Set the Night on Fire
L.A. in the Sixties
Published on 14. April 2020
800 pages
978-1-78478-024-1 (ISBN)
Description
Histories of the US sixties invariably focus on New York City, but Los Angeles was an epicenter of that decade's political and social earthquake. L.A. was a launchpad for Black Power-where Malcolm X and Angela Davis first came to prominence and the Watts uprising shook the nation-and home to the Chicano walkouts and Moratorium, as well as birthplace of 'Asian America' as a political identity, base of the antiwar movement, and of course, centre of California counterculture.
Mike Davis and Jon Wiener provide the first comprehensive movement history of L.A. in the sixties, drawing on extensive archival research, scores of interviews with principal figures of the 1960s movements, and personal histories (both Davis and Wiener are native Los Angelenos). Following on from Davis's award-winning L.A. history, City of Quartz, Set the Night on Fire is a fascinating historical corrective, delivered in scintillating and fiercely elegant prose.
Mike Davis and Jon Wiener provide the first comprehensive movement history of L.A. in the sixties, drawing on extensive archival research, scores of interviews with principal figures of the 1960s movements, and personal histories (both Davis and Wiener are native Los Angelenos). Following on from Davis's award-winning L.A. history, City of Quartz, Set the Night on Fire is a fascinating historical corrective, delivered in scintillating and fiercely elegant prose.
More details
Edition
Ebook UK & RoW
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Reflowable
Illustrations
4 x 8pp b&w plate sections
ISBN-13
978-1-78478-024-1 (9781784780241)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
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04/2021
Verso Books
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04/2020
Verso Books
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Persons
Mike Davis is the author of several books including City of Quartz, The Monster at Our Door, Buda's Wagon, and Planet of Slums. He is the recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and the Lannan Literary Award.Jon Wiener is Host and Producer of Start Making Sense, the Nation's weekly podcast. He is an Emeritus Professor of US history at UC Irvine, and his most recent book is How We Forgot the Cold War: A Historical Journey across America.
Content
- Cover Page
- Halftitle Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Maps
- Introduction: A Movement History
- 1. Setting the Agenda (1960)
- Part I: A New Breed
- 2. Warden of the Ghetto: LAPD Chief William H. Parker
- 3. L.A. to Mississippi, Goddamn: The Freedom Rides (1961)
- 4. "God's Angry Men": The Black Muslims (1962)
- 5. "Not Tomorrow-but Now!": L.A.'s United Civil Rights Movement (1963)
- 6. Jericho Stands: The Beginning of the Backlash (Summer and Fall 1963)
- 7. Equality Scorned: The Repeal of Fair Housing (1964)
- Part II: Alternative Culture
- 8. From "Ban the Bomb" to "Stop the War": Women Strike for Peace (1961-67)
- 9. From Bach to "Tanya": KPFK Radio (1959-74)
- 10. A Quarter of a Million Readers: The LA Free Press (1964-70)
- 11. Before Stonewall: Gay L.A. (1964-70)
- 12. Sister Corita and the Cardinal: Catholic Power and Protest (1964-73)
- Part III: The Explosion
- 13. The Midnight Hour: The Watts Uprising (August 1965)
- 14. Whitewash: The McCone Commission and Its Critics (1965-66)
- 15. Cultural Revolution: The Watts Renaissance (1965-67)
- 16. Black Power: Stokely Carmichael and the Black Congress (1966)
- 17. The Cat Arrives: The Panthers and US (1967-68)
- Part IV: Vietnam Comes Home
- 18. "Unlawful Assembly": The Century City Police Riot (1967)
- 19. Eldridge Cleaver for President: The Peace and Freedom Party (1967-68)
- 20. "Time to Stand Up": Draft Resistance and Sanctuary (1967-69)
- Part V: The Great High School Rebellion
- 21. Riot Nights on Sunset Strip (1966-68)
- 22. The Blowouts (1966-68)
- 23. The Children of Malcolm X: Black High School Activists (1968-69)
- Part VI: There Is Only the Gun
- 24. A "Movement Crusade": Bradley for Mayor (1969)
- 25. Living in the Lion's Mouth: The UCLA Murders (1968-69)
- 26. Killing the Panthers (1969-70)
- 27. Free Angela! (1969-72)
- Part VII: Reigns of Repression
- 28. The Ash Grove and the Gusanos (1968-73)
- 29. "The Last Place That Sort of Thing Would Happen": Valley State (1968-70)
- 30. The Battle for the Last Poor Beach: Venice (1969)
- 31. Generation Chicano: Aztlán versus Vietnam (1969)
- 32. War on the Eastside: The Chicano Moratorium (1970)
- Part VIII: Other Liberations
- 33. The Many Faces of Women's Liberation (1967-74)
- 34. "Everybody Wanted It": The Free Clinic (1967-70)
- 35. Gidra: Asian American Radicalism (1969-74)
- 36. L.A.'s Black Woodstock: Wattstax (1972)
- Epilogue: Sowing the Future
- Acknowledgments
- About the Authors
- Notes
- Index
