... [a] luminous guide to a tumultuous decade.

... [a] rich, layered account of the 1960s.

Along with most professional historians, Boyle rejects the commonly held assumption that a Berlin Wall separated the consensual 1950s from the divisive '60s. In the '50s, he demonstrates, amid repression, racism, anxiety and anger, boundaries were contested and occasionally broken. Inevitably, given the number of books on the 1960s, a lot of material in The Shattering will be familiar to readers. That said, Boyle enlivens his narrative with emblematic vignettes..

A professor of history at Northwestern University, Boyle draws on a wide range of important historical scholarship produced over the last 20 or so years on topics like the Black freedom movement, modern political history and U.S. empire.

Boyle's cleverly written book...dives deep into figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Alabama governor George Wallace and also profiles vitally important people who have been less often written about, including Ella Baker and Estelle Griswold. The book is enhanced by maps of U.S. military conflicts and photographs from the civil rights movement and other events.

A concise, beautifully written history of the 'long' 1960s, bringing the most important events and developments of that tumultuous decade to vivid life.

... [an] insightful study.