America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s

It is often said that history is written by the victors, meaning, I suppose, that the particular interpretation recorded for posterity reflects the ideology and perspective of those dominating forces successful in the particular struggle a particular historical treatment covers. Of course, such a self-serving interpretation may in fact vary wildly from anything like an accurate accounting of the actual unfolding of events and issues. Nowhere in contemporary society is such an inaccurate, disingenuous, and self-serving revisionist tendency likely as in the coverage and reflection on the events and issues of the sixties counterculture. Many recent tomes purport the times in such a solipsistic and self-serving fashion as to turn the truth on its very head. Yet all that is corrected in this wonderful overview of the momentous events and social, economic, and political issues as characterized the sixties. In "America Divided", a fascinating work comparing the deep and dangerous divisions within American society to those of the Civil War a hundred years before, authors Maurice Isserman and Michael Kazin accurately describe and explain the complex forces that seemed to strain the social fabric to the point of near-revolution and widespread violence in the streets. The authors carefully avoid the twin mistakes of either overly romanticizing the perspectives, ideas, and issues of the youthful counter culturists to epic proportions on the one hand, or of summarily dismissing them as silly and superficial on the other hand, as is often the case with neo-conservative revisionists who would have us believe the manifest troubles of contemporary America stem primarily from the permissiveness of the counterculture rather than admit it is much more likely the result of massive and constant dislocations associated with scientific and technological change that is threatening the core values and mores of American culture. This book faithfully retraces and integrates the various strands running through the sixties into a seamless historical narrative that renders one of the most sophisticated, articulate, and accurate interpretations of a decade that left those of us who lived through it breathless and yet strangely unable to describe it to anyone who had not shared the experience.After reading the book, one remembers that those times were indeed characterized by great complexity, diversity, and incredible intellectual ferment and debate. Other recent accounts that blame the counterculture for the contemporary cultural malaise overlook the amazing diversity and intense ongoing dialogue that often degenerated into violent confrontation, whether it be over free speech, civil rights, Vietnam, or the perfidy of the power elite comprised of multinational corporations and big government. This book is a compelling, immensely readable, and quite entertaining work, and one that brilliantly achieves its objective by accurately describing, explaining, and integrating the i

In "America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960's," Maurice Isserman and Michael Kazin effectively summarize a painfully divisive yet enlightening decade in our nation's history. By focusing on political, cultural, and economic changes wrought by both the liberal and conservative camps, Isserman and Kazin give a comprehensive and objective account of the 1960's. The authors begin by making an interesting point by comparing the sweeping changes wrought by the Civil War with that of the 1960's and make the assertion that both periods had much in common with how they both changed and divided America. In the 1950's, America enjoyed both an economic and diplomatic prosperity in the wake of World War II. The average family income increased and the "affluent society" which arose out of it ironically became an identifying factor in causing much of the political and social divisiveness prevalent in the 1960's. The authors' examination of the civil rights movement and the beginnings of the Vietnam War can be seen as by products of the liberal tendency to view the prosperity of the 1950's as unequal and leaving out the margins of both the poor and non-white population. The Vietnam War was a casualty of American overconfidence in its role in world affairs in the wake of the anti-communism of the 1950's. Isserman and Kazin effectively balance the issues of womens' rights, civil rights, the student movement, and the counterculture and examine their role in both liberal and conservative politics. The authors assert that the Right gained more popularity among voters after the tumultuous years from 1965-1968. Religious life was also transformed in that many liberals questioned established religion and conservatives sought to reassert the morals and values of religion into the national culture. As a result of the 1960's, American political and social life was divided but,at the same time, more positively varied. Newly recognized social groups (gays, minorities, and women) gained more political and social clout and the conservative Right benefitted in the sense the New Left further proved to divide Democratic politics. This book is a must read for anyone to have a good comprehensive overview of the 1960's. My only problem with the book was its length (a little too short) but perhaps the short bibliographic essay at the book will inspire the reader to learn more than what the authors covered in the book. Overall, a must for a 60's historian's bookshelf.