Peace: 50 Years of Protest - Hardcover

Miles, Barry

4.32

57 ratings by Goodreads

9780762108930: Peace: 50 Years of Protest

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0762108932 ISBN 13: 9780762108930

Publisher: Readers Digest, 2008

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Here is the amazing story of how a sign of protest became the world's greatest symbol for peace, celebrating its 50th birthday in April, 2008. A combination of research and recall highlights the symbol's evolution from 1958 to how it's still in use today.

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About the Author:

Barry Miles was the chairman of the Youth Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (YCND) in Cheltem in the early '60s, and was on many of the Aldermaston marches. Throughout the late '60s he wrote regularly for and was syndicated by most of the American, and some of the European, underground newspapers including East Village Other, Los Angeles Free Press, San Francisco Oracle, Berkeley Barb, Georgia Straight, Rolling Stone, and Oz. He specializes in writing about the Beat Generation and is the author of many books including: Allen Ginsberg: A Biography (1989), William Burroughs: El Hombre Invisible (1992), Jack Kerouac: King of the Beats (1998), the best selling Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now (1997) written in collaboration with McCartney. His Hippie (2003) was on the New York Times best-seller list. Miles lives in London.

From School Library Journal:

Adult/High School—With more than 250 photos and illustrations and in clear, lively prose, Miles portrays the development of the peace symbol from its modest beginning to its representation of an era of widespread protest and cultural revolution. On April 8, 1958, a small group of disarmament protesters marched from London to Aldermaston, the site of Britain's top-secret nuclear weapons factory. A few days before, someone decided it would be a good idea to have a symbol to put on their placards. One of the marchers, a textile designer named Gerald Holtom, volunteered to see what he could come up with. He decided on a combination of the naval semaphoric signals for the letters "N" and "D" (for nuclear disarmament) encased in a circle. Despite the initial apathy with which it was met, the simple and unique design has endured to become one of the most universally recognized symbols in the world. The author explores its life as an icon of chic style and its adaptation by Hollywood, the music industry, the art world, certain political campaigns, and environmental groups. He provides background leading up to the birth of the antinuclear weapons movement, as well as ample evidence of the peace sign's extensive, multifaceted use worldwide. Among the many stunning images are a photo of three Australian Aboriginals with the sign painted on their faces, a photo of the peace sign amid antigovernment graffiti on a wall in Algeria in 2001, and an overhead view of some 3000 people forming a torch-lit peace sign in Budapest in 2006.—Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA
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