The 1960s was a time of unrestrained hedonism, of experimentation with new mores, new lifestyles, new forms of political action. But there was also much, much more going on. The late '60s in America were years of intense social strife. By the end of the decade, militant civil rights activity, massive protests against U.S. involvement in Vietnam, combined with the then-young Baby Boom generation's questioning of its parents' values, had left the country more divided than at any time since the Civil War. As the decade progressed, the rancor spread to many other parts of the world. No one who lived through the era with his or her eyes open can truly forget it. This book is a reminiscence of that era, a vivid dramatization of true events, told by Barry Kalb, who as a young reporter expienced the period at close hand: the counter-culture, anti-war activism, racial strife, assassinations, escalating urban violence, and a steady slide by many participants into extremism and even terrorism. All taking place against the steady drumbeat of war half a world away in Indochina. The book is being published 50 years after the terrible year of 1968, but it spans the period from 1964 to early 1970, and roams from the University of California at Berkeley to Washington, New York, Chicago, Dallas and Memphis, Watts and Detroit, Kent State, Woodstock and Altamont. For those who were there, the book will bring back bittersweet memories. For the generations born since then, it will correct some misconceptions about the era, and fill in some gaps in recent history.
About the Author: Barry Kalb began a career in journalism at the Washington Evening Star in 1967, after receiving a master's degree in journalism from the University of California at Berkeley. For the next four years, he covered all aspects of the political and social ferment sweeping the country: the anti-war movement, radical black politics, upheaval on the nation's campuses, the counter-culture, the spreading use of recreational drugs, the demonstrations and the street violence. He went on to cover the Watergate affair, and then moved abroad to work as a foreign correspondent for CBS News and Time Magazine in Hong Kong, Eastern Europe, Italy, and-after a brief return to the United States-back to Hong Kong.