Kent State
An American Tragedy
16 January 2026
Territory Rights — Worldwide.
Description
A definitive history of the fatal clash between Vietnam War protestors and the National Guard, illuminating its causes and lasting consequences
Kent State 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, and were uneasy over poor and working-class kids drafted and sent to Vietnam in their place. Some developed a hatred for 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, Brian VanDeMark draws on new research and interviews—including the perspective of National Guardsmen who were there. The result is a complete reckoning with the tragedy that marked the end of the sixties.
- Longlisted for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction
- A The New Yorker Best Book of 2024
Reviews
"Longlisted — National Book Critics Circle Award, 2024"
"A The New Yorker Best Book of 2024"
"[A] painful, meticulously researched and reported study… An admirably patient and thorough book, in which even the copious footnotes are worth poring over." — The Los Angeles Times
"Vivid, comprehensive… VanDeMark gives voice to both students and Guardsmen." — 0, The New Yorker
"Couldn’t be more relevant… 'Kent State: An American Tragedy' has a strong claim on being the definitive account." — Clea Simon, The Boston Globe
Ebook
9781324066262
Powered by Glassboxx
£28.99
Coming Soon