1968

April 16, 2018
History professors Cottrell (Sex, Drugs, and Rock ’n’ Roll) and Browne (Uncertain Order: The World in the Twentieth Century) deliver a well-written chronicle of 1968, one of the most tumultuous years in modern history. In the U.S., 1968 was dominated by the divisive Vietnam War and the protests it generated, history-changing assassinations, the 1968 Democratic Convention that nominated Hubert Humphrey over antiwar candidate Eugene McCarthy, the subsequent election of Richard Nixon, the black power movement, and the general cultural upheaval that presaged the women’s liberation and gay rights movements. Cottrell and Browne also describe political upheavals in other parts of the world, such as leftist movements in France; Italy; and Czechoslovakia, where the government’s liberalizing efforts ended with the Soviet Union’s invasion. The authors skillfully place events in context, capturing the tragic dimensions of the John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. assassinations and their political aftermaths, the destabilizing effect of the North Vietnamese Army’s Tet Offensive on American resolve, and the drama of the televised clashes between the Chicago Police Department and protesters during the Democratic Convention. The writing is strong, and the retrospective view will appeal to both baby boomers who experienced the year’s relentless challenges and younger readers who wish to understand how the events of 1968 changed the direction of American society.

Starred review from May 1, 2018
Historians Cottrell and Browne's 1968: The Rise and Fall of the New American Revolution benefits from its anchoring in the U.S., but they do follow the concussive impact of American antiwar and civil rights movements around the world. Lucid and energetic, their narrative brims with historical fact and lively social and psychological inquiries. The 68ers they portray come across in all their vitality, ingenuity, courage, and recklessness as they recount the carefully considered acts of radical pacifists Daniel and Philip Berrigan; the satirical protests of Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin; the growing power of the Black Panther Party?Eldridge Cleaver's Soul on Ice came out in 1968?the bitter rivalries within the Democratic presidential campaign and the bloody debacle of the Chicago convention; George Wallace's third-party effort; and the court cases for the Catonsville Nine, Baltimore Four, Boston Five, and Chicago Eight. The authors also examine the impact of psychedelics; rock 'n' roll; the unprecedented in-the-moment television coverage that made the war in Vietnam so urgent and horrifying; women activists protesting the Miss America Pageant; and the evocative silent protest of John Carlos and Tommie Smith, African American medal-winning sprinters at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, where hundreds of protesters had been killed by authorities. The authors mark the start of a new wave of environmentalism with the publication of Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire and the awe aroused by Earthrise, a stunning photograph of our precious planet taken from Apollo 8, the first manned orbital moon voyage. The list of topics is long and varied, and Cottrell and Browne address each with zeal and care, offering fresh and clarifying insights.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)