{"product_id":"kent-state-an-american-tragedy-9781324066255","title":"Kent State: An American Tragedy","description":"\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 \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\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\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eVandemark, Brian:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eBrian VanDeMark\u003c\/strong\u003e taught history at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, for thirty-five years. The author of several books on American history, he also coauthored Robert McNamara's best-selling Vietnam memoir, \u003cem\u003eIn Retrospect\u003c\/em\u003e. He lives in Maryland.","brand":"W. W. Norton \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50874826195218,"sku":"9781324066255","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_670c420c-b38f-4450-9b5f-506dcb18a07c.jpg?v=1763538780","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/kent-state-an-american-tragedy-9781324066255","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}