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April 20, 2006
New reference book...The Sixties Chronicle
As someone who is very interested in the historical era known as the 1960s, this new addition to the reference collection caught my eye. Actually, the more I think of it, I may have been the one who ordered it! The title of the book is The Sixties Chronicle and the call number is REF E 841 .S53 2004.
The foreword is by legendary newscaster Walter Cronkite, who in his position as anchor of the CBS Evening News reported many of the events of the decade as they happened. The preface is written by Michigan's own Tom Hayden, a University of Michigan graduate and founder of Students for a Democratic Society.
Like many historical eras, "the Sixties" can't always be confined to the literal years 1960-1969. This book recognizes that by including sections titled "Prologue: the baby boom and Cold War culture" and "Epilogue: echoes of an era" that cover the years just preceding and following the actual decade. In between, very detailed chapters for each year cover it all: from JFK to Woodstock, Vietnam, civil rights, feminism, the Beatles, Pop Art and so much more. Much of the focus is on the United States, but there is also plenty of coverage of international issues such as the famine in Biafra, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and (the unfortunately still ongoing) conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.
This is a very good reference book that is recommended for quick fact checking and as a starting point for further research into a time of great social, political, and cultural change.
Posted by prygoski at April 20, 2006 11:04 AM