The Age of Great Dreams: America in the 1960s

Insightful, analytical and useful to the teacher of history - provides great information that can be remembered and relayed to students in high school - provides interesting information that students appreciate

What is done well: Farber brings analysis to the events and issues that drive the '60s, arguing for example that the affluence of the 1950s, together with the exploding marketplace of products, led to a new marketplace of ideas and a willingness for the new youth culture to try new things and toy with new ideas. Farber covers most of the key players and issues well, from the civil rights movement to Vietnam. He also rightly dips in the 1970s to finish the long decade, covering Watergate briefly. What is not done well: He omits or is too brief on certain topics that should be covered in this book: Rosa Parks, My Lai, Woodstock, and the new music culture of the '60s youth. Compare this book to Terry Anderson's shorter and more lively book The Sixties, and you'll find the latter book is a better introductory textbook.

The age of great dreams turned into the age of great nightmares, which America has still not awakened from. David Farber shows us where it all began in his history of the 1960's. The back cover says Farber teaches history at the University of New Mexico and is also the author of some other books on the 1960's, specifically "Chicago '68." I have not read any of his other books, but this one is well written and provides a good overview of the turbulent age of rebellion.Farber starts his book with a quick overview of the 1950's, essential for studying the 1960's. Farber shows how economic, social and political conditions laid the groundwork for the 1960's. Some of the conditions of the 1950's fairly well known: the baby boom and suburban growth were the fuel for the fire in the 1960's. Farber also writes about the conditions of blacks in the 1950's, as well as the growing omnipresence of television and advertising. Farber titled this chapter, "Good Times," but many problems lay under the surface, ready to explode at the slightest spark.The rest of the book deals with almost every aspect of the 1960's. From Kennedy to Nixon, Farber misses few opportunities to bring to light both the good and the bad. He covers everything from LSD to the Bay of Pigs, from SDS to the sit-ins. His major theme is how the 1960's started out with Kennedy's vision of a "New Frontier," where anything seemed possible for an America rich in resources. By the end of the book, Farber shows the dawning realization that it can't all be done, that possibilities are not limitless. It took a mess of assassinations, a spoiled generation of brats, a huge war, and the Great Society programs of LBJ to show America that there were limits on what the country could do.This is a good book that will certainly introduce anyone who reads it to the major themes of the 1960's. Focusing on the 1960's is important because it helps us forget about the 1970's, with pet rocks and the clothes my Mom made me wear predominating the memories of that decade. This was the main book for the class I took on the 1960's, and it was a good choice.

How can college students today understand the passions, complexities, and puzzles of the 1960s? This lucid and accessible survey illuminates the connections between the emerging consumer culture, social movements, and political tensions from 1960-1974. Written by a Barnard College historian for undergraduate students, this multi-dimensional shows the often conflicting factors and personalities behind critical events from Kennedy's election and the Cuban Missile Crisis to sit-in demonstrations and assassinations (JFK, Martin Luther King, RFK) and the escalating Vietnam War. Avoiding the glib and superficial conclusions that mar too many books on the 60s', this informative synthesis combines insider memoirs, oral histories, popular TV shows and census data in an engaging account. An excellent selection for American Studies, Cultural Studies, and modern American History courses.