Europe's 1968 Voices of Revolt

By the late 1960s, in a Europe divided by the Cold War and challenged by global revolution in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, thousands of young people threw themselves into activism to change both the world and themselves. This new and exciting study of "Europe's 1968" is based on the rich oral histories of nearly 500 former activists collected by an international team of historians across fourteen countries. Activists' own voices reflect on how they were drawn into activism, how they worked and struggled together, how they combined the political and the personal in their lives, and the pride or regret with which they look back on those momentous years. Themes explored include generational revolt and activists' relationship with their families, the meanings of revolution, transnational encounters and spaces of revolt, faith and radicalism, dropping out, gender and sexuality, and revolutionary violence. Focussing on the way in which the activists themselves made sense of their revolt, Europe's 1968 makes a major contribution to both oral history and memory studies. This ambitious study ranges widely across Europe from Franco's Spain to the Soviet Union, and from the two Germanys to Greece, and throws new light on moments and movements which both united and divided the activists of Europe's 1968.

Robert Gildea is Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford. He was a Lecturer at King's College London (1978-79) and Fellow and Tutor in History at Merton College Oxford (1979-2006). He is a Fellow of the British Academy.

James Mark is Professor of History at the University of Exeter.

Anette Warring is Professor of Modern History at Roskilde University. She is a Fellow of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, and Chairman of the Danish Council for Independent Research/Humanities.

Foreword, Sheila Rowbotham
Introduction, Robert Gildea and James Mark
Part I: Becoming an Activist
1. Awakenings, Rebecca Clifford, Robert Gildea, and James Mark
2. Families, Piotr Osęka, Polymeris Voglis, and Anna von der Goltz
3. Inspirations, James Mark, Nigel Townson, and Polymeris Voglis
Part II: Being an Activist
4. Revolutions, Marie Černá, John Davis, Robert Gildea, and Piotr Osęka
5. Encounters, James Mark and Anna von der Goltz
6. Spaces, Rebecca Clifford, Juliane Furst, Robert Gildea, James Mark, Piotr Osęka, and Chris Reynolds
7. Drop-Outs, John Davis and Juliane Furst
8. Faith, Peter Apor, Rebecca Clifford, and Nigel Townson
9. Gender and Sexuality, Rebecca Clifford, Robert Gildea, and Anette Warring
10. Violence, Robert Gildea, Gudni Johannesson, Chris Reynolds, and Polymeris Voglis
Part III: Making Sense of Activism
11. Reflections, James Mark, Anna von der Goltz, and Anette Warring
Conclusion: Europe's 1968, James Mark and Robert Gildea
Appendix: Networks Consulted
Bibliography
Index