Description

A political and intellectual history of American counterculture and the historical figures who redefined mainstream understandings of freedom, culture, art, and politics--from The Beat Generation to Basquiat

This entertaining, intellectual history fulfills the growing appetite for marginalized narratives. Counterculture brilliantly interrogates the diversity of counterculture and the interwoven relationship between each individual legacy. From Anarchism to the Harlem Renaissance, Alex Zamalin unveils the humanity behind these romanticized figures and popularized movements to capture revolutionary freedom in action.

American counterculture, defined as a movement whose values are outside and oppositional to mainstream norms and whose practices fundamentally reject what is socially respectable, ultimately transformed the 20th century.

With key players:

Emma Goldman
Billie Holiday
Allen Ginsberg
Amiri Baraka
Jean-Michel Basquiat

And key movements:

Anarchism
Black Bohemia
The Harlem Renaissance
The Beat Generation
The Black Arts Movement
Hip-Hop

Counterculture reaches new depths, tackling a wide range of historical, social, and political topics, and expanding contemporary understandings of American cultural tradition.

At a time when counterculture was on the outskirts of American society, Alex Zamalin explores the reason why.