Underground: My Life with SDS and the Weather Underground by Mark Rudd At the height of the 1960s student anti-war movement, Mark Rudd’s name and face came to represent the nation-wide phenomena of student radicalism. He was a leader of the Columbia University strike of 1968 and went on to national leadership of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Weather Underground. Forty years later, we have his story. An insightful, thought-provoking and critical memoir it is. As crazy as the Weather Underground’s actions and ideas were, Rudd’s very personal account gives readers a clear understanding of just how it all came about: how a group of very intelligent, idealistic students could so misread their country to think that they were leading a Revolution in the United States. Just as the author is unsparing in his criticism of the SDS leadership and Weathermen (including his own role) he is unwavering in his criticism of United States foreign policy then and now. If you want a refreshing, insightful inside view of the anti-war movement, this is definitely a good choice.
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For a more deeply anti-racist examination of the 1968 Columbia Student Strike, readers might want to check ou Professor Stefan Bradley's new book, "Harlem vs. Columbia University", that University of Illinois Press published.
ReplyDeleteAnd for a more historically accurate and balanced examination of SDS and Weather Underground history than what is presented in the book that Murdoch's corporate publishing subsidiary published, readers in Wellesley might want to also check out Dan Berger's "Outlaws of America" and Bill Ayers' "Fugitive Days", which were each published by non-profit publishing firms (unlike the "Underground" book).