1956: The World in Revolt

Simon Hall

Sep 2016 · Kuthengiswe ngu-Simon and Schuster

Mayelana nale ebook

Vibrantly and perceptively told, this is the story of one remarkable year—a vivid history of exhilarating triumphs and shattering defeats around the world.

1956 was one of the most remarkable years of the twentieth century. All across the globe, ordinary people spoke out, filled the streets and city squares, and took up arms in an attempt to win their freedom.

In this dramatic, page-turning history, Simon Hall takes the long view of the year's events—putting them in their post-war context and looking toward their influence on the counterculture movements of the 1960s—to tell the story of the year's epic, global struggles from the point of view of the freedom fighters, dissidents, and countless ordinary people who worked to overturn oppressive and authoritarian systems in order to build a brave new world. It was an epic contest.

1956 is the first narrative history of the year as a whole—and the first to frame its tumultuous events as part of an interconnected, global story of revolution.

Mayelana nomlobi

Simon Hall studied history at Cambridge University and held a Fox International Fellowship at Yale, before moving to the University of Leeds to teach American history. His previous books for the academic market include Peace and Freedom: The Civil Rights and Antiwar Movements in the 1960s; American Patriotism, American Protest: Social Movements Since the Sixties; and Rethinking the American Anti-War Movement. 1956 is his first trade book. He lives in England.