The Times Were a Changin'

July 1, 1998
New York University historian Irwin Unger (The Best of Intentions, LJ 4/1/96) and journalist Debi Unger, who with Irwin coauthored 1968: The Turning Point (LJ 10/15/88), compile an anthology illustrating the social, cultural, and political events that made the 1960s distinctive in American history. The Ungers present nearly 60 letters, manifestos, reports, speeches, essays, articles, and court decisions (e.g., Letter to the New Left, The Great Society speech, NOW Bill of Rights, Letter from a Birmingham Jail, and The Conscience of a Conservative) arranged in 12 chapters that include "The Counterculture," "The New Feminism," "The Moon Race," and "Election '68." The Ungers succinctly explain the historical context of the documents in each chapter introduction. Given its breadth and balance but absence of a bibliography, this collection works best as an introductory survey for American history courses. Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.--Charles L. Lumpkins, Pennsylvania State Univ., College Station

August 1, 1998
New York University historian Irwin Unger's "The Greenback Era" won a 1965 Pulitzer Prize; and he has collaborated with journalist spouse Debi on several twentieth-century studies and document collections. This book is the latter, gathering excerpts from documents dramatizing central realities of the '60s. The editors introduce the book, each chapter, and each document, starting with "The Economic Miracle" of '60s affluence (excerpts from a 1965 Council of Economic Advisers report and Michael Harrington's 1962 "The Other America"); supply two to seven documents on the Kennedy-Johnson administrations; and document the New Left and New Right, the civil rights movement, the counterculture, feminism, judicial activism, Vietnam and other foreign policy issues, the antiwar movement, etc. The Warren and Walker reports, five memorable Supreme Court decisions, King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," song lyrics (omitted from galley) from Bob Dylan and Grace Slick, and position statements from Ayn Rand, Abbie Hoffman, the Black Panther Party, and the Young Americans for Freedom merely suggest the collection's breadth. ((Reviewed August 1998))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1998, American Library Association.)