Battleground Chicago: The Police and the 1968 Democratic National Convention [Paperback]

Frank Kusch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0226465039 | ISBN-13: 978-0226465036 | Edition: University of Chicago Press Ed

The 1968 Democratic Convention, best known for police brutality against demonstrators, has been relegated to a dark place in American historical memory. Battleground Chicago ventures beyond the stereotypical image of rioting protestors and violent cops to reevaluate exactly how—and why—the police attacked antiwar activists at the convention.
            Working from interviews with eighty former Chicago police officers who were on the scene, Frank Kusch uncovers the other side of the story of ’68, deepening our understanding of a turbulent decade.
 
“Frank Kusch’s compelling account of the clash between Mayor Richard Daley’s men in blue and anti-war rebels reveals why the 1960s was such a painful era for many Americans. . . . to his great credit, [Kusch] allows ‘the pigs’ to speak up for themselves.”—Michael Kazin
 
“Kusch’s history of white Chicago policemen and the 1968 Democratic National Convention is a solid addition to a growing literature on the cultural sensibility and political perspective of the conservative white working class in the last third of the twentieth century.”—David Farber, Journal of American History

 

 

(20080713)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This retelling of a well-known story is significant partly for its detail and objectivity, but mostly because the author focuses on telling the story from the perspective of the police rather than the protesters. . . . Highly recommended.”—Choice

 

(Choice )

“Kusch’s history of white Chicago policemen and the 1968 Democratic National Convention is a solid addition to a growing literature on the cultural sensibility and political perspective of the conservative white working class in the last third of the twentieth century.”—Journal of American History
 
 

(Journal of American History )

“A fascinating story unfolds, of family-oriented cops recruited from white ethnic communities confronting middle-class ‘longhairs’; of both the police and the activists able to perceive one another only as stereotypes . . . of the cumulative and destructive mutual antipathy between police and press.”—History
 

(History )

“Masterful. . . . Kusch’s interviews contribute invaluable material to one wishing to decipher and make theoretical sense of what happened in Chicago during the 1968 Convention.”—Contemporary Sociology
 
 

(Contemporary Sociology )

"Battleground Chicago is especially valuable because it lets the police officers involved in the riots in Lincoln and Grant Parks have their say."--Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune

(Julia Keller Chicago Tribune )

Book Description

Challenges the prevalent stereotypes surrounding the police during the 1968 Chicago riots by examining them as real men and presenting events from their perspective.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; University of Chicago Press Ed edition (May 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226465039
• ISBN-13: 978-0226465036
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #806,354 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Chicago '68 from the point-of-view of the cop wielding the baton, September 7, 2005

By 

Dean Blobaum (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Battleground Chicago: The Police and the 1968 Democratic National Convention (Hardcover)

Why all the violence at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago? The official government inquiry said it was a "police riot"--individually and collectively, the Chicago police lost their professional control and engaged in mob violence. True? Or were the cops just following orders? Or were they provoked into a violent reaction by physical and verbal violence from the antiwar activists and agitators?

Kusch interviewed dozens of retired Chicago police officers who were on the streets and in the parks of Chicago back in August of 1968. He tries to understand their thinking and emotions, tries to untangle their motivations and reactions. Ultimately he gives a well-argued, complex answer to that persistent question: why the violence?

Kusch's narrative of the events of that week in August is too brief for this to serve as your only source for information about Chicago '68--read the books by David Farber and John Schultz, too--but there is no more thorough examination available of the role of the police in the street battles that marked that most remarkable of political conventions.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History via swinging batons, October 6, 2005

By 

Ryan Lawton - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battleground Chicago: The Police and the 1968 Democratic National Convention (Hardcover)

This is not your typical history book; lots of action, violence, swearing--in other words, real life as it was in the 1960s. Kusch writes that the police did not riot or lose control of themselves, which sounds like a stretch, until he convincingly deonstrates his argument with varied evidence and skilled articulation. It's a little slow in the begining but catches fire once the author gets into the street battles that marked the '68 convention. A tad pricey but a good look at 1968 and the police who made headlines.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chicago blues, September 10, 2005

By 

Bill Simmons (Tacoma, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battleground Chicago: The Police and the 1968 Democratic National Convention (Hardcover)

Frank Kusch takes the reader on a blow-by-blow account of the violence between protesters and the police during the summer of 1968 in Chicago. Instead of the usual view from the anti-war movment, Kusch presents the events fromm the point of view of the cops and offers a more balanced view of that summer than anyone else. The author's account is convincing because the hyperbole is gone and the gritty facts remain. While the police are not always portrayed as angels, they come off as real men facing a possible inserection, not unthinking henchmen in blue. Battleground Chicago is a great read.