1968

The Year That Rocked the World

By: Mark Kurlansky

Narrated by: Christopher Cazenove

Length: 16 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

In this monumental new book, award-winning author Mark Kurlansky has written his most ambitious work to date: a singular and ultimately definitive look at a pivotal moment in history.

In many ways, this momentous year led us to where we are today. Whether through youth and music, politics and war, economics and the media, Mark Kurlansky shows how 12 volatile months transformed who we were as a people. But above all, he gives a new insight into the underlying causes of the unique historical phenomenon that was the year 1968.

Enjoy Mark Kurlansky's books? Listen to an interview with the author on To the Best of Our Knowlege.

©2004 Mark Kurlansky (P)2004 New Millennium Audio

Critic reviews

"In this highly opinionated and highly readable history, Kurlansky makes a case for why 1968 has lasting relevance in the United States and around the world. Whether you agree or disagree with its points, you'll find it makes for fascinating reading." (Dan Rather)

awsome

another home run - Mark is a great writer and never boring - follows the whole year and is well intertwined over the listen A++++

A book for the times

"It is not an overstatement to say that the destiny of the entire human race depends on what is going on in America today. This is a staggering reality to the rest of the world; they must feel like passengers in a supersonic jet liner who are forced to watch helplessly while a passel of drunks, hypes, freaks, and madmen fight for the controls and the pilot’s seat." Eldridge Cleaver, 1968

Great Book. Great Narrator, really.

This is a very insightful book about a year in which so many significant events occurred. Events that did not change the world, but in many ways, changed the way the world acts. There are many lessons for today.

Given it’s global scale, Christopher Cazenove, I believe was a great choice for narrator. His work has been criticised here, but I found his performance to be wonderful. Cazenove, a British actor, speaks with his native British accent. Not only did he do a fine job of reading Mark Kurlansky’s marvellous book, but he helped demonstrate that the book was not taking an American view of the world, which I did not believe it did.

One of the lessons from 1968 is that global events are connected, even if those involved don’t realise it. Listening to a book read by someone who pronounces names and words differently than yourself helps connect you to the world.

There are many ways to pronounce “tomato”. There is not a "correct way".

The year everything changed

One of the most pivotal years of the 20th century occurred 50 years ago. This is a great survey of the year that saw Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy assassinated and president LBJ withdrew from his second re-election bid. Highly recommended.

Don't let this reader near a foreign word

The book is ok - but no better than that. Unfortunately, that's the good news. I could not recommend the audio version because the reader has not bothered to learn the correct pronunciation of words or names in any language other than UK Engish. He mangles American names (and there are many), he mangles Slavic names and words (and there are many), and he kills that most beautiful language of all-French. It's comical to hear him attempt "Ho-Ho-Ho Chi Minh-the NLF is Going to Win!" It seems like quality control really slipped up on this book--the errors aren't even consistent from one part of the book to the next.

1968....thorough

iI truly enjoyed the depth and organization. It was exceptional, wel-paced and most informative ....period.

Slanted but intensely interesting and well written

This is one of the best books I've listened to in years. Being born in Chicago in the late 1960's I grew up hearing a lot about the Chicago Democratic convention as well as the Prague Spring and, of course, the various civil rights marches and actions. This book did a tremendous and entertaining job of providing the historical background to those events to a depth I had never before heard.

Right at the start of the book the author notes that while he is trying to be as objective as he can it is impossible to write a book without some bias. This shows through quickly as he clearly is a bit starry eyed over the student movements of the time. That said, his bias doesn't get in the way of the facts. For instance, he tells how the various factions in the student movements had different agendas (and sometimes no real agenda).

While normally I would strongly dislike such bias in a book about historical events, in this case it added to the book as it helped show the feelings of the participants in a way a dispassionate voice couldn't hope to.

Overall this is an excellent book for anyone looking to get a better understanding of the events of that era and what led to them.

1968 a year that was a precursor for 2020

Good book. Definitely worth listening too. I love Mark Kurlansky's books but this one is not my favorite. The parallels between 1968 and 2020 are on vivid display here. I wish I had read it years before 2020. Aside from the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, and the pandemic of course, 1968 and 2020 had some stark similarities in the United States. I did not enjoy the narrator for this book. That's why I rated the perforamce 3 stars, But the story keeps you intrigued. I recommend you give it listen.

1968

I was going to point out the mispronunciatons, but I see that I am not the first to notice them. Even with the egregious mispronunciatons and snooty (to my mid-Atlantic USA ear) accent, I think this could be a good reader if he had a little help or worked a little harder, but the inconsistencies are hard to excuse. For instance, the name Marcuse is said, at first, as two syllables, and then is corrected to three syllables. If he discovered the correct pronunciation, why didn't he go back and reread the parts where he said the name wrong?
Here in Maryland, we refered to SNCC as "Snick" when speaking. We did not say each letter separately, as the reader does. But maybe that was just here. If I had been the author I would have written that pronunciation into the book if it is the general one. How else would those unfamiliar with the organization know how to say it? And then there was "poetry." When I strained my ears and relistened to his references to poetry, I could believe that was what he was really saying. But without the ear strain it consistently sounded like "perjury."
Still, it wasn't a monotone reading, and the book itself was a good reminder of what happened in my youth.

Great overview of a very to a very tumultuous year

This is the second book that I’ve read by this author wrote a really good history of the Basques. He continues to do an amazing job of research and he’s a very very good storyteller. Excellent book. I loved how he talked about events all over the World and not just in the United States. Very, very good book.