1970s Books - Page 3

It Seemed Like Nothing Happened: America in the 1970s

Peter N. Carroll

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Editorial Review:

The title of Peter Carroll's book, "It Seemed Like Nothing Happened", ironically reveals the message. The decade of the '70s was far from our common impression of the calm following the turbulent '60s. In this unique, comprehensive history of America during the 1970s, we learn about international developments: the war in Cambodia, Nixon's trip to China, the oil embargo and resulting gas shortage, the Mayaguez incident, the Camp David accords, the Iranian capture of the US embassy and the taking of hostages, and the ill-fated rescue mission. All this signaled a decline in American power and influence. We also learn about domestic politics: Kent State, the Pentagon Papers, Haynsworth and Carswell, the Eagleton affair, the rise of ticket splitting, inflation, recession, unemployment, Watergate, Agnew's resignation, the Saturday night massacre, Nixon's resignation, the pardon for draft evaders, Propostion 13, the politicization of organized religion, the conservative shift in the Democratic Party, and the Reagan electoral landslide.

13 Seconds: A Look Back at the Kent State Shootings

Philip Caputo

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Philip Caputo, author of the classic Vietnam memoir A Rumor of War, returns to the turbulent era of the late 1960s with 13 Seconds: A Look Back at the Kent State Shootings. Caputo carefully sets the stage for the tragedy--the gunning-down of students on the Kent State, Ohio, campus--as he shows the pressures slowly building: Richard Nixon's decision to invade Cambodia, the militaristic missives of the ultra-leftist Weathermen, and statements such as high-profile California governor Ronald Reagan's declaration about student protests, given three weeks before the shootings ("If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with").

While important events surge and roil throughout the book like massive currents, Caputo focuses primarily on the smaller stories of the students injured and killed by National Guard bullets. Caputo, a journalist then writing for the Chicago Tribune (and who went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1972), was on the scene soon after the shootings took place. He writes with immediacy, clearly drawn back to the moment even after 35 years have passed. Some of the students who died that day were active in campus politics, while others were caught purely by misfortune, but all paid an incredible price. By allowing readers to understand more about the students and the circumstances that surrounded May 4, 1970, Caputo turns the story of Kent State into a kind of tragic novel. The book itself is short: under 200 pages, including summaries of court testimonies that make up the bulk of the index. But the poignancy of what America lost that day comes through clearly in Caputo's dense, no-nonsense writing. --Jennifer Buckendorff

Silent Coup: The Removal of a President

Len Colodny, Robert Gettlin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Not even good fiction! 1 out of 5 stars.
29 of 66 people found this review helpful.

More silly fiction. No matter what the righties want to think, Richard Nixon was guilty of a runaway, corrupt administration, and brought about his own downfall due to his arrogance and shear stupidity. All the finger pointing and name calling the authors do in this book will not erase the stain on Nixons' name, a stain that he fully deserves. Nixon should never have been pardoned, the whole ugly story should have been dragged out into the sunlight for all to see, then maybe we wouldn't have silly 'not-his-fault' books like this one.

Pure Tripe 1 out of 5 stars.
18 of 33 people found this review helpful.

I think it's pretty well established that Nixon himself ordered the Watergate break-ins, in order to get pre-election dirt on Hugh O'Brien and the Democratic party. He had learned that Howard Hughes was giving money to the Democratic Party. Hughes, the paranoid, demented billionaire in Nevada who dropped his support of Nixon after Nixon authorized Nuclear testing in Nevada, had been an albatross on Nixon during the California governor's race, and Nixon figured he could use the same angle in his "dirty tricks" campaign against McGovern.

So, hence the slow, painful unraveling of a Presidency. This book is an after-the-fact attack piece on one of the few men who developed a conscience and told the truth in the Watergate hearings. It is a clear attempt by the neo-cons to rewrite history and cast the "good guy" as the bad guy. Don't waste your money on this book. It's pure tripe.

P.S. -- read John Dean's "Conservatives Without Conscience" to see his reaction to these allegations.

Editorial Review:

This important political history throws out all previously accepted views of Watergate and reveals the personal motives and secret political goals that combined to cause the downfall of Richard Nixon. "A careful, meticulously sourced and reported exhumation of some of this country's foulest secrets."--Village Voice. HC: St. Martin's.

