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Witness to the Revolution
Witness to the Revolution: Radicals, Resisters, Vets, Hippies, and the Year America Lost Its Mind and Found Its Soul | Clara Bingham
21 posts | 4 read | 37 to read
The electrifying story of the turbulent year when the sixties ended and America teetered on the edge of revolution As the 1960s drew to a close, the United States was coming apart at the seams. From August 1969 to August 1970, the nation witnessed nine thousand protests and eighty-four acts of arson or bombings at schools across the country. It was the year of the My Lai massacre investigation, the Cambodia invasion, Woodstock, and the Moratorium to End the War. The American death toll in Vietnam was approaching fifty thousand, and the ascendant counterculture was challenging nearly every aspect of American society. Witness to the Revolution, Clara Binghams unique oral history of that tumultuous time, unveils anew that moment when America careened to the brink of a civil war at home, as it fought a long, futile war abroad. Woven together from one hundred original interviews, Witness to the Revolution provides a firsthand narrative of that period of upheaval in the words of those closest to the actionthe activists, organizers, radicals, and resisters who manned the barricades of what Students for a Democratic Society leader Tom Hayden called the Great Refusal. We meet Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn of the Weather Underground; Daniel Ellsberg, the former Defense Department employee who released the Pentagon Papers; feminist theorist Robin Morgan; actor and activist Jane Fonda; and many others whose powerful personal stories capture the essence of an era. We witness how the killing of four students at Kent State turned a straitlaced social worker into a hippie, how the civil rights movement gave birth to the womens movement, and how opposition to the war in Vietnam turned college students into prisoners, veterans into peace marchers, and intellectuals into bombers. With lessons that can be applied to our time, Witness to the Revolution is more than just a record of the death throes of the Age of Aquarius. Today, when America is once again enmeshed in racial turmoil, extended wars overseas, and distrust of the government, the insights contained in this book are more relevant than ever. Praise for Witness to the Revolution The familiar voices and the unfamiliar ones are woven together with documents to make this a surprisingly powerful and moving book.New York Times Book Review Vivid, compelling, and addictively readable . . . Bingham has captured the lightning of the 1960s in a jar, where it blows the readers socks off. Whether you lived through this period or want to know what you missed, this is a popular history everyone should read.Jane Mayer, author of Dark Money For those who missed the sixties (like most of us, whether demographically or spiritually), this vital book goes a long way toward explaining the original wound that festers in our culture wars still.Diane McWhorter, Pulitzer Prizewinning author of Carry Me Home A compelling history and an authentic testimony of a turbulent time. As we live through a new moment of political turmoil, its critical that we revisit an era when arguments over politics and culture were palpable, urgent, and revolutionary. Clara Bingham takes us there.Gay Talese, author of A Writers Life Moving, funny, horrifying, clarifying . . . the best sixties book since Edie.Evan Thomas, author of Being Nixon Takes you to the exact spot where the wave of the sixties, the Movement, and the Age of Aquarius crested. You can almost smell the tear gas.Nick Turse, author of Kill Anything That Moves From the Hardcover edition.
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Lizpixie
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1. A well researched book about the civil rights uprising in America in the year between 1969-1970.
2. Pride & resentment. The ones who truly believe theirs is the only way & the ones who cling onto the past.
3. Reading, sleeping then more reading.
4. Hardly! We‘ve got thunderstorms, heat & humidity here. Yay. At least the rain is sorely needed.

#FriYayIntro

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Lizpixie
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#AyUpAugust #Day9 #IPredictARiot In the year that this book covers, August 1969 to August 1970, there were a few riots, a lot of protests and a ton of arrests with a few deaths as well. People don‘t realise just how close America came to a full revolution, there was a lot of people very unhappy about Vietnam, about civil rights & the corruption of high up government officials. People power made a lot of changes happen in those days.

squirrelbrain Sounds really interesting! You come up with some great ideas for these challenges! 5y
Bkwurm Sounds like a book that wouldn‘t be out of place on a 2019-2020 reading list. 5y
Cinfhen I‘ve already stacked this book too!!and I‘m pretty sure it was from one of your previous posts 😘 5y
42 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Lizpixie
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#NuYear #day15 #America I really enjoyed this non-fiction book about the political & social upheavals in America between Aug1969-Aug1970. After the shooting of students at Kent State, the My Lai massacre & marches against the Vietnam War, the country came so close to an overthrow of government. Add in the civil rights movement & the Feminist movement & the government had a lot of tinder just looking for a match.Change came not just for the U.S.✌️

