Taken as a whole, these engaging profiles suggest that revolutions are rarely a one-time deal.

How should we balance the accomplishments of the New Left with its failure to build a sturdy rival to the cautious liberals and confident neoliberals who have dominated the past half-century of U.S. politics and governance? David Talbot and Margaret Talbot, siblings and veteran journalists, have crafted a book of personal narratives rich with the kinds of details that might help answer such queries.

In these self-contained accounts, the authors clearly admire the courage, political savvy, and sheer physical effort required to create and then sustain such critical movements, but they’re also unsparing in saying that mistakes were made.

Through sharp reporting and good storytelling, the authors enliven a journalistic genre that in less skilled hands might have gone flat.

Charismatic but flawed figures dominate this vibrant portrait of 1960s radical movements.