Customer Reviews

TIME 1969: Woodstock, the Moon and Manson

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Has it really been 40 years? Time surely flies. There are plenty of books being published this year to commemorate one of the most remarkable years in our nation's history. TIME Magazine threw its hat in the ring with this book.

I noticed "1969 - Woodstock, the Moon and Manson: the Turbulent End of the '60s" (129 pages) at my local library and couldn't resist the urge to pick this up. It's hard to understand what the real intent of this book is: at a mere 129 pages, it brings us a teaser, both in words and in images, of what the year 1969 was like. And boy, were there things to talk about: the start of the Nixon administration in the White House, Woodstock (and Altamont), the first (and, lest anyone forget, only months later also the second) landing on the moon, Chappaquiddick, Cleveland's 'mistake on the lake' (i.e. the Cuyahoga River on fire), the mass protests against the Vietnam War, the Beatles' last performance on the roof of Apple Studios, etc. etc.

My frustration with this book is that it could've been so much more and so much better. Given TIME Magazine's massive and in-depth archives, both in articles and in images, all the editors had to do was to look a little harder. Insted, this book feels like it was slapped together in a hurry. In 1969, I still lived in Belgium and I have a vivid recollection (being 9 years old then) that my parents woke up my sisters and I in the middle of the night, so that we could witness the first landing on the moon live on TV. What a thrill that was. Unfortunately, you will not relive that thrill in this book as well as you might've. A missed opportunity.

As documented in TIME Magazine's hodge-podge ode to 1969, the '60s decade ended with a bang: Moon landings, celebrity murders, peace-love-dope music festivals, protests galore and Tricky Dick in the White House. To paraphrase the Grateful Dead: What a long, strange trip it was!

The book is, at best, a coffee-table snapshot of headline events and personalities of the year. Its 122 pages have lots of b&w and color photographs to rekindle memories and short, comprehensive articles on a variety of subjects. However, there doesn't appear to be any organization to the material; the book jumping between various topics.

In short, the book is entertaining enough but scattershot and superficial. Somehow I think 1969 deserves better but that's just me. Recommended with reservations.

I bought this book for my son for Christmas 2009. He was born in February of 1969. Before I gave it to him I read it myself, and was amazed at what marvelous and interesting things happened in 1969 from Woodstock, to the first man on the moon, and much more. I had forgotten quite a few historic events, and was happy to relive them through the book. The photos are awesome.