Boom! Voices of the Sixties: Personal Reflections on the '60s and Today

Home. You are here: Books / Boom! Voices of the Sixties: Personal Reflections on the '60s and Today

Boom! Voices of the Sixties: Personal Reflections on the '60s and Today

Editorial Review

In The Greatest Generation, his landmark bestseller, Tom Brokaw eloquently evoked for America what it meant to come of age during the Great Depression and the Second World War. Now, in Boom!, one of America's premier journalists gives us an epic portrait of another defining era in America as he brings to life the tumultuous Sixties, a fault line in American history. The voices and stories of both famous people and ordinary citizens come together as Brokaw takes us on a memorable journey through a remarkable time, exploring how individual lives and the national mindset were affected by a controversial era and showing how the aftershocks of the Sixties continue to resound in our lives today. In the reflections of a generation, Brokaw also discovers lessons that might guide us in the years ahead.
Boom! One minute it was Ike and the man in the grey flannel suit, and the next minute it was time to "turn on, tune in, drop out." While Americans were walking on the moon, Americans were dying in Vietnam. Nothing was beyond question, and there were far fewer answers than before.
Published as the fortieth anniversary of 1968 approaches, Boom! gives us what Brokaw sees as a virtual reunion of some members of "the class of '68," offering wise and moving reflections and frank personal remembrances about people's lives during a time of high ideals and profound social, political, and individual change. What were the gains, what were the losses? Who were the winners, who were the losers? As they look back decades later, what do members of the Sixties generation think really mattered in that tumultuous time, and what will have meaning going forward?
Race, war, politics, feminism, popular culture, and music are all explored here, and we learn from a wide range of people about their lives. Tom Brokaw explores how members of this generation have gone on to bring activism and a Sixties mindset into individual entrepreneurship today. We hear stories of how this formative decade has led to a recalibrated perspective-on business, the environment, politics, family, our national existence.
Remarkable in its insights, profoundly moving, wonderfully written and reported, this revealing portrait of a generation and of an era, and of the impact of the 1960s on our lives today, lets us be present at this reunion ourselves, and join in these frank conversations about America then, now, and tomorrow.
From the Hardcover edition.

Features:

• Large Print

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
• A terrific ride!
  For people like myself, who came of age in the early 60's, this book is just great. Brokaw deserves tremendous credit for his professionalism and his agreeable style. It was wonderful to retrace those steps, relive those times with Tom (also my age), especially through the biographies of all those people. Wonderful that he thought to put in so many photos of them, then and now!
• How To Make A Mountain Out Of A Dung Hill
  It isn't fair of me to compare Boom! to The Greatest Generation, since the topics are dissimilar and few subjects contain the power and scope of a discussion of World War Two. That said, Boom! was not on the same plane as Brokaw's earlier book, and frankly this one bored me, which came as a surprise. I only mention The Greatest Generation in the same context as Boom! because Mr. Brokaw and many others did before me. To be blunt, Boom! rode on Generation's coat tails.
  I suppose I can point out two main... more info
• 1960's
  Tom Brokaw is right on in this book. I enjoyed going back to the 60's. It was another time and another era. I was glad to be part of it.
• Surprised
  First, let me just say that I am surprised. I figured a left wing media guy with a left wing reputation would have written a left wing book, but this wasn't the case. Having been in college in the late Sixties myself, I lived through much of what this book talks about. I wondered what happened to some of the prominent figures of the time. Brokaw does a tremendous job of reporting fairly on all topics and interviewing both the left wing and the right wing zealots of today, no matter how they began during... more info

Similar Products:

• The Greatest Generation, Price:
  $10.85
• Good Dog. Stay., Price:
  $10.17
• The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, Price:
  $10.85
• Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life, Price:
  $10.20
• Clapton: The Autobiography, Price:
  $10.85