Witness to Power: The Nixon Years

John Ehrlichman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great observations from an insider. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Ehrlichman is NOT a "big picture" guy.
But his keen unbiased observations about people like J. Edgar Hoover are priceless.
Hoover was gay but deep in the closet. He had "girly pictures" on the wall of his home to "prove his manliness" to the occasional dinner guests, like Ehrlichman and the Nixon folks.
John thought the pictures were outdated and quaint and ridiculous and Hoover was a ridiculous little fag.
Observations like these are hard to find,AND THERE ARE PLENTY MORE!
I love this guy's writing.

The 1970s (America's Decades)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A manageable approach for introducing the 1970s. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Books in the "American Decade Series" are designed to give its readers a glimpse of American history decade by decade. "The 1970s" is no exception. Historians often balk at the amateurish approach of presenting history decades by decade. While this approach may be somewhat simplistic, it can serve as an excellent teaching method for introducing new material to students.

"The 1970s" starts with a well rounded introduction, it then presents its thirty essays, or chapters from other books, on various issues prevalent in the 1970s. These topics are further broken down into international issues in the 1970s, national issues in the 1970s, environment, energy, and automobiles in the 1970s, popular culture in the 1970s, women's issues in the 1970s and from the 1970s into the future. The makeup and selection serves as a well-balanced approach to understanding the decade. No particular area is over represented. Each essay includes a brief bio of the writer. Additionally, the book is well served with an excellent chronology of events, recommendations for further study and an index. At 320 pages, "The 1970s" is a good choice for honor students in high school or possible a good textbook for a college level course on 20th century America.

Editorial Review:

During the 1970s, environmental and energy issues became increasingly controversial as lines at the gas pumps took center stage. Chapters discuss, in addition to these issues, domestic issues such as racial integration and the Watergate scandal, and international conflicts such as the end of the Vietnam War and the Iranian hostage crisis.

The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford (American Presidency Series)

John Robert Greene

Amazon Price: $29.95 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 2 to 4 weeks By: University Press of Kansas Amazon Marketplace: 10 new & used starting at $4.94

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This is the first comprehensive study of one of our most popular yet most misunderstood presidents. Reaching well beyond the image of Ford as "healer" of a war-torn and scandal-ridden nation, John Robert Greene extends and revises our understanding of Ford's struggles to restore credibility to the presidency in the wake of Watergate and Vietnam.

Few presidents had ever been asked to achieve so much in so little time against such great adversity. Greene shows that Ford's efforts to lead the nation were severely hampered by Nixon's misdeeds, by America's ignominious disengagement from an unpopular war, and by a watchdog Congress eager to put a brake on presidential power.

Working from a wealth of recently declassified documents, Greene reveals new evidence on Ford's roles in Watergate and challenges the prevailing view of the infamous Mayaguez incident. He argues persuasively that Ford made no "deal" with Nixon, but that his pardon of Nixon was costly nonetheless, for it shadowed his entire presidency thereafter. He also shows that the Mayaguez catastrophe was less a simple "rescue mission" than it was an attempt to revive sagging political fortunes by attacking Cambodia.

In addition, Greene details Ford's rise to prominence within the Republican Party; chronicles the president's problematic relations with his staff, the new Democratic Congress, and Ronald Reagan; sheds new light on the selection and performance of Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller; offers new insights into the election of 1976; and provides the first in-depth look at Ford's Amnesty Program for Vietnam Era Draft Evaders.

Based on interviews with Ford and more than sixty individuals who figured prominently in his presidency and on extensive use of the Ford Library, Greene's study illuminates Ford's valiant efforts during some of the presidency's most troubled years.

This book is part of the American Presidency Series.

Watergate:: The Corruption of American Politics and the Fall of Richard Nixon

Fred Emery

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great Book 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 12 people found this review helpful.

This is a great book that became the basis for the Discovery Channel's 5-part documentary on Watergate. It is an extensive examination of the entire Watergate episode based on interviews with the relevant participants (excluding Nixon and Mitchell). In fact, Emery was one of the last people to interview Bob Haldeman before he died in 1993. If you don't believe what Emery writes or what Nixon's men said, I'd suggest viewing the Discovery Channel's documentary and you can see Haldeman, Erlichman, Colson, Magruder, LaRue, Dean, Liddy, etc... admit to what was going on in and around the White House.

