This study represents the first critical analysis in English of the West German intellectual journal Kursbuch. Founded by H.M. Enzensberger in 1965. Kursbuch was intended to serve as an alternative forum for rational discourse on major social, political and literary issues in the Federal Republic of Germany. This work examines the turbulent decade through the eyes of Kursbuch using relevant articles to shed some light on the journal and its vital role as a bellwether for the West German intellectual climate of the time.
"For social and cultural historians of the student movement, this is an indispensable book. Petersen has compressed a nearly overwhelming amount of material into an intelligent and intelligible, jargon-free and highly readable study. Her exemplary investigation of the turbulent years of postwar (West) German development in its international context gives us a clear view of a progressive cultural-political journal. The volume represents an essential part of recent European intellectual history." (Irmgard Elsner Hunt, The German Quarterly)