The Movement and the Sixties

by Terry H. Anderson

Book Overview

It began in 1960 with the Greensboro sit-ins. By 1973, when a few Native Americans rebelled at Wounded Knee and the U.S. Army came home from Vietnam, it was over. In between came Freedom Rides, Port Huron, the Mississippi Summer, Berkeley, Selma, Vietnam, the Summer of Love, Black Power, the Chicago Convention, hippies, Brown Power, and Women's Liberation--The Movement--in an era that became known as The Sixties. Why did millions of Americans become...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195104579
• ISBN13: 9780195104578
• Release Date: May 1996
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 1.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Tumult & Change

The Sixties, by Texas A & M University historian Terry H. Anderson, takes the reader on an engrossingly readable journey through one of the most turbulent decades in American life. Beginning with the crew-cut conformity of 1950s Cold War culture and ending with the transition into the uneasy '70s, Anderson charts the rise of an idealistic generation of baby boomers and its contentious politics, widespread social activism, and revolutionary counterculture. Anderson explores the rapidly shifting mood of the country with the idealism of the Kennedy years, the liberal advances of Johnson's "Great Society," and the growing discord over Vietnam that nearly tore America apart. The book also thematically navigates the decade's many currents of social change, including the anti-war movement, the civil rights struggle, and the plethora of liberation movements that drew inspiration from it. From the lunch counter sit-in of Greensboro, N.C. in 1960 and the rise of Martin Luther King, Jr. to the Black Power movement at the decade's end, Anderson illustrates the brutality of the backlash against civil rights, the disillusionment and radicalization of some of the movement's youth, and the eventual triumphs that would change America forever. He also discusses women's liberation and the feminist movement, as well as the students' rights, Chicano, Native American, gay rights, and environmental movements. The Sixties is comprehensive, yet concise and, in many places, gripping. It shows how the decade had the effect of radically transforming life in America and challenging the unequal status quo that has characterized most of the nation's history. Despite the overwhelming and often violently repressive backlash provoked by these changes, the Cultural Revolution and the liberation movements have left an indelible imprint upon the country.

Excellent look at the 1960's

This was required reading for a graduate course in American history. Terry H. Anderson did an exceptional job in his book delineating how a myriad of causes and movements got started and were conducted throughout the 1960's. Politically, the sixties were the most turbulent decade in America's history. Anderson took eight years to meticulously research and write a most informative book, explaining the chain of events that took place beginning in 1960 with a lunch counter sit-in at a Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina, and ending with the end of the Vietnam War. This was not an easy task, considering many of the different movement organizations were not well organized, had no membership lists, and relied on small underground newspapers that were not published on a regularly scheduled basis. Anderson wisely noted that one can look back on the decade and glean from it much good for society that is still with us today; such as, the improvement in civil rights for minorities in America, and an awareness to improve the environment. One can also find social ills spawned by the decade that still plague American society today such as, the pernicious use of illegal drugs, and the sharp rise in teen-age pregnancy rates. Anderson took a different approach than most other historians who researched the sixties. He did not look at the decade from the standpoint of the leaders of the various movements, nor did he focus his attention on movement organizational history. Instead, Anderson's book is more of a national study of the sixties. In his approach, Anderson actually traced the chronological development of activism as it swept across the country, and how different movements allied with one another and/or became outgrowths of preceding struggles. In addition, he explained how activism spawned a completely new counter culture near the end of the decade. Thus, Anderson's book is an extremely useful social and political historical guide to the 1960's. Anderson astutely traced how activism started with the struggle for civil rights that college students joined in the South. The sixties was also an age of television, and students were disgusted by the injustices and bloody violence against Blacks that they witnessed in news stories on television. Anderson noted that this was the catalyst that caused many White students to leave the safety of their college campuses, and travel down south on Freedom Rides to help Blacks fight the inequities of the Jim Crow laws. This activist desire to change America's status quo swept up both coasts, taking hold at elite universities where students created and joined liberal organizations. Once men started to go off to fight in Vietnam in 1965, activism started to change in two ways. First, besides just being involved in the civil rights struggle, activists took on the new cause of also demonstrating against the war. Secondly, activism spread to all the liberal cities across the country with large univers

Time Line

This well written book covers one of, if not the most turbulent change riddled decade in fairly recent history. Readers will follow the development of the hippies and the splinter group, the Yippies (Youth International Party); the assassinations of public figures and the growing unrest on campuses and the outside world at large. Sixties fashion and culture are also discussed. The music of that decade changed to reflect the times. 1960-1963 still had the 1950s influence and many girl groups emerged during this period. Folk was on the rise and Pete Seeger; Peter, Paul & Mary; Bob Dylan; the Kingston Trio and many other folkies were becoming more musically vocal against war and societal ills. In 1964 the Beatles arrived in America and during 1963-64 the Beatle influence was resounding around the world. By 1965 to the decade's close, many groups, the Beatles included experimented with different styles of music and sang of the then current issues, e.g. anti-war songs. Stephen Stills of CSN/CSNY fame and prior to that, of Buffalo Springfield fame sang the 1967 Anti-War Anthem "For What It's Worth." The decade that started out seemingly innocent (1960-63) and evolved into a wonderful era of excellent music; cool cars like Falcons and Coronets and closed with a successful moon voyage and music festivals such as the Newport Jazz Festival and Woodstock (both 1969) is nicely covered in this book.

A great narrative history of the Sixties.

Anderson's book is a great narrative account of that most legendary of decades, the Sixties. He does a good job of identifying the various strands that made up Sixties culture, strands which are often lumped together by people today who have but a hazy notion of what really went on. The book is full of great anecdotes and supported by loads of primary sources. Read this book and check to see if this is how you remember it!

Excellent text for 60's in America

As a student and then student teacher of a course using this book i have found it not only personally interesting but a stimulating book for conversation with my students! It is in no way dry but gives insightful analysis of a time too often shown to today's youth in cliches and stereotypes.