If you're looking for a very readable and historically accurate account of Watergate, this is an excellent choice. No preposterous theories are advanced here, such as those in presented in Silent Coup. Instead, this book is based on interviews with the participants, the actual Watergate tapes, and tedious documentation of White House memos from the Nixon years. Emery also points out and attempts to resolve the many contradictions that exist among the published accounts of many of the Watergate players. While those that know all the secrets of Watergate are becoming fewer and fewer each year, this account is fairly difficult to dispute.

Finally, ignore the review written by True_Blue. Every one of his/her points are addressed in the first 100 pages of Emery's book. Based on the criticisms in that review, it is obvious that he/she never read this book.

Editorial Review:

The former Washington bureau chief of the London Times sheds new light on the Watergate scandal that forced the resignation of Richard Nixon and forever altered American politics. TV tie-in. 35,000 first printing.

VERY 70'S

Peter Knobler, Greg Mitchell

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Editorial Review:

From the liveliest bastion of counterculture expression--Crawdaddy magazine--comes a journey through the '70s with writers and celebrities whose names, opinions, and contributions resonant today, including John Lennon, P.J. O'Rourke, Gilda Radner, Abbie Hoffman, George Lucas, and William Burroughs.

The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat

Bob Woodward

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Excellent writing, dull reading 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I began reading Bob Woodward a couple years ago with "Bush at War", and last fall read "All the President's Men". I very much enjoyed the impartial, objective view presented in these works, and especially enjoyed the insight into the process of journalism. When I decided to begin listening to audiobooks in my daily commute, found "The Secret Man".

The book is essentially a retelling of "All the President's Men" (and perhaps "The Final Days", which I have not yet read) but with more direct focus on Woodward, Mark Felt (now known as informant "Deep Throat"), and their long-term relationship which began even before the Watergate scandal. It gives a much deeper insight into the character and motivation of Felt, the frustration and interference he encountered from the Nixon administration (beginning with the ITT/Dita Beard investigation, which Woodward describes as "a dress rehearsal for Watergate"), and the effect that Felt's role as Deep Throat may have played in his later years.

While I very much enjoyed the authorship of Woodward, I disliked the narration by Boyd Gaines. His delivery is dry, slow and deliberate, almost monotone, which very little intonation. I often found myself inadvertantly "tuning out" for a few seconds or almost a minute, which caused me to have to rewind in order to pick up on important points. This was in stark contrast to "My Life" by Bill Clinton, whose narration I found very engaging, or Tom Wolfe's "A man in Full", narrated by David Ogden Stiers, whose vivid narration makes each word and character come alive before me.

In short, regarding "The Secret Man" - Get the text version, but pass on the audiobook (or indeed, ANY audiobook narrated by Boyd Gaines, including "State of War" by James Risen).

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City

Jonathan Mahler

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 50 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

New York City in 1977 was in the middle of wild upheaval on all fronts, from the hunt for the Son of Sam killer and the citywide blackout to a brutal mayor's race and the rise of punk rock and the zenith of disco. In Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning, journalist Jonathan Mahler revisits all those storylines through another drama, which grabbed tabloid headlines all summer long: the outrageous--and pennant-winning--New York Yankees. The Yankees weren't the greatest baseball team ever assembled--they weren't even the greatest of the era (the talent-laden Cincinnati Reds were superior player for player). But no modern team has earned more type than the "Bronx Zoo" Yanks of the late '70s, thanks in no small part to such characters as meddling owner George Steinbrenner, firebrand manager Billy Martin, and flashy slugger Reggie Jackson.

But what more is there to say about a ball club, even one as stormy and successful as the '77 Yanks? Mahler wisely strays out of the dugout and into the chaotic city to give his chronicle breadth and shape. Mahler deftly brings together a host of characters and developments--from doomed old-school catcher Thurman Munson to congressional hellraiser Bella Abzug, from media kingpin Rupert Murdoch to battling politicos Ed Koch and Mario Cuomo, from downtown punks to the glittery decadence of Studio 54. The result is a lively read that will entertain readers who wouldn't know an RBI from CBGB. --Steven Stolder