false 723996 1 Philip Caputo, author of the classic Vietnam memoir <I>A Rumor of War</I>, returns to the turbulent era of the late 1960s with <I>13 Seconds: A Look Back at the Kent State Shootings</I>. Caputo carefully sets the stage for the tragedy--the gunning-down of students on the Kent State, Ohio, campus--as he shows the pressures slowly building: Richard Nixon's decision to invade Cambodia, the militaristic missives of the ultra-leftist Weathermen, and statements such as high-profile California governor Ronald Reagan's declaration about student protests, given three weeks before the shootings ("If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with"). <p> While important events surge and roil throughout the book like massive currents, Caputo focuses primarily on the smaller stories of the students injured and killed by National Guard bullets. Caputo, a journalist then writing for the <I>Chicago Tribune</I> (and who went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1972), was on the scene soon after the shootings took place. He writes with immediacy, clearly drawn back to the moment even after 35 years have passed. Some of the students who died that day were active in campus politics, while others were caught purely by misfortune, but all paid an incredible price. By allowing readers to understand more about the students and the circumstances that surrounded May 4, 1970, Caputo turns the story of Kent State into a kind of tragic novel. The book itself is short: under 200 pages, including summaries of court testimonies that make up the bulk of the index. But the poignancy of what America lost that day comes through clearly in Caputo's dense, no-nonsense writing. <I>--Jennifer Buckendorff</I> 710221 26 4 2005 13 Seconds: A Look Back at the Kent State Shootings total:12|5:2|4:3|3:6|2:1|1:0| 12 42 20 3 3 0 false false Tue Jun 19 17:50:35 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 20 12:11:25 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Wed Aug 29 09:55:42 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 29 09:55:42 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 25 13:27:18 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 25 13:27:58 -0700 2008 http://randomthoughtsescaping.blogspot.c...]]> 0 0 false false Sat Nov 07 08:37:39 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 07 08:37:41 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Mon Oct 19 07:31:57 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 19 07:31:57 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 05 08:43:22 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 05 08:43:42 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Tue Oct 20 12:13:07 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 18:24:50 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 18:25:01 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Sep 19 10:51:56 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 19 10:51:56 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Sep 10 21:24:41 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 21:24:41 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Aug 17 08:59:48 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 08:59:48 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jul 20 18:54:30 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 18:54:30 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Apr 08 11:11:25 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 11:11:25 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Feb 15 23:03:52 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 23:03:54 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Feb 04 20:45:58 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 04 20:45:58 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jan 28 20:15:53 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 20:15:53 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 29 03:42:31 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 29 03:55:23 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Fri Feb 29 08:45:42 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 29 08:45:42 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Mon Feb 04 16:31:06 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 04 16:31:06 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Mon Jan 28 03:10:10 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 28 03:10:10 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Mon Dec 17 23:36:35 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 17 23:36:35 -0800 2007