Get ready to break on through to the other side as critically-acclaimed playwright and journalist Jonathan Leaf reveals the politically incorrect truth about one of the most controversial decadesin history - the 1960s. Life was more 'square' than 'groovy' and Dean Martin was topping the Billboard charts - not Jimmy Hendrix. In this blast from the past, Leaf exposes the lies and busts the myths propagated by the liberal establishment. Did you know: the civil rights movement did little to improve the lives of average African Americans; most Americans actively supported the Vietnam War and the draft; "My Fair Lady" was one of the most popular albums during the 1960s; "The Politically Incorrect Guide[trademark] to the Sixties" proves the anti-Vietnam War sentiment and free love slogans that supposedly 'defined' the decade were just a small part of the leftist counter culture. The mainstream culture was more politically incorrect-but you'll never hear that from a liberal pundit or read it in a politically correct textbook.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Has any decade been more mythologized than the 1960s? I doubt it. Read Jonathan Leaf, who corrects and debunks the conventional wisdom and who also teaches us interesting and important things about that time, and ours. --William Kristol, editor, Weekly Standard
Jonathan Leaf almost makes the 60s worth it in this merciless debunking of the myths of our decade of shame. Fun, informed, and above all valuable. --Rich Lowry, editor, National Review --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
Jonathan Leaf almost makes the 60s worth it in this merciless debunking of the myths of our decade of shame. Fun, informed, and above all valuable. --Rich Lowry, editor, National Review --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
From the Inside Flap
When you think of the 1960s, what images come to mind? Most people think of rock music and psychedelic drugs, youthful rebellion and draft dodging, long hair and protest marches. But is that really what the sixties were all about?
Absolutely not, says Jonathan Leaf. In The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties, Leaf busts the biggest myth of all about that decade: that it was defined by radical politics and cultural upheaval. From popular music to college politics to fashion, he demonstrates that throughout the 1960s America remained a deeply conservative country, with disturbances and protests confined to a small minority of agitators who are now wrongly hailed in our politically correct textbooks as the dominant voice of their generation.
Mainstream America resisted the encroachments of the counterculture, Leaf shows. It was the Vietnam veterans, not the antiwar radicals, who expressed the values held throughout most of the country. What's more, contrary to popular belief, the vaunted sexual revolution never occurred in the sixties, and rock 'n' roll was not king. In this rollicking, provocative book, you'll discover that in the 1960s:
* Most college students rejected radical politics
* President Kennedy was not the dashing, progressive hero of liberal lore
* The economic condition of blacks became much worse after the passage of landmark civil rights legislation
* Manned space flights were a politicized boondoggle
If you think Woodstock and the Acid Tests were events that defined a generation, you'll be singing a new tune after reading The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties--and it won't be The Grateful Dead.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
60 of 63 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The antidote I've been waiting for to arm my kids against 60s-worship
July 31, 2009
Format:Paperback
For decades I've been telling people that America in the "sixties" were not what the media depicts as the sixties, but a much more complicated place - that people with long hair (like I had) walking along the road in a place like Vermont in 1969 (the sixties didn't get more "late" than 1969) had beer cans thrown at them, where in most parts of the country and for most years of the decade, the "sixties" was no more than a ripple disturbing the surface.
Leaf's book is invaluable at providing the facts and figures and anecdotes that show that I was right - that I wasn't dreaming. Of course it's an immense subject, but Leaf writes authortitavely and wittily about a well-chosen range of subjects.
The highest praise I can give it is that my little girls, aged 13 and 15, have taken it up to their room and are poring over it - and laughing over what their school teachers (too young to have experienced the decade) have been solemnly misinforming them about for years.
Get it and save your children's sanity and intellect - and if you are a child of the sixties, the soundness of your own memory.
Leaf's book is invaluable at providing the facts and figures and anecdotes that show that I was right - that I wasn't dreaming. Of course it's an immense subject, but Leaf writes authortitavely and wittily about a well-chosen range of subjects.
The highest praise I can give it is that my little girls, aged 13 and 15, have taken it up to their room and are poring over it - and laughing over what their school teachers (too young to have experienced the decade) have been solemnly misinforming them about for years.
Get it and save your children's sanity and intellect - and if you are a child of the sixties, the soundness of your own memory.
43 of 47 people found the following review helpful
By Carl
Format:Paperback
If this Robin Williams line is true, so is its corollary: If you where there, you don't really remember it. Baby Boomers all were there and in too many cases they were formed by that decade and what they recall of it. And it turns out they really don't remember it. As long as the Largest Generation retains the commanding heights of much cultural and academic production, that is a problem.
Jonathan Leaf's The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties is part of the solution. In 13 short, yet devastating, chapters covering everything from the sexual revolution to movies to Camelot to the nascent conservative movement, he demonstrates conclusively that everything most people think they know when asked about the Sixties is wrong.
