Just Finished Reading: 1968 – The Year that Rocked the World by Mark Kurlansky

It’s an odd feeling reading a history book about a time you actually lived through. It feels as if there’s some kind of temporal echo going on as you struggle to think if you actually remember something at the time or only heard about it later. I felt like that more than once during my reading of this fascinating and detailed book.

1968 was a pivotal years in many ways and contained more than its fair share of important events. It was the year of the Tet Offensive in Vietnam that heralded the end of the war 7 years later (now that I have very clear memories of). It was the year both MLK and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. It was the year when the Civil Right movement looked unstoppable as well as the year when the new Feminism hit the headlines. It was the year of global student protests which almost brought France to its knees and forced the Russian invasion of Prague. It was the year of the black power salute on the Olympic field in Mexico and the year 'Tricky Dickie' finally made it to the Whitehouse. In many ways it was the year that everything changed.

Mark Kurlansky’s book is a journey through that amazing year. Sometimes in a little too much detail he delves into the events that shaped a generation and the lives of the people who shaped the events. It’s sometimes hard to believe that so much happened in only twelve months. I certainly now know more about the times than I ever thought I needed too and in some cases ever thought I wanted too. Generally Kurlansky hops across the globe dealing with each incident before moving onto something equally fascinating. Much of the book does concentrate on events in America, and rightly so, but he did, at least from my point of view, linger a bit too much there. Although he did spend quite a few pages describing things in Europe he often seemed to feel the need to relate it to what was happening back in the States. Again I appreciated why he did this – as many of the protest methods originated in the US campus student clashes and the unifying theme of the protests world wide was America’s war in Vietnam. I did feel nonetheless that there was a gentle bias which I couldn’t help finding slightly irritating. This was, however, a very minor quibble about a generally well written, well researched and highly readable book. If you have any interest in why the world is how it is today then this book with help you understand part of the picture. Recommended.