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 Americaβs 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 βturn on, tune in, drop out.β 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 βthe class of β68,β offering wise and moving reflections and frank personal remembrances about peopleβs 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 perspectiveβon 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.
Media Buzz
Martha Stewart - November 20, 2008 Colbert Report - November 17, 2008 Late Show with David Letterman - November 5, 2008 Charlie Rose - October 30, 2008 Daily Show with Jon Stewart - October 22, 2008 Diane Rehm Show - NPR - October 16, 2008 Late Show with David Letterman - June 9, 2008 Live with Regis and Kelly - March 19, 2008 Daily Show with Jon Stewart - February 19, 2008 Daily Show with Jon Stewart - February 6, 2008 Good Morning America - January 23, 2008 The View - January 23, 2008 Colbert Report - January 22, 2008 Anderson Cooper 360 - January 21, 2008 Late Show with David Letterman - January 9, 2008 Ellen Degeneres - January 2, 2008 Tavis Smiley - December 24, 2007 Charlie Rose - December 10, 2007 Ellen Degeneres - November 26, 2007 Tavis Smiley - November 12, 2007 Countdown with Keith Olbermann - November 8, 2007 Live with Regis and Kelly - November 7, 2007 Today - November 7, 2007 Meet the Press - November 4, 2007
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