library Journal

.,."recommended for high-school, academic, and public libraries. Readable for either the person who lived through or was born after [this] period, Historical Dictionary of the 1960s...will enlighten, inform, and lead to a clearer assessment of this period of identity shift for the U.S., its people, and its culture."-Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin

?...an excellent dictionary covering the turbulent 1960s.?-Library Journal

?...recommended for high-school, academic, and public libraries. Readable for either the person who lived through or was born after [this] period, Historical Dictionary of the 1960s...will enlighten, inform, and lead to a clearer assessment of this period of identity shift for the U.S., its people, and its culture.?-Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin

?This work will be useful for public or academic libraries needing to enhance their Kennedy presidency and assassination holdings.?-ARBA

..."recommended for high-school, academic, and public libraries. Readable for either the person who lived through or was born after Ýthis¨ period, Historical Dictionary of the 1960s...will enlighten, inform, and lead to a clearer assessment of this period of identity shift for the U.S., its people, and its culture."-Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin

..."an excellent dictionary covering the turbulent 1960s."-Library Journal

"This work will be useful for public or academic libraries needing to enhance their Kennedy presidency and assassination holdings."-ARBA

About the Author

JAMES S. OLSON is Professor of History and department chair at Sam Houston State University. He has written and edited many books, including The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary (1996), The Vietnam War: Handbook of the Literature and Research (1993), and Historical Dictionary of the 1920s (1988), all published by Greenwood Press.