I wasn't sure where to post this so I apologise if I'm not in the right section. I'm planning on setting my Nanowrimo novel in the 1950s and was wondering if anyone knew of any nonfiction books on the era. I've done a few searches, but found nothing helpful. I'm looking for anything that might give me an insight on life in this era. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.
Well I think anything on crime and law in the era, day to day life and anything that was making the news at that point in time. Thanks for replying
The only thing I really know of is this: Sorry I can't be of more help on day to day issues. In terms of politics the big thing at the time was obviously the Cold War - doesn't need to be said. I don't know of any books relating to the 1950s about the Cold War, but I know of many books of Cold War history that have chapters dealing with the '50s, and the building arms race. It might be worth looking into a Cold War history book and then picking out the chapters that interest you, and pertain to that time period. The 1950s was, I think, the decade when the soviets detonated their first nuclear weapon after all.
The 50's as we think of it in modern retrospective is a mythological time and place. It never existed.
Hmm..... For some reason this thread is not allowing Amazon links to display. I see your attempt to make a link was equally unsuccessful, @Lemex.
Aw hell I hadn't noticed that. Anyway, it was called 'The 1950s Scrapbook'. you might find it useful.
Well, there's always David Halberstam's The Fifties. You could also check out books like The Organization Man, which was an important sociological book of the fifties about losing one's identity to the organization -- that is, big business. Anything about the Eisenhower administration, or to an extent, bios of Richard Nixon or even John Kennedy. There's a tremendous book about the African American experience (The Warmth of Other Suns) and the mass migration from the south into the northern cities, which spans a much broader time period (1915-1970) but the Fifties was a prime period of tremendous change. That is likely more specific (in terms of a group of people) but depending on what you're writing, could be very informative.
