Kent State An American tragedy
Book - 2024
"On May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, political fires that had been burning across America during the 1960s exploded. Antiwar protesters wearing bell-bottom jeans and long hair hurled taunts and rocks at another group of young Americans--National Guardsmen sporting gas masks and rifles. At half past noon, violence unfolded with chaotic speed, as guardsmen--many of whom had joined the Guard to escape the draft--opened fire on the students. Two reductive narratives ensued: one, that lethal state violence targeted Americans who spoke their minds; the other, that law enforcement gave troublemakers the comeuppance they deserved. For over fifty years, little middle ground has been found due to incomplete and sometimes contradict...ory evidence. Kent State meticulously re-creates the divided cultural landscape of America during the Vietnam War and heightened popular anxieties around the country. On college campuses, teach-ins, sit-down strikes, and demonstrations exposed the growing rift between the left and the right. Many students opposed the war as unnecessary and unjust and were uneasy over poor and working-class kids drafted and sent to Vietnam in their place. Some developed a hatred for the military, the police, and everything associated with authority, while others resolved to uphold law and order at any cost. Focusing on the thirteen victims of the Kent State shooting and a painstaking reconstruction of the days surrounding it, historian Brian VanDeMark draws on crucial new research and interviews--including, for the first time, the perspective of guardsmen who were there. The result is a complete reckoning with the tragedy that marked the end of the sixties"--
Location | Call Number | Status | |
---|---|---|---|
2nd Floor New Shelf | 959.70431/VanDeMark | (NEW SHELF) | Due Sep 17, 2024 |
2nd Floor New Shelf | 959.70431/VanDeMark | (NEW SHELF) | Due Sep 29, 2024 |
- Subjects
- Published
-
New York, NY :
W.W. Norton & Company
[2024]
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Edition
- First edition
- Physical Description
- xv, 397 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 317-379) and index.
- ISBN
- 9781324066255
- Prologue
- Chapter 1. The Divided America of 1970
- Chapter 2. The Sixties Come to Kent State
- Chapter 3. Thirteen Students
- Chapter 4. May 1-3, 1970
- Chapter 5. May 4, 1970-The Tragic Day, Part I
- Chapter 6. May 4, 1970-The Tragic Day, Part II
- Chapter 7. Aftermath and Investigations
- Chapter 8. The Criminal Trial
- Chapter g. The Civil Trials
- Chapter 10. Remembrance
- Chapter 11. Legacy
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Select Bibliography of Published Sources
- Illustration Credits
- Index
Review by Kirkus Book Review