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We're taught to see the 50s as a time of peace, stability, and contentment, marred by rigid social inequalities.
But when I read stuff written in the 50s, it feels more like a period of mass PTSD.
But when I read stuff written in the 50s, it feels more like a period of mass PTSD.
50s sci-fi (e.g. A Canticle for Leibowitz, The Stars My Destination) is often filled with the brooding certainty that the world is about to end.
50s nonfiction often takes the normalcy of mass movements and total war for granted.
50s nonfiction often takes the normalcy of mass movements and total war for granted.
No doubt the mass experience of WW2 was the main reason for this. You send a whole nation out to get shot at and bombed by Nazis and fanatics, they're going to come back with some major issues.
My grandfathers certainly did.
My grandfathers certainly did.
