1968

The Year That Rocked the World

By: Mark Kurlansky

Narrated by: Christopher Cazenove

Over the course of one pivotal year, events that shaped American and world history took place: The North Vietnamese launched the Tet offensive. Prague Spring began. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated. Students protested across the United States and around the world. Robert Kennedy was assassinated. The Democratic National Convention in Chicago was besieged by riots. Apollo 11 launched. And Richard Nixon was elected president of the United States. In the same year, Black athletes raised their fists in protest at the Olympic Games, “Hey Jude” became the Beatles biggest hit, and 2001: A Space Odyssey was released.

In many ways, this momentous year led us to where we are today. Covering popular culture, politics, war, economics, and the media, Mark Kurlansky shows how twelve volatile months transformed who we were as a people. But above all, he offers provocative insights into the underlying causes of the historical phenomenon that was the year 1968.

©2004 Mark Kurlansky (P)2004 Phoenix Books, Inc.

Not for Me

1968 seems like a random number. The author goes back in times and tangle us up with details that might eventually tie in to 1968. I generally love a Kurlansky book, like Salt. This book didn't work for me.

I returned it.