1968

Reviews / Votes

Robert C. Cottrell and Blaine T. Browne's book is a reminder that the year 1968 saw the United States on the brink of a revolution, one that was virtually apocalyptic in scope. Race riots led to torched American cities, and outrage and rebellion against the Vietnam War prompted student revolts on campuses across the land. Conspiracy trials were held in an attempt to halt the radical challenge to authority. Major political figures and other leaders were gunned down, with the images broadcast to a horrified population.



It was a time of extremes. Cottrell and Browne show how the events that shattered the belief in "US invincibility" unfolded against the backdrop of a great generational divide and global unrest, contrasted with the pull to nonviolence and peace, free love, and the rise of communal and back-to-the-land living, all topped off with a good dose of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. * Foreword Reviews * In this well-written and engaging narrative, Cottrell (Cal State Chico) and Browne (Broward College) provide a balanced, thoughtful overview of one of the most tumultuous years in American history. From the Tet Offensive to the election of Richard Nixon, Cottrell and Browne argue, real change, bordering on revolution, was possible. In the end, however, conservative backlash coupled with the escalation of violent tactics used by the more radical protesters on the Left ended the revolution before it began. The authors did a good job of providing the necessary historical context for the events they focus on, especially the shift in American politics, which in many ways casts a light on today's political landscape. . . this book has numerous strengths. . . this compelling narrative certainly provides a good overview for curious undergraduates and general readers alike.



Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduates through faculty. * Choice Reviews * "Robert Cottrell and Blaine Browne's 1968: The Rise and Fall of the New American Revolution, published on the 50th anniversary of the astonishing and often world-changing events it describes, is old-fashioned narrative history at its best: thoroughly researched, lucid, penetrating, filled with vividly drawn characters and dramatic scenes, but avoiding sentimentalism and romanticism. It's the perfect book for baby boomer parents and grandparents to give their millennial offspring to make help them sense of the events that shaped a generation." -- Maurice Isserman, co-author of "America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s" "The year 1968 has been written about many times before, but no one has covered it as comprehensively and as thoroughly as Robert C. Cottrell and Blaine T. Browne. Their narrative offers almost all of the key players, including Dr. Spock, Dr. King, Malcolm X and George Wallace, as well as the young activists and protesters who belonged to SDS, the IRA, the Yippies, and the Black Panthers. The feminist movement is here and gay liberation, too, along with the key places, nationally and internationally, where revolution broke out: Prague, Berlin, Chicago and San Francisco. 1968: The Rise and Fall of the New American Revolution looks back at the 1950s and ahead to the present day. It arrives in the nick of time for the 50th anniversary of the year that rocked the world." -- Jonah Raskin, author of For the Hell of It: The Life and Times of Abbie Hoffman "In this crisply written jaunt through 1968, Robert Cottrell and Blaine Browne chronicle one of the most tumultuous years in American history. They offer thorough coverage of a run of dramatic events, from the TET offensive in Vietnam to the Columbia University student uprising and the surprising presidential campaign of George Wallace. Along the way, they give readers splendid mini-biographies of famous and, better yet, not-so-famous figures like the members of the Berrigan brothers' 'Ultra-resistance,' Andy Warhol's nemesis Valerie Solanis, and environmentalist Edward Abbey. By showing how the cataclysms built and how they shaped contemporary America, Cottrell and Browne manage to set that single, momentous year in the 'long Sixties.'" -- David Steigerwald, The Ohio State University "Cottrell and Browne have penned an exhilarating romp through one of the most electrifying years on American history-1968-and the result is a provocative read." -- Terry H. Anderson, Texas A&M University, and author of "The Movement and the Sixties" and "The Sixties," 5th edition