Between the fall of 1967 and the U.S. Presidential election of 1968, Mr. Hastings spent over thirteen months in America on a journalistic fellowship. This book is a collation of, and reflection upon, his reporting from that time - published in 1969. Fifty-five years later, it is quite remarkable to see how wide-ranging and perceptive he (only twenty-two years old at the time) was. It's easy to see how he went on to a very successful career, albeit principally as a historian. And it's also disturbing to see how much has changed for the worse in the U.S. in the intervening years.*

*See Donald J. Trump, Black Lives Matter, The Roberts Court, Fake News, Fox News, The NRA, etc etc etc ( )