Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
In this thought-provoking memoir, Pulitzer Prize finalist Drew Gilpin Faust chronicles her coming-of-age in a Southern family and her growth into consciousness in postwar America.
To grow up in the 1950s was to enter a world transformed by warfare, by unspeakable examples of inhumanity, by nuclear threats, by polarized national alliances and by destabilized social hierarchies. Two wars and the Depression that connected them had unleashed a torrent of expectations and dissatisfactions--not only on a global stage for nations and peoples, but also in very personal and domestic domains.
To grow up a little white girl in conservative, segregated Virginia was to be expected to adopt a willful blindness to the cruelties of race and the constraints of gender. For young Drew Gilpin, the acceptance of a combination of racial privilege and female subordination proved both intolerable and galvanizing. Urged to be "well adjusted' and to fill the role of well-mannered lady that her upbringing had defined, she would instead find resistance to be the necessary price of her survival. During the sixties, in her love of learning and education, in her active engagement in the civil rights, student and anti-war movements, Faust, who would become an award-winning historian and the first woman president of Harvard University, forged a path to a different future.
A portrait of both an era and a remarkable life, Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury captures a time of rapid change and fierce reaction, the changes and aftershocks of which we continue to grapple with today.
Includes black-and-white images
Synopsis
A memoir of coming of age in a conservative Southern family in postwar America.
To grow up in the 1950s was to enter a world of polarized national alliances, nuclear threat, and destabilized social hierarchies. Two world wars and the depression that connected them had unleashed a torrent of expectations and dissatisfactions--not only in global affairs but in American society and Americans' lives.
To be a privileged white girl in conservative, segregated Virginia was to be expected to adopt a willful blindness to the inequities of race and the constraints of gender. For young Drew Gilpin Faust, the acceptance of both female subordination and racial privilege proved intolerable and galvanizing. Urged to become "well adjusted and to fill the role of a poised young lady that her upbringing imposed, she found resistance was the necessary price of survival. During the 1960s, through her love of learning and her active engagement in the civil rights, student, and antiwar movements, Faust forged a path of her own--one that would eventually lead her to become a historian of the very conflicts that were instrumental in shaping the world she grew up in.
Culminating in the upheavals of 1968, Necessary Trouble captures a time of rapid change and fierce reaction in one young woman's life, tracing the transformations and aftershocks that we continue to grapple with today.
Includes black-and-white images
Synopsis
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A memoir of coming of age in a conservative Southern family in postwar America.
To grow up in the 1950s was to enter a world of polarized national alliances, nuclear threat, and destabilized social hierarchies. Two world wars and the depression that connected them had unleashed a torrent of expectations and dissatisfactions--not only in global affairs but in American society and Americans' lives.
A privileged white girl in conservative, segregated Virginia was expected to adopt a willful blindness to the inequities of race and the constraints of gender. For Drew Gilpin, the acceptance of both female subordination and racial hierarchy proved intolerable and galvanizing. Urged to become "well adjusted" and to fill the role of a poised young lady that her upbringing imposed, she found resistance was necessary for her survival. During the 1960s, through her love of learning and her active engagement in the civil rights, student, and antiwar movements, Drew forged a path of her own--one that would eventually lead her to become a historian of the very conflicts that were instrumental in shaping the world she grew up in.
Culminating in the upheavals of 1968, Necessary Trouble captures a time of rapid change and fierce reaction in one young woman's life, tracing the transformations and aftershocks that we continue to grapple with today.
Includes black-and-white images