Título: Kent State: An American Tragedy
Autor: Brian VanDeMark
Sinopse: A definitive history of the fatal clash between Vietnam War protestors and the National Guard, illuminating its causes and lasting consequences.
On May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, political fires that had been burning across America during the 1960s exploded. Antiwar protesters wearing bell-bottom jeans and long hair hurled taunts and rocks at another group of young Americans―National Guardsmen sporting gas masks and rifles. At half past noon, violence unfolded with chaotic speed, as guardsmen―many of whom had joined the Guard to escape the draft―opened fire on the students. Two reductive narratives ensued: one, that lethal state violence targeted Americans who spoke their minds; the other, that law enforcement gave troublemakers the comeuppance they deserved. For over fifty years, little middle ground has been found due to incomplete and sometimes contradictory evidence.
Kent State meticulously re-creates the divided cultural landscape of America during the Vietnam War and heightened popular anxieties around the country. On college campuses, teach-ins, sit-down strikes, and demonstrations exposed the growing rift between the left and the right. Many students opposed the war as unnecessary and unjust and were uneasy over poor and working-class kids drafted and sent to Vietnam in their place. Some developed a hatred for the military, the police, and everything associated with authority, while others resolved to uphold law and order at any cost.
Focusing on the thirteen victims of the Kent State shooting and a painstaking reconstruction of the days surrounding it, historian Brian VanDeMark draws on crucial new research and interviews―including, for the first time, the perspective of guardsmen who were there. The result is a complete reckoning with the tragedy that marked the end of the sixties. 28 illustrations
Contexto da obra
Como livro em inglês, esta obra costuma ganhar também uma camada própria de interesse editorial e linguístico. “Kent State: An American Tragedy”, de Brian VanDeMark, publicado pela editora W. W. Norton & Company, em 2024 e com 416 páginas, integra a categoria Livros em Inglês. Por isso, o interesse da obra tende a se ampliar quando o leitor considera também a relação com a língua em que ela circula.
Editora: W. W. Norton & Company
Páginas: 416
Ano: 2024
Edição:
Linguagem: en
ISBN: 1324066253
ISBN13: 9781324066255
Sobre a editora
Os livros da editora W. W. Norton & Company oferecem uma experiência de leitura que combina rigor acadêmico com acessibilidade, frequentemente apresentando obras que dialogam com história, ciência e cultura contemporânea. O catálogo revela uma tendência a publicar textos que exploram temas complexos, como política, economia global, biografias detalhadas e debates filosóficos, sempre com um olhar que privilegia a profundidade e o contexto. As narrativas podem variar do ensaio crítico ao relato documental, incluindo também memórias e análises históricas, com um tom que ora é didático, ora reflexivo, mas sempre fundamentado em pesquisa sólida. Essa diversidade permite ao leitor transitar entre obras que são mais narrativas e outras que adotam um formato mais informativo e analítico.
