The Sixties Revisited

Even at the start of the new millennium the American Sixties continue to fascinate many scholars as one of the pivotal decades of the 20th Century. During those years the United States seemed to be strifing for new frontiers at home and abroad, driven by a generation of eager and idealistic young Americans: Civil Rights, Women's Liberation, Pop-Art, Flower Power, Postmodernism, Woodstock, the landing on the moon. Everything seemed possible. But the decade that had begun with the hopeful words of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. ended with the bloody nightmare of the Vietnam War, summers of violence in Northern black ghettos, and a rising tide of conservatism. To explore some of these contradictions, this collection of essays takes a fresh look at American's most turbulent years from a multidisciplinary perspective. Dealing with the Arts and Media, Literature and Society as well as History and Politics, the contributions offer a broad approach to a contemporary understanding of the Sixties and their legacy.

The Vietnam War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Summer of Love--the 1960s were one of the most turbulent decades in US history. These years launched an unprecedented public debate over the meaning of "America," dividing US society in deep and troubling ways. Yet despite the passage of time, the contemporary crises in the "American way of life" and the political system that sustain it might well make one wonder: to what degree are we still living on the outskirts of the '60s? By examining crucial events, trends, and individuals from the civic, social, political, intellectual, cultural, and economic spheres across a range of disciplines, this volume offers a nuanced and pluralist account of the longest decade in America.

Kubakrise und Vietnamkrieg, Bürgerrechtsbewegung und "Great Society", Woodstock und Mondlandung - die "Sixties" zählen in der Geschichte der USA zu den ereignisreichsten Jahrzehnten überhaupt. Wie aber kam es zu den politischen, sozialen und kulturellen Umwälzungen dieser Dekade und welche Konflikte sind noch heute virulent? Drücken sie dem "American Way of Life" des 21. Jahrhunderts immer noch ihren Stempel auf? Die Autorinnen und Autoren spüren diesen Fragen nach - genau 50 Jahre, nachdem John F. Kennedy 1963 den Schüssen von Dallas zum Opfer fiel.

Examines America in the sixties through the works of Burroughs, Ginsberg, Mailer, Kesey, Hunter S. Thompson, Leary, and Robins.

David Maraniss tells the epic story of Vietnam and the sixties through the events of a few gripping, passionate days of war and peace in October 1967. With meticulous and captivating detail, They Marched Into Sunlight brings that catastrophic time back to life while examining questions about the meaning of dissent and the official manipulation of truth—issues that are as relevant today as they were decades ago. In a seamless narrative, Maraniss weaves together the stories of three very different worlds: the death and heroism of soldiers in Vietnam, the anger and anxiety of antiwar students back home, and the confusion and obfuscating behavior of officials in Washington. To understand what happens to the people in these interconnected stories is to understand America's anguish. Based on thousands of primary documents and 180 on-the-record interviews, the book describes the battles that evoked cultural and political conflicts that still reverberate.