1968 - Mark Kurlansky

1968 - Mark Kurlansky, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

America is embroiled in a war that it can't seem to extract itself from. The Olympics take pace amidst clamp downs and mass arrests. Europe is plagued by riots and protests by students and workers unhappy with their governments. Sound familiar?

I just finished reading Mark Kurlansky's fascinating, if sometimes flawed account of 1968. I enjoyed the breadth of the story and the attempt to tell a story that doesn't limit itself to just Paris and US campuses. Its a tale told with wit and bravado but sometimes the sheer size of the task means that shortcuts have to be made.

If you liked this I'd also recommend:

1968: Marching in the Streets by Tariq Ali and Susan Watkins

and

The Armies of the Night by Norman Mailer

Separated at birth?

I just came across this strange coincidence. In March I wrote this on the blog and for NowPublic.com.

The ghost of Mexico City comes back to haunt Beijing

Stop me if you've heard this one before. An authoritarian one party state uses blunt military force to squash a popular uprising. Hundreds are killed or injured and the government fears that attempts to burnish its image abroad by holding the Olympic games will be tarnished by images of dead protesters splashed across the world's media. (Click here to read the rest).

and today I came across this article in the Economist from April 24th.

The ghosts of Mexico 1968

A DEVELOPING country gets the Olympic games as an acknowledgment of its new, exalted status. An authoritarian government, awash with money, exploits the chance to project a peaceful, progressive image. Critics of the regime use the games as a chance to demand more democracy and human rights. There are demonstrations, forcefully broken up. (Click here for the rest of the article).

Actually, the rest of the article is radically different from mine but it follows the same logic. But before I say that have been plagiarised I have to say that I use other sources all the time. Indeed the idea for my post came from reading 1968: Marching in the Streets by Tariq Ali and Susan Watkins. That and my anger at the way the Greek authorities did their best to surpress any possible protests on the Olympic torch route (see here).

Still, it is gratifying to think that you have perhaps influenced the flow of news and ideas in the mainstream media.