The Columbia Guide to America in the 1960s (Columbia Guides to American History and Cultures) [Hardcover]

David Farber (Author), Beth Bailey (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0231113722 | ISBN-13: 978-0231113724 | Publication Date: July 15, 2001 0

The 1960s continue to be the subject of passionate debate and political controversy, a touchstone in struggles over the meaning of the American past and the direction of the American future. Amid the polemics and the myths, making sense of the Sixties and its legacies presents a challenge. This book is for all those who want to take it on. Because there are so many facets to this unique and transformative era, this volume offers multiple approaches and perspectives.

The first section gives a lively narrative overview of the decade's major policies, events, and cultural changes. The second presents ten original interpretative essays from prominent historians about significant and controversial issues from the Vietnam War to the sexual revolution, followed by a concise encyclopedia articles organized alphabetically. This section could stand as a reference work in itself and serves to supplement the narrative. Subsequent sections include short topical essays, special subjects, a brief chronology, and finally an extensive annotated bibliography with ample information on books, films, and electronic resources for further exploration.

With interesting facts, statistics, and comparisons presented in almanac style as well as the expertise of prominent scholars, The Columbia Guide to America in the 1960s is the most complete guide to an enduringly fascinating era.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Eminent historians Farber (Age of Great Dreams) and Bailey (Sex in the Heartland) present an accessible, state-of-the-art overview of the turbulent Sixties. Part narrative history and interpretation, part almanac, chronology, and glossary, the book offers an introspective yet entertaining investigation for those who remember the age as well as for those just being introduced to it. The most stimulating chapter includes essays by contributing scholars who assess the legacies of the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, the New Left, the women's movement, and the sexual revolution. An excellent glossary, which includes one-paragraph to one-page views of well-known political leaders and such cultural icons as Twiggy, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and Janis Joplin, bolsters Farber's somewhat sketchy historical summary. In turn, short essays that discuss such topics as the environmental movement, significant legal cases, and religion enhance the glossary. The book concludes with a chronology, demographics, and a comprehensive annotated bibliography, which is noted more for its inclusiveness than the substance of the annotations. One small weakness in this seven-part book is that the affiliations and publications of the secondary contributors are not identified. For another collection of interpretative essays on the Sixties, see Alexander Bloom's Long Time Gone (Oxford Univ., 2001). Highly recommended for academic and public libraries. Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

It's hard to imagine a more useful multifunction library resource than this latest entry in the Columbia Guide series, which previously issued studies of the cold war and American women in the nineteenth century. University of New Mexico historian Farber and sex-and-courtship researcher Beth Bailey open with a 75-page overview of the 1960s. In part 2 (roughly 100 pages), nine authors summarize the historiography of 10 political, social, and cultural issues. Part 3 is an A-to-Z glossary of key people and organizations; unlikely neighbors here include radical feminist Kate Millet and the military-industrial complex, Twiggy and transcendental meditation. Part 4 supplies brief essays on eight general topics, such as environmentalism, religion, and sports in the 1960s. Part 5 is a cross between an almanac and the Statistical Abstract, capturing fascinating facts, trends, and demographics of the era. Part 6 offers a 1960s chronology (including the years when significant consumer products were introduced); part 7 is a valuable annotated bibliography. Everyone from "the Greatest Generation" to that generation's great-grandchildren can learn something here. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (July 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231113722
• ISBN-13: 978-0231113724
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #213,987 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive Purview Of the Fascinating 1960s!, November 23, 2003

By 

Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Columbia Guide to America in the 1960s (Columbia Guides to American History and Cultures) (Paperback)

Aging baby-boomers like myself can rest more easily; herein one discovers a wonderful effort, which succeeds marvelously in accurately and faithfully recounting and retelling the somewhat convoluted and always multi-currented tenor of the times for the 1960s. Given the massive neo-conservative effort to discredit the theoretical positions and social ethos of the sixties generation, it is terrific to have such a carefully researched and meticulously documented effort as is "The Columbia Guide To America In The 1960s" to give greater voice and renewed verve and credibility to the ideas and theoretical positions that arose from the ongoing new-left critique of mainstream society that emanated from the events of that storied decade. Authors David Farber and Beth Bailey are both academics with considerable expertise in the area of contemporary 20th century history, and this aplomb with the facts and the sense of the times is fascinating to plow through on both an intellectual and also an emotional level. This is scholarship well done!

It does one well to remember that the sixties decade and what came out of it are both subjects of serious disagreements as well as continuing controversy, given the attempt by the right wing to define the ideas stemming from those times as bogus and discredited. Therefore, making sense of all that is brought back to the surface in this book represents a considerable effort, but it is hard to deny such an effort to make sense of a time with so many crosscurrents and so much social, cultural, and political turbulence is well worth the effort. Therefore, the book is organized around several different perspectives and approaches. In the first section, we are presented with a well-developed and intricately organized narrative that superbly covers the waterfront of the era's most significant events, policies, and changes. The second part of the book is organized around ten different essay efforts by well-regarded contemporary historians on various salient aspects of the decade, ranging from the counterculture, the civil rights movement, the sexual revolution, and of course, the war in Vietnam.

The net effect of the combined first and second sections is to give us a much more comprehensive and detailed understanding of both the issues and events on the one hand, and how they fit into the mosaic of the sixties, on the other hand. Subsequent section also add to the overall contribution of the book, by giving us shorter essays on other aspects of the era, subjects of particualr interest to each of the authors, and a terrific extended bibliography for those of us interested in further exploring the eddies and currents of various aspects of the decade in question. It fairly well smashes revisionist interpretations of the era into smithereens by exposing them for the solipsistic efforts at refashioning the truth that they are, and does so while educating and entertaining us on an number of levels at one. This is a great book, and one I can recommend to anyone interested in learning more about the most fascinating decade of the 20th century. Enjoy!