Each of the phenomena described as universal Sixties experiences either occurred principally in earlier decades (e.g., civil rights, feminism), later decades (e.g., rock and roll), existed only a fringe or elite phenomenon (e.g., hippies and Haight-Ashbury), or is remembered in such a distorted or incomplete way as to approach falsehood (e.g., the moon landing, Camelot, many more). Just learning the facts about these well justifies buying and reading this book.
But even readers familiar the actual events of the Sixties will find reading rewarding. First, there is the author's erudite and accessible style which will occasion more than frequent chuckles even when recounting familiar facts. Second, the book is filled with facets and sidelights which will come as enlightening surprises even to those consider themselves well-informed.
For example, Malcolm X was a gay hustler--did that chapter of his Autobiography get cut? César Chávez and Tom Tancredo would have seen eye to eye on illegal immigration--does the University of California know that it closes down for a day every year to honor what most of its constituencies would consider a "hatemonger"?
Every baby boomer with a tendency to reminisce along the lines of the stereotypical images of the Sixties needs to read this highly entertaining debunking of Sixties mythologies. So should anybody who might come under their influence.
Jonathan Leaf's The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties is part of the solution. In 13 short, yet devastating, chapters covering everything from the sexual revolution to movies to Camelot to the nascent conservative movement, he demonstrates conclusively that everything most people think they know when asked about the Sixties is wrong.
Each of the phenomena described as universal Sixties experiences either occurred principally in earlier decades (e.g., civil rights, feminism), later decades (e.g., rock and roll), existed only a fringe or elite phenomenon (e.g., hippies and Haight-Ashbury), or is remembered in such a distorted or incomplete way as to approach falsehood (e.g., the moon landing, Camelot, many more). Just learning the facts about these well justifies buying and reading this book.
But even readers familiar the actual events of the Sixties will find reading rewarding. First, there is the author's erudite and accessible style which will occasion more than frequent chuckles even when recounting familiar facts. Second, the book is filled with facets and sidelights which will come as enlightening surprises even to those consider themselves well-informed.
For example, Malcolm X was a gay hustler--did that chapter of his Autobiography get cut? César Chávez and Tom Tancredo would have seen eye to eye on illegal immigration--does the University of California know that it closes down for a day every year to honor what most of its constituencies would consider a "hatemonger"?
Every baby boomer with a tendency to reminisce along the lines of the stereotypical images of the Sixties needs to read this highly entertaining debunking of Sixties mythologies. So should anybody who might come under their influence.
19 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By S. Funke
Format:Paperback
I always wondered how my parents managed to miss the Sixties. According to Jonathan Leaf, they were in very good company. Easy to read, fun, disturbing, and provocative, PIC '60s offers a counter weight for those of us who didn't live through America's best promoted, least experienced decade.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Valuable Counter-Weight to MSM Propaganda
Mr. Leaf's discussion of the 1960s is quite America affirming which is reason enough to read it, but much of this book is something that rank-and-file citizens should know. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Bernard Chapin
2.0 out of 5 stars
An interestingly bad and biased book worth to read!
I lived through the 1960s and surprisingly, despite disliking Mr Jonathan Leaf's political philosophy, he has some points: Rock is no such great music, Bob Dylan's role in music... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jose R. Ortiz, Jr.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Exploring The Roots of A Selfish Generation
A must-read for all who are trying to understand the seeds of today's culture war. If you are trying to analyze and explain today's dysfunctional American culture and extremely... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Wesley Gordon
4.0 out of 5 stars
What about "fraggings"?
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties was interesting and a "must read" book for historians. The section on the Vietnam War was of particular interest to me. Read more
Published 20 months ago by John H. Pope
1.0 out of 5 stars
Don't waste your time!
Saw this at my local library and decided to give it a try. Please, use your mind that nature gave you and research this decade with more inquiry than a audio disk by a conservative... Read more
Published on April 10, 2011 by Don Mears
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gives a true perspective on the decade
I liked this book. It has everything from an objective analysis of rock music (which was NOT the most popular music of the 1960s, despite the hype), an assessment of the Great... Read more
Published on March 6, 2011 by James D. Crabtree
5.0 out of 5 stars
Too Damn Short
I got the book in the mail just yesterday and couldn't put it down. When I finished the last page of text and flipped the page and saw the "credits" section I was SAD! Read more
Published on July 29, 2010 by Steven L. Zenor
1.0 out of 5 stars
Buyer beware - this is not a history book, but a conservative...
I read this book under the misguided assumption that it would be a historically-based reexamination of the sixties. This is not at all the case. Read more
Published on April 1, 2010 by TamarDC
4.0 out of 5 stars
THE POLOTICALLY INCORRECT GUIDE TO THE SIXITIES
THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING BOOK AND ANYONE BORN BEFORE THE SIXTIES (MUST HAVE MEMORIES FOR THE 60'S). Read more
Published on February 20, 2010 by Harvey A. Pratt
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun and Informative
Full of interesting facts and conservative insights. Such as fact that period between 1940 and passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 was one of amazingly rapid progress by... Read more
Published on February 4, 2010 by Eric Baum
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