The Sixties Unplugged by Gerard DeGroot was published a couple of years back, but has only just made it to the top of my reading list.
DeGroot's central premise is that the 1960s weren't the idealistic revolutionary decade that is usually remembered with fondness and its legacy isn't necessary the things most people immediately think of. The book covers all the usual things you’d find in a book about the 1960s (The Beatles, Vietnam, JFK, mini-skirts and student riots), but DeGroot stresses that only a minority of people involved in radical movements. He further proposes that it is the conservative politics of the time that has had the greatest impact on our world – this was the decade that Reagan first went into politics. Whether or not you agree with his arguments, the book offers a different perspective on a well-worn path.
The book is available for £6.99 from Amazon or as cheap as £1.25 from other sellers.
