Kent State
An American Tragedy
Seiten
2024
WW Norton & Co (Verlag)
978-1-324-06625-5 (ISBN)
WW Norton & Co (Verlag)
978-1-324-06625-5 (ISBN)
A definitive history of the fatal clash between Vietnam War protestors and the National Guard, illuminating its causes and lasting consequences
On 4 May 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, political fires that had been burning across America during the 1960s exploded. Antiwar protestors wearing bell-bottom jeans and long hair hurled taunts and rocks at another group of young American-National Guardsman sporting gas masks and rifles. At half past noon, violence unfolded at chaotic speed, as guardsmen—many of whom had joined the Guard to escape the draft—opened fire on the students. Two reductive narratives ensued: one, that lethal state violence targeted Americans who spoke their minds; the other, that law enforcement gave troublemakers the comeuppance they deserved. For over fifty years, little middle ground has been found due to incomplete and sometimes contradictory evidence.
Kent State meticulously re-creates the divided cultural landscape of America during the Vietnam War and heightened popular anxieties around the country. On college campuses, teach-ins, sit-down strikes and demonstrations exposed the growing rift between the left and the right. Many students opposed the war as unnecessary and unjust and were uneasy over poor and working-class kids drafted and sent to Vietnam in their place. Some developed a hatred for the military, the police and everything associated with authority, while others resolved to uphold law and order at any cost.
Focusing on the thirteen victims of the Kent State shooting and a painstaking reconstruction on the days surrounding it, historian Brian VanDeMark draws on crucial new research and interviews—including, for the first time, the perspective of guardsmen who were there. The result is a complete reckoning with the tragedy that marked the end of the sixties.
On 4 May 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, political fires that had been burning across America during the 1960s exploded. Antiwar protestors wearing bell-bottom jeans and long hair hurled taunts and rocks at another group of young American-National Guardsman sporting gas masks and rifles. At half past noon, violence unfolded at chaotic speed, as guardsmen—many of whom had joined the Guard to escape the draft—opened fire on the students. Two reductive narratives ensued: one, that lethal state violence targeted Americans who spoke their minds; the other, that law enforcement gave troublemakers the comeuppance they deserved. For over fifty years, little middle ground has been found due to incomplete and sometimes contradictory evidence.
Kent State meticulously re-creates the divided cultural landscape of America during the Vietnam War and heightened popular anxieties around the country. On college campuses, teach-ins, sit-down strikes and demonstrations exposed the growing rift between the left and the right. Many students opposed the war as unnecessary and unjust and were uneasy over poor and working-class kids drafted and sent to Vietnam in their place. Some developed a hatred for the military, the police and everything associated with authority, while others resolved to uphold law and order at any cost.
Focusing on the thirteen victims of the Kent State shooting and a painstaking reconstruction on the days surrounding it, historian Brian VanDeMark draws on crucial new research and interviews—including, for the first time, the perspective of guardsmen who were there. The result is a complete reckoning with the tragedy that marked the end of the sixties.
Brian VanDeMark teaches history at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis. The author of several books on American history, he also coauthored Robert McNamara’s best-selling Vietnam memoir, In Retrospect, which became the basis of the Academy Award-winning documentary The Fog of War. He lives in Maryland.
| Erscheinungsdatum | 30.07.2024 |
|---|---|
| Zusatzinfo | 28 illustrations |
| Verlagsort | New York |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 160 x 236 mm |
| Gewicht | 741 g |
| Themenwelt | Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik ► Regional- / Landesgeschichte |
| Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Zeitgeschichte | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte | |
| Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte | |
| Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-324-06625-3 / 1324066253 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-324-06625-5 / 9781324066255 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
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