Meltdown Expected: Crisis, Disorder, and Upheaval at the end of the 1970s
In January 1978, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed that “There is all across our land a growing sense of peace and a sense of common purpose.” Yet in the ensuing months, a series of crises disturbed that fragile sense of peace, ultimately setting the stage for Reagan’s decisive victory in 1980 and ushering in the final phase of the Cold War. 
 
Meltdown Expected tells the story of the power shifts from late 1978 through 1979 whose repercussions are still being felt. Iran’s revolution led to a hostage crisis while neighbouring Afghanistan became the site of a proxy war between the USSR and the US, who supplied aid to Islamic mujahideen fighters that would later form the Taliban. Meanwhile, as tragedies like the Jonestown mass suicide and the assassination of Harvey Milk captured the nation’s attention, the government quietly reasserted and expanded the FBI’s intelligence powers. Drawing from recently declassified government documents and covering everything from Three Mile Island to the rise of punk rock, Aaron J. Leonard paints a vivid portrait of a tumultuous yet pivotal time in American history. 
 
1143960888
Meltdown Expected: Crisis, Disorder, and Upheaval at the end of the 1970s
In January 1978, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed that “There is all across our land a growing sense of peace and a sense of common purpose.” Yet in the ensuing months, a series of crises disturbed that fragile sense of peace, ultimately setting the stage for Reagan’s decisive victory in 1980 and ushering in the final phase of the Cold War. 
 
Meltdown Expected tells the story of the power shifts from late 1978 through 1979 whose repercussions are still being felt. Iran’s revolution led to a hostage crisis while neighbouring Afghanistan became the site of a proxy war between the USSR and the US, who supplied aid to Islamic mujahideen fighters that would later form the Taliban. Meanwhile, as tragedies like the Jonestown mass suicide and the assassination of Harvey Milk captured the nation’s attention, the government quietly reasserted and expanded the FBI’s intelligence powers. Drawing from recently declassified government documents and covering everything from Three Mile Island to the rise of punk rock, Aaron J. Leonard paints a vivid portrait of a tumultuous yet pivotal time in American history. 
 
27.95 In Stock
Meltdown Expected: Crisis, Disorder, and Upheaval at the end of the 1970s

Meltdown Expected: Crisis, Disorder, and Upheaval at the end of the 1970s

by Aaron J. Leonard
Meltdown Expected: Crisis, Disorder, and Upheaval at the end of the 1970s

Meltdown Expected: Crisis, Disorder, and Upheaval at the end of the 1970s

by Aaron J. Leonard

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Overview

In January 1978, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed that “There is all across our land a growing sense of peace and a sense of common purpose.” Yet in the ensuing months, a series of crises disturbed that fragile sense of peace, ultimately setting the stage for Reagan’s decisive victory in 1980 and ushering in the final phase of the Cold War. 
 
Meltdown Expected tells the story of the power shifts from late 1978 through 1979 whose repercussions are still being felt. Iran’s revolution led to a hostage crisis while neighbouring Afghanistan became the site of a proxy war between the USSR and the US, who supplied aid to Islamic mujahideen fighters that would later form the Taliban. Meanwhile, as tragedies like the Jonestown mass suicide and the assassination of Harvey Milk captured the nation’s attention, the government quietly reasserted and expanded the FBI’s intelligence powers. Drawing from recently declassified government documents and covering everything from Three Mile Island to the rise of punk rock, Aaron J. Leonard paints a vivid portrait of a tumultuous yet pivotal time in American history. 
 

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781978836471
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Publication date: 05/17/2024
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 206
File size: 12 MB
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About the Author

AARON J. LEONARD writes about the history of radicalism and state repression in twentieth-century America. He is the author of Heavy Radicals: The FBI’s Secret War on America’s MaoistsThe Folk Singers & the Bureau, and Whole World in an Uproar: Music, Rebellion & Repression 1955-1972. He lives in southern California.

 

Table of Contents

Abbreviations 
Introduction 
1 The Beginning of the End of the 1970s 
2 Marg bar Shah! (Death to the Shah!) 
3 From Harrisburg to Sverdlovsk 
4 Economic Dislocations 
5 China on the Capitalist Road 
6 Up Against the Wall
7 The Use of Terrorism 
8 The FBI, beyond Reform
9 After Disco 
10 Morality Wars 
11 A Shifting Chessboard 
12 The Looming 1980s Conclusion 
Coda 
Acknowledgments
Notes 
Bibliography 
Filmography 
Selected Discography 
Index 
 

What People are Saying About This

author of The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple - Jeff Guinn

"Historians correctly remind us that, in the 1960s, America experienced cultural and political turmoil that still resonates nearly six decades later. But in Meltdown Expected, Aaron J. Leonard proves the overlooked point that events during the last years of the 1970s were just as crucial, from Jonestown to Three Mile Island, from the rise of the Religious Right to the growing threat of violence both at home and abroad. I frankly cannot conceive of a more important book for readers who want to truly understand not only how we have gotten to where we are today, but why."
 

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