Dawning of the Counter-culture

The 1960s, a decade rich in contradictions, has alternately been compared with the 1920s for its frivolity and open sensuality, and with the 1930s for its political activism and social seriousness. But finally all comparisons with other periods break down, all analogies crumble—for, as William O’Neill makes us realize, the 1960s was a time like no other America has ever known. In this appraisal of the “new” culture that became identified with the sixties, he conveys all that was inspired, phony, large-spirited, dreary, mad, magnificent, screwed-up, delightful, and confused about the period.