A Tale of Two Utopias - The Political Journey of the Generation of 1968

The ideological passions that, along with critical acclaim, greeted the publication of Paul Berman's A Tale of Two Utopias showed how persistent are some of the battle lines drawn in the tumultuous years around 1968.

A Tale of Two Utopias recounts "in clean, clear, often funny style" (Washington Post) four episodes in the history of a generation: the worldwide student radicalism of the years around 1968; the birth of gay liberation and modern identity politics; the anti-Communist trajectory of the '68ers in the Eastern bloc; and the ideals and self-criticism of thinkers in America and in France who lived through these events and debated their meaning.

Praised for both "sheer intellectual high-spiritedness" (Houston Chronicle) and "the same sensitivity to the moral needs of the participants, and the same lucid evaluative balance, as Edmund Wilson's accounts of earlier periods" (philosopher Richard Rorty), A Tale of Two Utopias firmly establishes Berman as "one of America's leading social critics" (New Leader) and "one of our most gifted essayists" (Boston Globe).

About the author

Paul Berman writes about politics and literature for The New Republic, the New York Times Book Review, and other magazines. His books have been translated into thirteen languages. He lives in New York City.

Summary

"A deeply moving and delightfully readable account of the political journey [Berman's] generation has taken."—Isaac Kramnick, New York Observer

Product details

• Authors: Paul Berman
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 08.01.2010
• EAN: 9780393316759
• ISBN: 978-0-393-31675-9
• Dimensions: 114 mm x 188 mm x 23 mm
• Weight: 214 g
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; Postwar 20th century history, from c 1945 to c 2000, Europe, Cultural Studies, European History, Political Ideologies, HISTORY / Europe / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Process / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / European, Political structure & processes, c 1960 to c 1970, Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999, c 1960 to c 1969, Political ideologies and movements, Political structure and processes