Thank you, W.W. Morrow, for providing this book for review consideration in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Mr. Book just finished Kent State: An American Tragedy, by Brian VanDeMark.

This was an excellent look at the Kent State tragedy. The author did a great job setting the stage for the events, by showing the political climate of the day before moving on to the days leading up to the massacre and then profiled all of the students who were shot that day. The book then went into an extremely detailed look at the events of the day. It was astonishing to see that, right after the massacre took place, the National Guard’s response was to explicit threaten that they will repeat it and inflict a bloodbath on everyone who was still assembled in the area.

The response to the event showed the right-wing showing the kind of love for the domestic terrorism that was inflicted by the National Guard that would make Trump fans jealous that they weren’t there to participate in it. Even before the massacre, Ronald Reagan, who was then Governor of California, making the Trumpism call for violence against student protestors: “If it takes a bloodbath, let’s get it over with. No more appeasement.”

I give this book an A+ and inducted it into the Hall of Fame. Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A+ equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

After I finished this book, I immediately ordered the audiobook version so I will also be able to listen to it.

This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews

Mr. Book finished reading this on September 18, 2024.