From Booklist

Lamenting all the attention 1968 has gotten with assassinations and riots, Kirkpatrick argues that the following year was more than a little significant, too. Beginning with a “selected timeline,” Kirkpatrick goes on to chronicle a dizzying array of major events: Richard Nixon’s election in November 1968 as president; the covert bombing of Cambodia; Apollo 11 landing on the moon; student antiwar protests from Harvard to Berkeley; disclosure of the My Lai massacre; the sexual revolution manifested on stage, in literature and movies, and at outdoor festivals; startling innovations in the music world; the “days of rage” protest kicked off during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago; the first message sent via the ARPANET, precursor of the Internet. Kirkpatrick asserts that 1969 was the birth of modern America and sets out to relate how this incredible year reflected deep underlying changes in American culture. The book is divided into four parts that roughly outline the year, including “sexual revolutions of springtime” and “the apocalyptic standoffs at year’s end.” A riveting look at a pivotal year. --Vanessa Bush

Review

"The subtitle of his new book, 1969: The Year Everything Changed, may sound hyperbolic, but Kirkpatrick makes a good case that it was a year of `landmark achievements, cataclysmic episodes and generation-defining events.'" --USA Today

A compelling account of the historic year. (History Channel Magazine)

A compelling account of the historic year. (History Channel Magazine)