1969: The Year Everything Changed

I was brain dead in the 1960s. I was an intelligent young man, near the top of my high school class. But I was brain dead. I was oblivious to most of the things going on around me—the things that have shaped our world. I knew little of the hippie movement, the Cuban missile crisis, the rise of Stones-style rock and roll, the beginnings of the Super Bowl, the burgeoning of the NY Mets, or the seminal movies of the era. I liked the Beatles, Peter, Paul and Mary, and Barbra Streisand. I read novels voraciously, and I bought Playboy and Esquire by the dozens at the local used book store. But still, I remained ignorant. So I’ve spent the ensuing years “catching up” on the era that silently shaped my life, shaped US history, and made a profound impact on the world. Rob Kirkpatrick’s 1969: The Year that Everything Changed is another in a long list of books I’ve read about the 1960s. In some ways, it is the best. In that final year of the decade, so much happened. Kirkpatrick tells of it all (he has 24 pages of Bibliography and end notes, proving how much of it he does, indeed, tell us about.) Some of the happenings I actually knew about when they occurred, others I’ve learned about from other readings, many I learned more about from Kirkpatrick, and the rest were news to me. Through it all, I was amazed that so much could take place in one year, twelve months’ time. The author covers the music scene, the movies, the mass murders, the World Series, the Super Bowl, the Viet Nam war, the politics, and the civil rights movements. Here we find that within 365 days, our nation changed. It was the year of the Stonewall Riots, the beginning of the modern gay rights movement; the year of the end of the old west myth; the year of the American Indian movement; the Manson murders, the Zodiac killings; Woodstock, of which, the author’s opinion is that the rosy, nostalgic views we hold are based on the movie, not the actual event; and Altamont, where a drug-filled, Hells Angels’ fueled music festival turned into a riot that resulted in four deaths, one of them a murder. This book is worth reading if only to relate the events of 1969; but the five pages of epilogue put it all in perspective: the hippie movement, the days of peace of love and harmony and communes, quickly disintegrated when human nature took over; the radical films like Easy Rider were soon replaced by money-making blockbusters like Jaws and Star Wars. And Richard Nixon was deposed as Emperor of the US, only to be replaced by an ineffectual, unelected successor Gerald Ford, and then the loveable, well-meaning but terrible President Jimmy Carter. But along the way, gays were on the road to liberation, Native Americans were granted more rights, and the women’s movement had begun. Not a bad legacy for a colorful decade.

This is a great book for anyone trying to make sense of their life when they have passed the mid century mark.For many who lived through those years, the spontaneity and habits of the times may have contributed to foggy memories.Rob Kirkpatrick sheds light on events like Woodstock with facts that bring a clear vision to those who wore the ubiquitous rose colored glasses.He juxtaposes things in away that brought me to a heightened understanding of how events of that year still affect us all today. I was so young in 1969 that I could not see the big picture but Kirkpatrick (who was just barley born at the time) uses his research to connect events in eye opening ways. For example, he looks at how reports of the devastating use of Agent Orange, as a tool of warfare, fueled the Vietnam War protests movement and the development of environmental movement. The reality that the chemical sprayed on Vietnam would have devastating effects on future generations inspired activism on both fronts. The damage to the land caused by the use of this chemical far surpassed former scorched earth policies making many realize that everything has changed. We had grown up with an awareness of the atomic bomb during the the Cold War but we now know that less dramatic actions can have very long term consequences.The late 1960’s were a time when we learned how fragile our planet really is. I vividly remember a poster of the time that proclaimed," War is not good for children and other living things". Many of us still carry the banner of our collective need to protect our planet. As Kirkpatrick points out we still commemorate this on going effort with Earth Day, conceived in 1969This book also reminded me that in 1969 we came together as one people, when over half a billion of us watched as the first man walked on the moon. These reflections on the past will stay with me and guide my decisions as I enter my last half-century.

1969--the year it would seem that everything happened, including my high school graduation. Kirkpatrick gives insight to events that I heard about on the news but didn't have details. The explanations are clear and insightful. I would recommend the book to any boomer who lived through that year and to anyone else who is interested in a momentous time.

What a book! It has it all, beginning with that ultimate '60s triumvirate of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll, but it also has 1969's violent college student protests, baseball's Miracle Mets, football's Joe Namath and the Jets, the moon landing, Teddy Kennedy and Chappaquiddick, Woodstock and Altamont, Charles Manson and the Zodiac Killer, synopses of the year's top movies, and so much more.Best of all, this prodigiously researched and incredibly detailed book by Rob Kirkpatrick is SO easy to read. Actually, it's more than easy to read. It's compellingly readable. I was riveted and pulled into the text in a way that often doesn't happen with nonfiction.The roots of so many important issues we're wrestling with today—from ecological disasters to women's rights—were generated in 1969 and that makes this book such a valuable and relevant history lesson.One negative note: I found two factual errors in the book, which I reported to Amazon via my Kindle. One was fairly significant—the date that Richard Nixon resigned the presidency—and for that reason only, I am giving the book four stars instead of five stars.

For me this is a 3 star read, but the impressive amount of research that went into writing it means I will probably refer back to parts, hence I added a star. It is very USA focused at the expense of the rest of the world during 1969, however, America did have a major influence on the world back then (so much so that most think denim came from America when it actually came from France). The detail on the issues is very thorough, at times way too much information. Still, I would recommend it for a reference read.

As a boomer I expected a lot more from this book. Pages and pages of dreary sociology-political perspectives on events; some of which were not as impactful as the author would have you believe. Found myself skipping pages which I hate to do. More pop culture items would have helped.

This is a very Interesting book about the year 1969. I was 13 years old and remember many of these events quite clearly...especially the pop culture stuff. But there is much much more I was unaware of as an early teenager.The book is well written and basically follows a time line (by season) of the years events. I very much enjoyed this book and give it a 4 star rating

I am only part way through the book but it is a reminder on every page what a year 1969 was. Music, lifestyle, politics...so much changed. An excellent read whether you lived through it or are reading it as history.

Great read