The End of the Innocence: The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair
by Lawrence R. Samuel
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Book Summary Information
Author: Lawrence R. SamuelEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10
ISBN: 081560890X
Number of pages: 243
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Book Reviews of The End of the Innocence: The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair
Book Review: A work of meticulous scholarship
Summary: 5 Stars
With extensive footnotes, an extended bibliography, and occasionally illustrated with historic black-and-white photography, "The End Of The Innocence: The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair" by Lawrence R. Samuel is a descriptive analysis of the New York World's Fair that ran from April 1964 to October 1965 and was attended by approximately fifty-two million people. A seminal event of its decade, and reflective of the cultural climate in which it occurred, this World's Fair had a powerful and enduring impact on the nation which was, for the overwhelming majority of its visitors, was consistently positive, often inspirational, and occasionally transcendent. Held just five months after President John F. Kennedy's assassination, the World Fair was held in a time of turbulence that included American participation in the Vietnam War and an emerging counter-culture among the youth. But the Fair showcased the postwar American dream of an optimistic future. A work of meticulous scholarship combined with Samuel's narrative skill as a writer, "The End Of The Innocence" is especially recommended to the attention of students of American popular culture, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in 20th Century American history.
Summary of The End of the Innocence: The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair
From April to October in 1964 and 1965, some 52 million people from around the world flocked to the New York World's Fair, an experience that lives on in the memory of many individuals and in America's collective consciousness. Lawrence R. Samuel offers a thought-provoking portrait of this seminal event and of the cultural climate that surrounded it, countering critics' assessment of the Fair as the "ugly duckling" of global expositions. Although much attention has been paid to the controversial role of Fair president Robert Moses, who tried to use the event to ensure his personal legacy, the Fair itself was for the great majority of visitors an overwhelmingly positive, often inspirational, and sometimes transcendent experience that truly delivered on its theme of "peace through understanding." Much of the Fair's popularity, Samuel suggests, stemmed from its looking backward as much as forward, offering visitors sanctuary from the cultural storm that was rapidly approaching in the mid-1960s. Opening just five months after President Kennedy's assassination, the Fair allowed millions to celebrate international brotherhood while the conflict in Vietnam came to a boil. The Fair glorified the postwar American dream of limitless optimism just as a counterculture of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll was coming into being. It was, in short, the last gasp of the American Dream: The End of the Innocence.20th Century Books
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