Why am I reading Age of Reagan? It is in research for my novel.
I am writing a novel set in London 1972 about a young American woman recently graduated from college whose life is turned upside down by a central betrayal that sends her on a flight away from the turbulence of the times in search of peace and stability. The time period is right at that seam in history when The Old Liberal Order was being overtaken by this new age of ours, The Age of Terrorism. My protagonist is caught up in swirling currents of London’s radical underground and learns a secret about the opening of the Olympic Games in Munich that if not exposed could spell disaster for many. Or is she mistaken?
We are so accustomed to presentation in the mass media of the Vietnam era as a time of magic, libertine wonders, and really important socio-political struggles. Witness the “Recreate ‘68” nostalgia for the bracing backbone of something to rebel against. Follow that 70’s Show with groovy jargon and flower-power graphics, all so self-assured of its own importance in the rockin’ times. Snarky attitudes. But cool. Cooool, man; like – hey? And the current mass media would have us think that all those not completely on-board with the approved revolutionary side were, are, and forever will be – what? Not just wrong but disgusting. Unworthy of discussion. They believe that they won the argument because, hey man, everyone worth knowing has the same opinion. They don’t know anyone who feels differently. If their viewpoint isn’t on top, there must be something wrong with the process.
To have lived through that time in history was different than it is now presented. It was confusing.
And I want to know why. You don’t find out why by eating baby food.
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