Some events that transform a nation are frozen in time. Others pass with little public awareness and we only appreciate their momentous nature long after they occurred. Regardless, these events are few and-almost always-far between. But 50 years ago, in 1969, four such events took place within the span of only 100 days. In this book, cultural historian Harlan Lebo looks back at the first Moon landing, Manson family murders, Woodstock, and the birth of the Internet to tell the story of how each event shaped the nation and how we perceive ourselves. Loaded with captivating anecdotes and insights based on extensive interviews to provide historical insight and contemporary context, 100 Days will fascinate readers who seek a deeper appreciation of how four seemingly unrelated events captured America's emergence as the nation we have become.
Cultural historian Harlan Lebo is a senior fellow at the Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. His previous books include Citizen Kane, Casablanca: Behind the Scenes, The Godfather Legacy, and Citizen Kane: A Filmmakers Journey. He resides in Los Angeles.
Title: 100 Days: How Four Events in 1969 Shaped America
Author: Lebo, Harlan
ISBN: 9781538125915
Binding:
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Publication Date: 2019-08-15
Number of Pages: 368
Weight: 0.6602 kg
Lebo digs deeply into the context and history of each [event]: the political energy behind space exploration, Charles Manson's psychology, the lives and experiences of Woodstock attendees, and the internet's technical history and commercial influence. . . . [T]hose new to the period will find this account edifying. * Publishers Weekly *
Just as Neil Armstrong rocketed towards the moon in July of 1969, Lebo boldly bursts through the past into the present. . . . As [Lebo] leads the reader through these 100 days, the reader comes to recognize that the many conveniences and ills which impact us today can be traced back to those four historic moments. * Booktrib *
How can one author authoritatively and engagingly write about four such disparate events? Harlan Lebo tells the political, scientific, and popular story of how the United States came from behind to be the first nation to put footprints on the moon, then effortlessly shifts to true crime writer, describing how sociopath Charles Manson could suck lost young souls into his web of ultraviolence. Pivot again to Woodstock, the Baby Boom's symbol of the utopian society that might have been, and finally to-wait for it-the invention of the Internet. Lebo deals with technical subjects with deftness and in a style that is at once succinct and entertaining. And, believe it or not, he connects the dots of these world-changing events that all happened in a span of 100 days in 1969. Far out! -- Wade Lawrence
There have been a number of books focused on the Moon Landing, Woodstock, the Manson Murders and the beginning of the of the Internet. Only Harlan Lebo has weaved those stories together as a master story teller to look at the common themes and how they define the end of the 1960s. Through Lebo's eyes, these events, coming a year after the nation's political and social fabric was torn apart in 1968, represent the beginning of a new age. These events share more than a calendar year; they signify the opening of a new chapter in American history. -- Jeffrey Cole, Director, Center for the Digital Future at USC Annenberg School
