The Sixties: Freedom, Change and Revolution

An illustrated timeline of a transformative decade.

In the 1960s, social systems worldwide saw fundamental social and political change. In the U.S., civil rights movements fought against segregation; in Western Europe, students rejected stagnant post-World War II ideologies; and in South America, Africa and the Far East, countries broke free from colonial and military oppressors. For a time, a new idealism rose, especially among America's young, which culminated in the summer of love in 1967 and the Hippie counterculture. The decade would end tumultuously however with protest movements driven by American Indians, gays and women demanding recognition and equal rights.

Politically, a new world order was on the rise. The Soviet Union and Eastern bloc would take shape leading to the Cuba crisis and the Berlin Wall. Protestors around the world became a voice against interventionist policies, including the Vietnam War from which the U.S. was forced to retreat after losing thousands of young lives. By the end of the decade, the North-South and East-West divides were deeply entrenched, a wave of dictators had taken power, the Cold War and the anti-nuclear movement were in full swing and the U.S. had landed a man on the moon.

The Sixties: Freedom, Change and Revolution chronicles this chaotic decade by laying out a timeline of 100 key events driven by people, technology, politics, societal change, popular culture and more. Some years were more eventful than others and these get more pages. Each spread covers a single year within the decade, presenting a full complement of succinct text and photographs.

This book is a fascinating album for those who lived in the 60s and a vivid introduction for those born afterwards. It is also an excellent starting point for projects and further reading about a vast variety of topics and issues, all of them part of the foundation on which our world now rests.

Markus Hattstein studied philosophy, sociology, Catholic theology and comparative religion, and Islamic studies. He works as a freelance writer and editor in Berlin.

Christoph Marx studied history, politics, and literature. He still has a particular interest in the political history of the 19th/20th century, especially of Berlin, anti-Semitism, the Cold War, the media, "intellectuals" and other cultural topics, including James Bond.