The Long Sixties: America, 1955 - 1973

Because I'm a retired literature teacher, I didn't know what I'd think of this history book, but its title and description were engaging, so I decided to read it as a reviewer. I am so glad I did, because I loved it and found it completely enthralling!I was born in 1956, so I grew up through the Sixties, but not as a participant, not "in" the Sixties. This book was like revisiting all the sounds, sights, and headlines that swirled around me from birth until my high school graduation in 1973 at age 17. Wave after wave of a strange nostalgia gripped me throughout every chapter as author Christopher B. Strain explained to me all the faces, places, names, whispers, and puzzles that form the patchwork of my childhood, because we never understand the cultural and societal events of our childhood until we deliberately learn about them; prior to an epiphany such as this book provided me, the names of the people and places are practically our only point of familiarity. Strain's narrative is grouped by topic but somehow manages to also be layered in approximate consecutive order (with some necessary or unavoidable overlap in some dates). He adeptly describes the interwoven, symbiotic nature of all of the sociocultural forces at play during those years. I have come away with a much clearer, deeper understanding of the decade that has shaped both me and my world in ways I could never have guessed. Some of those connections are not apparent until Strain's final chapter, "Legacies," and because the material is so fresh and relevant in that chapter, I found myself making connections to the political discussions, climate, and fears of this very day, January 27, 2017. It seems to me that as a society on the brink of a massive upheaval (or at least the potential for one), we could learn much from Strain's lucid and always fascinating review of the decade that is among the most turbulent in American history. It seems to me that we are coming full circle, and the implications of doing so remain to be seen.I absolutely loved learning about things my parents tried to shield me from, or refused to explain to me. I loved learning about the way society was then, because all around me I saw racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination; I intrinsically knew these were wrong, and infuriated my very blue-collar and, sadly, bigoted parents as a righteous teen who declared my beliefs to be different than theirs. They told me then that I didn't even know what I was talking about. They were right, of course. But reading this book has given validity to my beliefs. It has informed me enough about that decade to make firm my lifelong convictions, and I feel enlightened and validated because I read it. I also feel even more committed to social justice than I ever have been.Several members of my family are now anxiously in line to read this book. One lesson I learned from my childhood during those turbulent times is to allow your children to ask questions and to have discourse, even if they don't believe what you believe. My daughter, 35, is first in line for this book; we answered all of her tough questions about what she saw on the news as she was growing up, and she became a history teacher.I could go on and list my favorite chapters and quotes, but I have written this review from my heart after reading every single syllable of this terrific book. I give it my highest, most enthusiastic recommendation.

I am not a history buff but I was curious about this book since I was born in 1967 and much of what happened in the 60's developed the world that I grew up in - and after reading the book, I realize that it has had a long reach into the world we live in today. Each chapter could stand alone in the discussions of political, social, and cultural developments of the era; but the book as a whole has a smooth flow and the final chapter links our current times with the effects or the events and asks the same question that I had throughout, "have we learned any lessons?". I did not feel that this book took a stance in any political direction. I feel that it told the story and asks us to look at the occurrences from a variety of perspectives.

Christopher Strain’s THE LONG SIXTIES is a brief overview of the history of the United States from 1955 to 1973 (hence the title THE LONG SIXTIES). Strain takes reasonably good depth and breadth, considering the brevity of this work; he does cover many of the changes that happened during this period, giving ink to the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the space race, the war on poverty, Woodstock, minority and gender empowerment, and much more. Each of the twelve chapters is roughly fifteen pages long, and each concludes with suggestions for further reading. The thorough, six-page index leads readers to specific people, places, and events discussed in this book.However, problems mar these good points. I found some copyediting errors in my advance copy that need to be corrected before this book goes public (for one, an incorrect Presidential election year). I also found paraphrases and quotations that are not common knowledge, particularly to non-historians or perhaps even undergraduate history students (both probably this work’s intended audience) and, therefore, should be cited following one of the current style manuals.Keeping these things in mind and noting that Strain is a well-known researcher and professor, I must stop at three stars. This work held my interest, and, with improvement, could be an approachable but scholarly work, but this advance copy doesn’t earn top marks.

This book gives a compact history of the 60’s. The author stretches his theory from 1955 to 1973.There are 12 chapters covering subjects such as; the 50’s , the New Frontier and the Great Society, the Cold War, civil rights, student rebellion, Vietnam, feminism, left and right, new concerns, minorities, the 70’s. There are suggestions for further readings at the end of each chapter.The author even suggests the 60’s have not really ended where people have to make stark choices in their lives and beliefs.This is a good introduction to the 60’s for those who weren’t there and eve for those who were.

Having grown up in the period of this book and a student of history I anticipated reading this book. Major disappointment. Sketchy overview with a hard left view on every subject. Claiming Soviet Union threat to the world was justified and overstated, seriously? That JFK tax cuts had “arguably” no positive impact. That JFK and LBJ were buds, they hated each other. Everything has a social justice spin with exploited middle class and evil power seeking corporations, on and on. No mention of JFK “ fight any fight bear any burden”. Keep yelling at the book almost every page.

El libro es una muy buena introducción a los temas principales de la década, sobre todo para lectores que no somos estadounidenses y no estamos familiarizados con códigos cotidianos para los que viven allá. La noción de los largos años 60 me parece muy apropiada meteorológicamente. EL libro es muy corto para la amplitud del tema, pero funciona muy bien como introducción, como ya comenté.