The Sixties : Cultural Revolution in Britain, France, Italy, and the United States, C. 1958-C. 1974

Part I. Introduction. Was there a cultural revolution c.1958c.-1974? ; If so, why? -- Part II. The first stirrings of a cultural revolution, 1958-63. New actors, new activities ; Art, morality, and social relations ; Race -- Part III. The high sixties, 1964-1969. Acts of God and acts of government ; "Pushing paradigms to their utmost limits," or "creative extremism" ; Affluence, poverty, permissiveness ; Beauty, booze, and the built environment ; National and other identities ; Freedom, turbulence and death ; 1968 (and 1969) -- Part IV. Everything goes, and catching up, 1969-1974 ; Women's turn ; Full effrontery ; Living life to the full -- Part V. Conclusion. The consummation of a cultural revolution. The sixties arouses strong emotions in those who were old when they began and those who weren't even born when they ended. This text explores the significance of the era, analyzing phenomena such as youth culture, feminism & sexual permissiveness. If the World Wars defined the first half of the twentieth century, the sixties defined the second half, providing the pivot on which modern times have turned. From popular music to individual liberties, the tastes and convictions of the Western world are indelibly stamped with the impact of that tumultuous decade.Now one of the world's foremost historians provides the definitive look at this momentous time. Framing the sixties as a period stretching from 1958 to 1974, Arthur Marwick argues that this long decade ushered in nothing less than a cultural revolution--one that raged most clearly in the United States, Britain, France, and Italy. Writing with wit and verve, he brilliantly recaptures the events and movements that shaped our lives: the rise of a youth subculture across the West; the impact of post Beat novels and New Wave cinema; the sit ins and marches of the civil rights movement; Britain's surprising rise to leadership in fashion and music; the emerging storm over Vietnam; the Paris student rising of 1968; the new concern for poverty; the growing force of feminism and the gay rights movement; and much more. As Marwick unfolds his vivid narrative, he illuminates this remarkable era--both its origins and its impact. He concludes that it was a time that saw great leaps forward in the arts, in civil rights, and in many other areas of society and politics. But the decade also left deep divisions still felt today.Written with tremendous force of insight and narrative power, The Sixties promises to be the single most important account of the single most important decade of our times If the World Wars defined the first half of the twentieth century, the sixties defined the second half, providing the pivot on which modern times have turned. From popular music to individual liberties, the tastes and convictions of the Western world are indelibly stamped with the impact of that tumultuous decade.

Now one of the world’s foremost historians provides the definitive look at this momentous time. Framing the sixties as a period stretching from 1958 to 1974, Arthur Marwick argues that this long decade ushered in nothing less than a cultural revolution--one that raged most clearly in the United States, Britain, France, and Italy. Writing with wit and verve, he brilliantly recaptures the events and movements that shaped our lives: the rise of a youth subculture across the West; the impact of post Beat novels and New Wave cinema; the sit ins and marches of the civil rights movement; Britain’s surprising rise to leadership in fashion and music; the emerging storm over Vietnam; the Paris student rising of 1968; the new concern for poverty; the growing force of feminism and the gay rights movement; and much more. As Marwick unfolds his vivid narrative, he illuminates this remarkable era--both its origins and its impact. He concludes that it was a time that saw great leaps forward in the arts, in civil rights, and in many other areas of society and politics. But the decade also left deep divisions still felt today.

Written with tremendous force of insight and narrative power, The Sixties promises to be the single most important account of the single most important decade of our times.

If the World Wars defined the first half of the twentieth century, the sixties defined the second half, acting as the pivot on which modern times have turned. From popular music to individual liberties, the tastes and convictions of the Western world are indelibly stamped with the impact of this tumultuous decade. Framing the sixties as a period stretching from 1958 to 1974, Arthur Marwick argues that this long decade ushered in nothing less than a cultural revolution – one that raged most clearly in the United States, Britain, France, and Italy. Marwick recaptures the events and movements that shaped life as we know it: the rise of a youth subculture across the West; the sit-ins and marches of the civil rights movement; Britain's surprising rise to leadership in fashion and music; the emerging storm over Vietnam; the Paris student uprising of 1968; the growing force of feminism, and much more. For some, it was a golden age of liberation and political progress; for others, an era in which depravity was celebrated, and the secure moral and social framework subverted. The sixties was no short-term era of ecstasy and excess. On the contrary, the decade set the cultural and social agenda for the rest of the century, and left deep divisions still felt today. "A monumental study of social and political change in Europe and the United States during this period of cultural revolution. Paying particular attention to the impact of the sixties on the lives of ordinary people, Marwick exposes as myths and caricatures many of the accepted views of the decade." Book Jacket.