A New World to be Won: John Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and the Tumultuous Year of 1960 (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780313397950)

This book tells the story of 1960--a tumultuous, transitional year that unleashed the forces that eventually reshaped the American nation and the entire planet, to the joy of millions and the sorrow of millions more.

In 1960, attitudes were changing; barriers were falling. It was a transitional year, during which the world as we know it today was beginning to take shape. While other books have focused on the presidential contest between Kennedy and Nixon, A New World to Be Won: John Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and the Tumultuous Year of 1960 illuminates the emerging forces that would transform the nation and the world during the 1960s, putting the election in the broader context of American history--and world history as well.

While the author does devote a large portion of this book to the 1960 presidential campaign, he also highlights four pivotal trends that changed life for decades to come: unprecedented scientific breakthroughs, ranging from the Xerox copier to new spacecraft for manned flight; fragmentation of the international power structure, notably the schism between the Soviet Union and China; the pursuit of freedom, both through the civil rights movement at home and the drive for independence in Africa; and the elevation of pleasure and self-expression in American culture, largely as a result of federal approval of the birth-control pill and the increasing popularity of illegal drugs.

Author: G. Scott Thomas
ISBN-10: 0313397953
ISBN-13: 9780313397950
Publisher: Praeger
Language: English
Published: 09/12/2011
Pages: 424
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.70lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.10w x 1.60d

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 03/01/2012 pg. 42
Choice 05/01/2012
Reference and Research Bk News 12/01/2011 pg. 42