TrishB Sounds like a great read 👍🏻 6y
Betty That bus! Did the book mention anything about 1968? That was a year of changes 6y
Lizpixie @TrishB it is! It has interviews with former black panthers, the weathermen, Jane Fonda & so many more activists @Betty I love it too, I collect Kombi vans, they‘re everywhere in my library. The book is only about that specific year from 69-70. A lot happened just in that period of time. 6y
73 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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Lizpixie
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#TuneIntoNovember #day12 #DontWannaFight This awesome non-fiction book about the year between August 1969 - August 1970 in America when the anti-Vietnam protests were huge, the draft was a huge issue and the government Came very close to being overthrown in a revolution when the hippies, vets, radicals, feminists & civil rights movements combined and became very vocal in the push for change. Great read and highly recommended.✌️☮️💕💜💙💚💛❤️

Robothugs This sounds good! 6y
Cinfhen Excellent choice for today 🥇 6y
Laura317 Sounds great! 6y
68 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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Lizpixie
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#AndItsAugust #day7 #ItsHistory This is an amazing non fiction book that came out at the end of last year. It chronicles the year in America between Aug1969 & Aug1970, when the mass protests & revolutionaries guiding them almost achieved the unthinkable,overthrowing the current government. After the draft & ongoing war in Vietnam,the Kent State shootings,the civil rights violations in not only the south but all over the country, feelings ran high.

Lizpixie 👆👆👆👆👆👆It's a well written & researched book that tells a very significant part of history. Especially in the times we are currently living in, it's a pity that some of the lessons learned were not remembered. (Iraq, Afghanistan?) and the current government is once again ignoring the will of the people. 7y
56 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Lizpixie
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#AprilBookShowers #day21 #Subtitles This book has the best subtitle ever: Radicals, Resisters, Vets, Hippies and the Year America Lost Its Mind and Found Its Soul. Love it!

58 likes1 stack add
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Lizpixie
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#LyricalApril #day9 #Renegades This weighty book about the state of American politics in the year between Aug1969 & Aug1970 is full of real life renegades.People like Bill Ayers & Bernardine Dohrm of The Weather Underground,Daniel Ellsberg,a former Defence Dept employee who released the Pentagon papers & so many more including Black Panther leaders & the organizers of the many protests on college campuses after the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.

Cinfhen Totally want to read this ♥️♥️♥️ 7y
45 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Lizpixie
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#riotgrams #day8 #blackhistory I don't read much non fiction,and a lot of what constitutes Black History has far more to do with America, but this book has a lot about the Black Panther movement. That being said, I do watch a lot of docos about famous black activists, artists & history. I loved What Happened Miss Simone, 20 Feet From Stardom, Freedom Riders & Through A Lens Darkly. Plus the many docos about Dr King, Malcolm X & the Civil War.

62 likes2 stack adds
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Lizpixie
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#readjanuary #day25 #slowread When it comes to fiction I can fly through big novels with ease, but give me a nonfiction book & my pace slows to a glacial crawl. There's been some nonfiction that have been easy reads, mostly biographies and a few medical books,but usually it can take me 4 or 5 goes at it to finish. My brain tends to pick up random pieces of info & stores it, which makes me great at trivia nights but crap at retaining large amounts.

TheBookHippie I love this book!! 7y
CherylDeFranceschi I'm the same way! 7y
Eyelit Same here! I always get a bit frustrated when reading nonfiction because I don't just breeze through like I do most fiction - and have to regularly remind myself it's better to be slower in this instance 7y
Bookish.Heart I have the same problem with nonfiction! 7y
64 likes4 comments
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Lizpixie
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#readjanuary #day16 #inspiredbymartinlutherkingjr Dr King isn't as well known and revered here in Aus like he is in the US, but even we know his "I have a dream" speech & his civil rights activism in the 60s.This book is about the cultural & political revolutions that were happening in America, specifically the year between Aug1969 & Aug1970. With chapters about the Weathermen & the Black Panther movement, it's definitely got inspiration from him.

55 likes1 stack add
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Lizpixie
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Having to put this bad boy down, unfortunately I've become a member of the #litsymigraineclub tonight. Pretty sure it's coming from my neck plus eye strain👀 See all you wonderful people tomorrow. Night night.🌝

Laura317 Sweet dreams! I'm sorry you're a member of the #litsymigraineclub. Hope a good night sleep makes things better! 😴 7y
Foxyfictionista Oh no!! Hope you feel better soon! 💕 7y
JDHawkins I hope you feel better after some sleep! 7y
LauraBrook Oh no! Hope you're not a member of the club for much longer, and that sleeping does the trick. 💖 7y
LeahBergen Yuck. Feel better soon! 7y
41 likes5 comments
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Lizpixie
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David Harris, Stanford student, draft resistance organiser, talking about black voter registrations in Mississippi in the mid 60s.

