Author Description

Product description A major new history of one of the seminal years in the postwar world, when rebellion and disaffection broke out on an extraordinary scale. The year 1968 saw an extraordinary range of protests across much of the western world. Some of these were genuinely revolutionary—around ten million French workers went on strike and the whole state teetered on the brink of collapse. Others were more easily contained, but had profound longer-term implications—terrorist groups, feminist collectives, gay rights activists could all trace important roots to 1968. 1968 is a striking and original attempt half a century later to show how these events, which in some ways still seem so current, stemmed from histories and societies which are in practice now extraordinarily remote from our own time. 1968 pursues the story into the 1970s to show both the ever more violent forms of radicalization that stemmed from 1968 and the brutal reaction that brought the era to an end. Review Vinen is an intelligent and astute critic, as well as a careful and forensic historian...An important book, revealing that fifty years on, 1968 is still unfinished business.-- "Financial Times (London)" Vinen has produced a thoughtful, readable account of a moment in history that, nevertheless, nestles in all our imaginations and deserves to be dwelt on.-- "Times (UK)" An excellent, cleanly focused book...Vinen very effectively reminds us that 1968 was not quite as '68-ish as we have come to assume.-- "Spectator" A fascinating overview of a pivotal era.-- "Publishers Weekly" Vinen's new book takes a long view of 1968 and of the era, offering a nuanced understanding of the conflicts between protesters and the establishment through the lens of universities, factory floors, and domestic life...With a skeptic's keen eye, Vinen provides a greater understanding of the time that all readers can appreciate.-- "Library Journal" Rich in distinct and acute observations...Vinen [delves] into unexpected and i