1968 by Michael T. Kaufman
If your a history wiz, I’m sure if I asked you, “what happened during 1968″, you wouldn’t be able to name them all. For those anxious to learn history, this is the book that’ll tell you what led to the biggest turning point in America. When I first checked out the book, I wasn’t expecting to read anything I hadn’t already read from my 11th grade history textbook. I sure was wrong! It starts out by explainin why it’s a year like no other by naming everything that took place that year. These would be Tet, Home Front, Martin Luther King Jr., Columbia University, Paris, Bobby Kennedy, Prague, Chicago, Mexico City, Apollo, & other articles you may have never heard of. In my history, I remember learning how songs were sung to get citizens to join the war & this book gives you one as well:
“Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He’s got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We’re gonna have a whole lotta fun.
And it’s one, two, three, What are we fighting for?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn, Next stop is Vietnam;
And it’s five, six, seven, Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.”(p2-3)
After all that talk, Michael discribed each and every event you’d think of that happened during 1968. Not only that, but he was so detailed, he mentioned what lead to those events, so it’s not all about 1968. There was a cause & effect when it comes down to it. For example, “…the cold war, which divided much of the world into opposing camps, had been building for nearly a quarter of a century”(p9) is one of the many other examples he states in this book. 1968 is a few years after World War II after all. “…North Vietnamese commanders…openly declared that they planned to observe a truce during Tet (the Vietnamese New Year in January 31, 1968)… The promise of a truce turned out to be a North Vietnamese ploy”(p14). If you didn’t know about this, then I’m sure readers will learn a lot more when they read the other stories.
I sure learned a lot! This book made me think of all the Americans that were involved in this turning point of a year and how big a difference it made for our today. I don’t think there’ll every be another year as great as this one. Living life to the fullest is the only thing we should do in this free country of ours. In my case, things get worse or they get better at the cost of something. Martin Luther King ended up being killed but he left something behind for the the years to come. We should make a difference in each your to come as well.