Books like The Sixties by Todd Gitlin

Betty Friedan’s 1963 classic uncovers the invisible barriers that kept women confined to domestic roles, sparking a cultural awakening that reshaped ideas about equality and personal fulfillment in the United States.

In The Twilight of Common Dreams, Todd Gitlin places the debates of the moment in a sweeping historical context and - sparing no sides - he argues that these highly charged conflicts are a sideshow, obscuring a seismic transformation in American political life. The Left, which once stood for universal values, has come to be identified with the special needs of distinct "cultures" and select "identities." The Right, long associated with privileged interests, now claims to defend the needs of all. The consequences are clear: since the late 1960s, while the Right has been busy taking the White House, the Left has been marching on the English department. With dazzling range and acuteness, Gitlin's analysis moves through American history and modern thought, from academic squabbles to the crisis in the Democratic party, from embattled school boards to the right-wing exploitation of those scarlet letters, "PC." In the end, he maintains, the culture wars are evasions of America's deepest trauma - inequality - and he eloquently contends that America is lost unless its obsession with cultural differences can be transcended in the name of the common good.

A detailed examination of how American housing patterns, especially the rise of suburbia, have shaped social behavior, economic mobility, and racial segregation across the 20th century.

A remarkable and complex biography of Saartjie Baartman, known as the 'Hottentot Venus,' tracing her journey from slavery to fame and the ongoing struggle for her return to her homeland.

A critical biography of the Revolutionary pamphleteer, exploring the origins, expression, and impact of his ideas and the place of his radical ideology in the eighteenth-century world.

"In Letters to a Young Activist, Todd Gitlin looks back at his eventful life, recalling his experience as president of the formidable Students for a Democratic Society contemplating the spirit of activism, and arriving at principles of action to guide the passion and energy of those wishing to do good. He considers the three complementary motives of duty, love, and adventure, reflects on the changing nature of idealism, and shows how righteous action requires realistic as well as idealistic thinking. And he looks forward to an uncertain future that is nevertheless full of possibility, a future where patriotism and intelligent skepticism are not mutually exclusive."--Jacket.

An oral history of the late 1960s that captures the voices of activists, organizers, students and veterans during the Vietnam War era, detailing protests, campus strife, and the turbulent social movements that shook American society.

A collection of essays analyzing America's counterculture during the 1960s and 1970s. Topics include sixties-era communes, films, attitudes towards sex, and issues facing Indians, blacks, and homosexuals.