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Retrospectives of the 1960s routinely include the face of youth rebellion: long-haired students occupying campus buildings, young men burning draft cards, hippies dancing at Woodstock. In Younger Than That Now, Holly V. Scott explores how the idea of “youth” served as a tactic in the political and social activism of these years. In the early part of that decade, young white activists began to learn from the civil rights movement's defiance of racism. They examined their own lives and concluded that campus rules and the draft were repression as well. As a group, they were ripe for revolution, and their age gave them a unique perspective for understanding and protesting against injustice. In short, young people began to use their youth as a political strategy.

Some in the New Left were dubious of this strategy and asked how it might damage long-term progress. Young feminists and people of color were particularly quick to question the idea that age alone was enough to sustain a movement. And the media often presented young people as impulsive and naive, undermining their political legitimacy. In tracing how “youth” took on multiple meanings as the 1960s progressed, Scott demonstrates the power of this idea to both promote and hinder social change.

Though the field of comic book studies has burgeoned in recent years, Latino characters and creators have received little attention. Putting the spotlight on this vibrant segment, Your Brain on Latino Comics illuminates the world of superheroes Firebird, Vibe, and the new Blue Beetle while also examining the effects on readers who are challenged to envision such worlds.

Exploring mainstream companies such as Marvel and DC as well as rising stars from other segments of the industry, Frederick Aldama provides a new reading of race, ethnicity, and the relatively new storytelling medium of comics themselves. Overview chapters cover the evolution of Latino influences in comics, innovations, and representations of women, demonstrating Latino transcendence of many mainstream techniques. The author then probes the rich and complex ways in which such artists affect the cognitive and emotional responses of readers as they imagine past, present, and future worlds.

Twenty-one interviews with Latino comic book and comic strip authors and artists, including Laura Molina, Frank Espinosa, and Rafael Navarro, complete the study, yielding captivating commentary on the current state of the trade, cultural perceptions, and the intentions of creative individuals who shape their readers in powerful ways.

Letters from a Confederate soldier to his wife during the Civil War.

Yours Till Death: Civil War Letters of John W. Cotton offers a rare and deeply personal window into the lived experience of the American Civil War through the words of an ordinary Confederate soldier. Composed of letters written by John W. Cotton to his wife in Coosa County, Alabama, this collection preserves an unfiltered, intimate record of wartime life from 1862 to 1865, revealing both the hardships of military service and the enduring ties of family and home.

Cotton, a yeoman farmer who enlisted in the Confederate Army in the spring of 1862, writes with directness and honesty about his daily experiences as he moves through the major campaigns of the war, including service in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, and South Carolina. His correspondence captures not only the movements and conditions of military life—guard duty, illness, shortages, and shifting morale—but also the emotional landscape of a soldier separated from his family. His letters are filled with concern for his wife, children, and farm, illustrating the constant tension between duty to country and responsibility to home. 

More than a military chronicle, Yours Till Death is also a valuable portrait of rural Southern life during wartime. Cotton’s references to crops, weather, labor, and household concerns provide insight into how families on the home front coped with absence, uncertainty, and economic strain. These details illuminate the broader social and agricultural context of the Confederacy, offering readers a richer understanding of how war reshaped everyday life for civilians as well as soldiers. 

The letters, preserved and edited by historian Lucille Griffith, retain the immediacy and authenticity of Cotton’s voice. Written without the benefit of hindsight, they convey the evolving attitudes, anxieties, and hopes of a man living through one of the most turbulent periods in American history. As such, they serve as an important primary source for scholars and students, complementing official histories with the perspective of an individual whose experiences reflect those of countless others who lived and fought during the Civil War.

Yours Till Death will appeal to readers interested in Civil War studies, Southern history, and personal narratives of wartime experience. By bringing together themes of conflict, family, survival, and resilience, this collection transforms historical events into a deeply human story—one that reminds us that the past is best understood not only through battles and politics, but through the voices of those who lived it.
 

Youth in the Movements documents the history of the rise of American high school and youth activism in the United States since the Second World War. Spaces within high schools and the adults at them provided support or inspiration – both negative and positive – for youth engaged in protest, organizing, and activism. Through rich research of archival sources and oral histories, contributors reveal new perspectives on American high school and youth activism. Viewed through the eyes of high school-aged youth around the United States – in familiar locations such as Boston, New York City, and Detroit, as well as less familiar locales in the historiography, such as Salt Lake City and the Navajo Reservation – we extend our understanding of high school and how it has been experienced by youth activists in the post-World War II period.