Dazed and Confused is an imaginative exploration of the 1970s that effectively challenges popular perceptions that little of historical importance happened during the much-maligned decade. In this thought-provoking book, historian Blaine Browne highlights how national politics, popular culture, economic trends, human rights struggles, and foreign policy both reflected national anxieties and intensified the uncertainty that characterized the crucial decade between the “radical” 60s and “conservative” 80s. The result is a work that is accessible to a general audience yet also useful for all students of Twentieth Century America.

Michael Butler, Kenan Distinguished Professor of History, Chair of Humanities, Flagler College

The 1970s was a decade spliced between the dynamic 1960s and the conservative 1980s. It was an important time, a pivotal period, well characterized as an age of excess, when the sixties flamed out and self-destructed and the eighties were stillborn. To the extent that any characterization of a decade is fair or possible, the term "Me Decade" is as good as any to describe this period. Browne, a prolific writer, biographer, and bibliographer, has written fast-paced, jam-packed cornucopia of what transpired in the 1970s. Chapters are arranged topically, enabling readers to focus on whichever aspect engages them the most. For this reviewer, the chapters on popular culture—film, television, theater, and popular music—resonated particularly. Browne does not seem to miss a turn, and he is not reserved in his candid judgments on all the issues throughout the treatise. The topically arranged bibliographic essay at the end—a more compact version of the individual chapters—is valuable. This engaging and at times exhaustive volume will appeal both to those who lived through the 1970s and to a younger audience with an inchoate understanding of the time. Recommended. All readers.

Choice Reviews