The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” (1951)) is recognized by critics and readers as one of the most popular and influential pieces of American fiction during the second half of the twentieth century. The Catcher in the Rye is on Time magazine’s list of the All-Time 100 Novels. Modern Library considers it one of […]
Ayn Rand – “Atlas Shrugged” (1957) and “The Fountainhead” (1943)
Ayn Rand was a Russian born philosopher and novelist. She moved to the United States in the 1926. She used her novels to establish and advance her philosophical system. Her two most significant novels were The Fountainhead, published in the early 1940s, and Atlas Shrugged, published in 1957. Rand’s political philosophy is in the classical […]
The Beat Generation
At almost the exact moment that tremendous postwar prosperity was reaching unprecedented numbers of Americans, some critics began to question the impact of this culture of abundance on the country’s stated values of freedom, democracy, and equality. In the second half of the 1950s, best-selling liberal writers such as Sloan Wilson, William Whyte, and Vance […]
Conclusion – The Day the Music Died
Fifties’ pop music as described in the preceding sections spilled over into the Sixties for a few years. However, Sixties pop music evolved into something distinctly different from early Rock & Roll. At the beginning of the 1960s, pop and rock and roll trends of the 1950s continued; nevertheless, the rock and roll of the […]
The Meuse-Argonne Offensive
The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also known as the Maas-Argonne Offensive and the Battle of the Argonne Forest, was a major part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire Western Front. It was fought from September 26, 1918, until the Armistice of 11 November 1918, a total of 47 […]
The 1944 Warsaw Uprising
The 1944 Warsaw Uprising (not to be confused with the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising when the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto tried to overthrow their Nazi captors.) Poland, lying between Germany/Prussia and USSR/Russia, was, over the centuries, a political football for those and other European countries. One country or another was trying to subjugate the […]
Supplement Regarding the Beginnings of Gay Activism
This should be inserted on page —– of the main text. On April 21, 1966, three young men went out to have a drink at Julius’ Bar in Manhattan’s West Village that they hoped would make history. Julius’ is the oldest gay bar in NYC. The men, members of the early gay rights group the […]
Additional Songs
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Preface
A Twentieth Century American History Songbook By Michael R. Palumbo Welcome to this Internet-only published book with a song titled, “Sing Me a Song with Social Significance.” This song reflects the theme of this work: songs that deal with actual historical events rather than “moon, June, swoon” songs. The song is part of “Pins […]