Description
Book SynopsisReconsidering Patricia Hearst's story, this book recreates the atmosphere of uncertainty of mid-1970s America. It paints a portrait of a nation confused and frightened by the upheavals of 1960s liberalism and beginning to tip over into what would become Reagan-era conservatism, with its invocations of individual responsibility and the heroic.
Trade Review"In an era traumatized by defeat in Vietnam, betrayal in Washington, stagflation, and shockingly violent crimes, the saga of Patty Hearst - kidnapped heiress turned carbine-toting bank robber - was perhaps the most shocking tale of all. William Graebner's rich retelling uses Hearst's story to probe one of the central preoccupations of the seventies: the nature of personal identity. What happened to Hearst fascinated, and continues to fascinate, because it raised the question of what any of us might become in the face of extraordinary circumstances." - Thomas Hine, author The Great Funk: Falling Apart and Coming Together (on a Shag Rug) in the Seventies"
