The Essay: To the Barricades!

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The Essay: To the Barricades!: One Book Above All Others

To the Barricades!

One Book Above All Others

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Michael Goldfarb remembers the books and films that influenced the events of 1968.

Michael Goldfarb remembers the books and films that anticipated and shaped the response to the student explosions in Paris, Prague, London and Chicago in 1968.

The path students took to the events of 1968 was signposted by cultural markers. There were books to read and films to watch (often derived from literary sources) and each anticipated and shaped the response to political events that would lead to student explosions in Paris, Prague, London and Chicago. 

Michael Goldfarb remembers the books he and his contemporaries read and the films they watched. He traces the way ideas in literature and cinema are absorbed into the mind and heart and become shapers of action. He also looks at how these books continue to influence those who were in the streets in 1968.

Using his trademark blend of historical research and memoir he recreates a time when, either side of the iron curtain, youth were united not just by music but by books and movies. Inspired by them, they risked everything to try and overthrow the existing order. 

Episode 1: One Book Above All Others: Joseph Heller's Catch-22 was arguably the most influential novel published in the 60s. Anti-war, anti-hierarchy, and hysterically funny.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Michael Goldfarb remembers the books he and his contemporaries read and films they watched

Michael Goldfarb remembers the books he and his contemporaries read and the films they watched, tracing the way ideas in literature and cinema are absorbed into the mind and become

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