About this item
Highlights
- 1968 was the year that defined the decade--Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated, unprecedented antiwar riots disrupted the Democratic National Convention, and the Tet Offensive in Vietnam changed the course of the war.
- About the Author: Charles Kaiser has been a reporter at the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Newsweek.
- 336 Pages
- History, United States
Description
About the Book
"A splendidly evocative account of a historic year--a year of tumult, of trauma, and of tragedy."--Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.Book Synopsis
1968 was the year that defined the decade--Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated, unprecedented antiwar riots disrupted the Democratic National Convention, and the Tet Offensive in Vietnam changed the course of the war. With this political unrest came a breakthrough of American counterculture into the mainstream led by students and protesters alongside the voices of Aretha Franklin, Simon and Garfunkel, and Bob Dylan.Charles Kaiser's 1968 in America is widely recognized as one of the best historic accounts of the 1960s. Largely based on unpublished interviews and documents (including in-depth conversations with anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy and Dylan), this is compulsively readable popular history. Now, fifty years later, and with a new introduction by Hendrik Hertzberg, it is even more clear that this was a uniquely terrible, wonderful, and pivotal year in the story of America.
Review Quotes
Praise for 1968 in America
"Charles Kaiser aims to convey not only what happened during the period but what it felt like at the time. Affecting touches bring back powerful memories, including strong accounts of the impact of the Tet offensive and of the frenzy aroused by Bobby Kennedy's race for the presidency."--New York Times Book Review
"A chatty, personal view of the pivotal time . . . This account will bring back memories."--Booklist
"Kaiser's book is an evocative chronicle, a paean to the 'Sixties' generation by a member of the clan . . . His indictment of Eugene McCarthy--a chief theme--is persuasive."--Library Journal
About the Author
Charles Kaiser has been a reporter at the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Newsweek. He is a principal contributor to the documentary 1968: The Year That Changed America and is the author of the award-winning The Gay Metropolis and The Cost of Courage.