Kent State: An American Tragedy
On May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, political fires that had been burning across America during the 1960s exploded. Antiwar protesters wearing bell-bottom jeans and long hair hurled taunts and rocks at another group of young Americans--National Guardsmen sporting gas masks and rifles. At half past noon, violence unfolded with chaotic speed, as guardsmen--many of whom had joined the Guard to escape the draft--opened fire on the students. Two reductive narratives ensued: one, that lethal state violence targeted Americans who spoke their minds; the other, that law enforcement gave troublemakers the comeuppance they deserved. For over fifty years, little middle ground has been found due to incomplete and sometimes contradictory evidence.
Kent State meticulously re-creates the divided cultural landscape of America during the Vietnam War and heightened popular anxieties around the country. On college campuses, teach-ins, sit-down strikes, and demonstrations exposed the growing rift between the left and the right. Many students opposed the war as unnecessary and unjust and were uneasy over poor and working-class kids drafted and sent to Vietnam in their place. Some developed a hatred for the military, the police, and everything associated with authority, while others resolved to uphold law and order at any cost.
Focusing on the thirteen victims of the Kent State shooting and a painstaking reconstruction of the days surrounding it, historian Brian VanDeMark draws on crucial new research and interviews--including, for the first time, the perspective of guardsmen who were there. The result is a complete reckoning with the tragedy that marked the end of the sixties.
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This is an admirably patient and thorough book, in which even the copious footnotes are worth poring over .... Beneath the chronicle of systemic failure and senseless slaughter is a portrait of a country in the throes of madness.--Chris Vognar "Los Angeles Times"
Couldn't be more relevant... 'Kent State: An American Tragedy' has a strong claim on being the definitive account.--Clea Simon "Boston Globe"
VanDeMark recounts a country that had split into two warring camps that would not and could not understand each other... [He] succeeds at helping readers understand that atmosphere, creating a chilling narrative of the spark and ensuing tragedy at Kent State.--Andrew DeMillo "Associated Press"
Masterful and compelling .... He uses previous sources, untapped archival troves and a series of original interviews ... VanDeMark's take could be the definitive look at the incident .... Kent State: An American Tragedy does a superior job retelling and really digging into an incident that still has reverberations today.--Bob Ruggiero "Houston Press"
Brian VanDeMark's beautifully written book forcefully reminds us of the Vietnam War's impact on American domestic life, and the strife that tore us apart and destroyed innocent lives--as at Kent State.--Robert Dallek, presidential historian
Kent State is a brilliant book, a riveting and emotionally wrenching story about the day the Sixties died. Brian VanDeMark has achieved something rare, a narrative that honors both those who died and those who killed on May 4, 1970. When I was an 'angry young man' at the time, I could not understand it, but VanDeMark has revealed the facts behind the tragedy. It is a remarkable scholarly achievement about a tipping point in America's divisive political landscape.--Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and executive director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography
Masterful.... The definitive book about the atrocity that took place at Kent State in early May 1970.... VanDeMark's thorough, balanced, and nuanced reporting, extensive quotes from scores of principals, and vivid, absorbing prose will stay with readers for a long time.... [This] top-notch book embodies the term must-read.--Kirkus Reviews, starred review
A compelling chronology and a detailed analysis... provides invaluable long-term perspective.--Randy Cepuch "Washington Independent Review of Books"
