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.