Library's review
Thirteen Seconds was published just six months after the shootings, and it shows. The attempts to figure out exactly what happened in the days and moments immediately preceding the incident was just beginning, and this book does not have any definitive answers as to why or how the National Guard opened fire on unarmed student protesters. It does offer a tantalizing glimpse into how a year or more of student unrest on the Kent State campus, coupled with administration and law enforcement over-reactions to that unrest and the general public's alarm over the ongoing war in Vietnam and the "hippies" who seemed to sprout overnight on college campuses across the country, contributed to the feelings of tension on the fateful day. Roberts and Eszterhas do not shrink from reporting misbehavior by students, but it is clear that their sympathies lie with the younger generation — not surprising considering they were both in their mid-20s at the time.
Overall, this is a worthy read for anyone interested in learning more about Kent State. It is not the definitive history, but it's an important piece of the puzzle.
Collection
Description
The dramatic original account of events that shook the nation. At noon on May 4, 1970, a thirteen-second burst of gunfire transformed the campus of Kent State University into a national nightmare. National Guard bullets killed four students and wounded nine. By nightfall the campus was evacuated and the school was closed. A generation of college students said they had lost all hope for the System and the future. How did it happen that young Americans in battle helmets, gas masks, and combat boots confronted other young Americans wearing bell-bottom trousers, flowered shirts, and shoulder-length hair? What were the issues and why did the confrontation escalate so terribly? Would there be future confrontations like the one of May 4? To answer these questions, prize-winning reporters Eszterhas and Roberts, who were on campus on May 4, spent weeks interviewing all the participants in the tragedy. They traveled to victims' homes and talked to relatives and friends; they spoke to National Guardsmen on the firing line and to students who were fired on. By putting together hundreds of first-person accounts they were able to establish for the first time what actually took place on the day of the shooting.… (more)