A major new history of one of the seminal years in the postwar world, when rebellion and disaffection broke out on an extraordinary scale. The year 1968 saw an extraordinary range of protests across much of the western world. Some of these were genuinely revolutionary—around ten million French workers went on strike and the whole state teetered on the brink of collapse. Others were more easily contained, but had profound longer-term implications—terrorist groups, feminist collectives, gay rights activists could all trace important roots to 1968. 1968 is a striking and original attempt half a century later to show how these events, which in some ways still seem so current, stemmed from histories and societies which are in practice now extraordinarily remote from our own time. 1968 pursues the story into the 1970s to show both the ever more violent forms of radicalization that stemmed from 1968 and the brutal reaction that brought the era to an end. 1968 saw an extraordinary range of protests across much of the western world. Some of these were genuinely revolutionary - around ten million French workers went on strike and the whole state teetered on the brink of collapse. Others were more easily contained, but had profound longer-term implications - terrorist groups, feminist collectives, gay rights activists could all trace important roots to 1968. Bill Clinton and even Tony Blair are, in many ways, the product of that year. The Long '68 is a striking and original attempt half a century on to show how these events, which in some ways still seem so current, stemmed from histories and societies which are in practice now extraordinarily remote from our own time. The book pursues the story into the 1970s to show both the ever more violent forms of radicalization that stemmed from 1968 and the brutal reaction that brought the era to an end Title Page......Page 3 Dedication......Page 5 List of Tables......Page 6 List of Chronologies......Page 7 Abbreviations......Page 8 List of Illustrations......Page 9 Introduction......Page 14 1: Words and ‘the Thing’: Defining 68......Page 19 2: The 68 Generation......Page 40 3: Universities......Page 59 4: The United States......Page 76 5: France......Page 111 6: West Germany......Page 150 7: Britain......Page 170 8: The Revolution within the Revolution: Sexual Liberation and the Family......Page 194 9: Workers......Page 216 10: Violence......Page 239 11: Defeat and Accommodation?......Page 256 Conclusion......Page 271 The Long 68: A Brief Chronology......Page 287 Notes......Page 301 Some Thoughts on Further Reading......Page 345 Bibliography......Page 348 Acknowledgements......Page 369 Follow Penguin......Page 370 Copyright......Page 371