shawnmooney ❤️❤️❤️ 7y
Theresa When I talk to people who don't vote I want to force them to read things like this, slap them upside the head, & yell STEP UP!! 7y
LizzyM @Theresa Word. 7y
MyNamesParadise Whoa!!! Amazing! 7y
65 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Lizpixie
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Pairing my next read, about the radicals and the counterculture in the year between August1969 & August1970, with the Pure 60s then the Pure 70s playlists on Spotify.This era is electric, the feeling that the youth could change the world is so exciting, and oh so relevant with the current world upheavals. I was born 7 months after this period in history, but if I was a young adult then, I would've been proudly standing up with a flower in my hair.

TheBookHippie So LOVED this book.💗☮✌🏻 7y
48 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Lizpixie
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Today's #BookMail is this fascinating nonfiction book about the year between August1969 & August1970 when America was on the verge of revolution. The country was full of protests, anger at the Vietnam war, the My Lai massacre, and the death of students at the hands of the National Guard. It was also the year of Woodstock, of the Black Panthers & bombings across the country. Cannot wait to dive into this. #SmileItsBookmas🎄

Suet624 I read a book called 1968 many years ago. Each chapter was a month in the year. I'll never forget it. A detailed account of all that happened in that one year. A devastating year with assassinations and protests. 7y
51 likes2 stack adds1 comment
review
Alisnazzy
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Pickpick

Incredible! This oral history of the turbulent times of the late 60's-early 70's is jam packed with the voices of those who experienced it: feminists, vets, Freedom Riders, Black Panthers, members of SDS, Weather Underground, SNCC, FBI, counterculturists and more. It's self exploratory but also, self-critical. I can't praise it enough. 5🌟 ☮❤️✊🏼resist (There will be some table-flipping moments tho when you read what the gov did to its citizens)

Lizpixie This just came today for me, I can't wait to read it.✌️ 7y
89 likes7 stack adds1 comment
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Alisnazzy
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Battling a bit of a cold, so I'm hunkering down with some Brunswick Stew (from a can and surprisingly good), Vanilla Coke, and this awesome book. #ReadAndEat

saresmoore Vanilla Coke! 😍 7y
Hobbinol Feel better! 7y
Jennick2004 Oh how I could go for a Vanilla Coke! Lol 7y
DebinHawaii Hope you feel better soon! 🤒 7y
94 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Alisnazzy
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This book has me all fired up ✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼Listening to the Simon & Garfunkel Pandora station, cuddling with my #kittenlitten , and enjoying the fact that I didn't get dragged out to a work dinner with my husband tonight. I'm all about digging into this book right now (and staying in bed 😂)

MrBook Awesome room! Love S&G! 😻😻😻 7y
jessicarenee The lights are so pretty around all the books 😻 and your cat is adorable 7y
GlitteryOtters Sounds like an awesome evening in! 💕 7y
See All 14 Comments
Bookish_B Pretty pic! Looks cozy 😊 7y
BibliophileMomma Love this pic! 7y
Merethebookgal So cozy!! 😊 7y
Gulfsidemusing Looks just about perfect to me! 7y
Beckys_Books Love the Xmas lights! 7y
melbeautyandbooks Sounds great! 7y
Bklover This room looks perfect! 7y
Gissy Lovely, I like the lights!! 7y
MyNamesParadise Perfect reading environment and beautiful cat!! 7y
CherylDeFranceschi Is that Hatori Hanzo steel? So awesome! 7y
Tanzy13 🐱 7y
125 likes2 stack adds14 comments
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Alisnazzy
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Like reading an autobiography (minus the year and the Columbia part, but you get it.) 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼

saresmoore Litsy! 7y
67 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Alisnazzy
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I was an active member of SDS when I was in college a few years ago, and I came to idolize the era of the 60's and 70's and the radical revolutionaries. I'm so excited for this book because the first quote of the first chapter is from the Port Huron Statement. This is exactly the book I need right now in the current political climate. (Bonus: the best coffee in town & a little toddler-free reading time)

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TheBookHippie
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Pickpick

So enjoying this book

15 likes1 stack add
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bookishkai
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Reading for the weekend: It's research for my NaNo novel, along with a thesis on male nurses during Vietnam and a book about the Weather Underground. Plus, watching a PBS documentary about the Black Panthers. Why yes, I *am* writing historical fiction with a gay romance sub-plot.

kspenmoll You have your work cut out for you- best of luck- sounds fascinating! 7y
72 likes2 stack adds1 comment