The social movements of the 1960s - still vital and challenging - seen through the author's experiences as a civil rights activist, a feminist, an antiwar organizer, and a radical teacher. Today, some fifty years after, we celebrate - or excoriate - "the Sixties." Using his wide-ranging experience as an activist and writer, Paul Lauter examines the values, the exploits, the victories, the implications, and sometimes the failings, of the "Movement" of that conflicted time. In Our Sixties, Lauter writes about movement activities from the perspective of a full-time participant: 1964 Mississippi freedom schools; Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); the Morgan community school in Washington, DC, which he headed; a variety of antiwar, antidraft actions; the New University Conference, a radical group of faculty and graduate students; The Feminist Press, which he helped found; and the United States Servicemen's Fund, an organization supporting antiwar GIs. He got fired, got busted, got published, and even got tenure. He honed his skills writing for the New York Review of Books among other magazines. As a teacher he created innovative courses ranging from "Revolutionary Literature" and "Contesting the Canon" to "The Sixties in Fiction, Poetry, and Film." He led the development of the groundbreaking Heath Anthology of American Literature and remains its general editor. Lauter's book offers both a retrospective look at the social justice struggles of the Sixties and an account of how his participation in these struggles has shaped his life. Social history as well as personal chronicle, this account is for those who recall that turbulent decade as well as for those who seek to better understand its impact on American politics and society in our current era.

"Beautifully written, it offers solid information and sound, sharp commentary on the events that marked the revolutionary era of the 1960s in the United States (US). The author's deep knowledge of American culture together with a bright sense of humor and a shrewd, witty tone, makes it a pleasure to read. Indeed, Our Sixties should be required reading for those who want to understand the civil rights movements in the US in the 1960s and the connected struggles against inequality, discrimination, segregation, oppression, racism, poverty, sexism - and war." - Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais

"Paul Lauter's new book - a task of twenty years! - presents itself as "a memoir," "the result of the author's recollection [...] a subjective account of events that occurred in his life." The reader is indeed exposed to an honest and self-critical reappraisal of a long and rich life story of an intellectual profoundly committed to political causes. But, at the same time, the reader is given access to a personal lens into "the sixties" as a founding moment in the history of the United States of America." - European Journal of American Studies

"Lauter provides useful background and intimate details about many events and organizations. Movement veterans with an interest in the educational wars of the sixties and seventies will find Lauter's book especially interesting. He has much to teach younger activists concerning movement dynamics." - Against the Current Magazine

"The first question one asks when considering a memoir is: Why would I want to know about this person? In Paul Lauter's case, there are many reasons, especially for anyone interested in how life experience draws a person into political activity, and how that activity leads them to groundbreaking progressive political action. Lauter has lived through decades of unstable academic employment interlaced with jobs as an organizer in various movements. This can serve as a model for many young activists these days, for whom this book will be a valuable resource." - JOURNAL OR WORKING CLASS STUDIES