{"product_id":"9781324116851","title":"Kent State: An American Tragedy","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA \u003cem\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e Best Book of 2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Couldn't be more relevant.... A strong claim on being the definitive account.\" -Clea Simon, \u003cem\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA definitive history of the fatal clash between Vietnam War protestors and the National Guard, illuminating its causes and lasting consequences.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eKent State\u003c\/em\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFocusing 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Norton, W. W. \u0026 Company, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42691084091453,"sku":"9781324116851","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0603\/0838\/9949\/files\/9781324116851_p0.jpg?v=1771569593","url":"https:\/\/www.tatteredcover.mom\/products\/9781324116851","provider":"Tattered Cover","version":"1.0","type":"link"}