Michael T. Kaufman (1938–2010)

I have to admit I picked this old book because it's catchy title. I liked the personal perspective of this book. Also, despite outdated, I thought it interesting to read a book about a period coming to an end but written at the time when the end result was not clear. However, I feel the book assumes people know a lot of the history back in the 1980s and before as well as Polish politics. There are way too many names without adequate background information and some of the chapters can be very confusing because of that. The most enjoyable chapters are the ones where the author is following the lives of common people, like a lady working in a factory or a farmer fighting against the system. Some chapters are unnecessary long and dragging, for example the chapter about the Jewish ghosts in Poland and another about the murder of a popular priest. I bet there are better books about the topic, but this one managed to provide some nice insight. I would probably not recommend it, but I'm not sorry I chose to read it.… (mais)

1968 was a tumultuous year from beginning to end. In January/February there was the Tet Offensive. In December, the first photograph of Earth from Space was taken. In between, there were riots and assassinations. 1968 by Michael T. Kaufman describes the year’s headlines along with many beautiful photographs.

I am a huge fan of the 60s. 1968 is filled with great photographs of the year. The photographs were easily my favorite part about the book. Each chapter also contains details about the event. The information is just enough. Readers don’t feel like they are reading a textbook, yet they gain a understanding on the topic. The back of the book contains full New York Times articles on the events of 1968. These articles are meant as supplemental information. It was a smart decision to include these articles in the back. If the articles were put into the chapters, it would just be too much information. 1968 is an informative book about the year 1968, and I recommend the book to anyone who is interested in learning more about the 60s. However, anyone without a particular interest to the 60s will probably find the book a bit boring.… (mais)