BOOKS

• First "story" treatment of May 4 events and personalities (inspired Michener?).
• Photos not seen elsewhere.

• Very readable.
• Minute facts and details allow the reader to experience a "you are there" feeling.

• Factual errors, misquotes, etc.
• Needs more photos, more of a photo sequence for May 4.
• Too many one-sentence paragraphs.
• Borrows from Knight Newspapers' special report published in Akron Beacon Journal.

• The only gathering of news reports, editorial cartoons, editorials, letters and official reports in one book.
• Written by Kent State faculty members.

• Gives the reader a sense of immediacy, via materials which indicate the level of feeling present after the shootings.
• Perusal of the materials is a fascinating way not only to learn about May 4 , but to see how it was covered in the media.
• Many media sources are covered in one book, saving the reader time and energy on research.

• Most of the photos are seen in other books.
• Some of the excerpts of letters and articles are too abbreviated.
• No index.

• Only book on May 4 written by guardsman.

• Gives some background information on the National Guard, and their perspective on civil disorders.
• Informative interviews with Professor Glenn Frank and photographer Douglas Moore.
• Some unique Photos.

• Parts are written in an over dramatic style which distorts the events.
• Factual and typographical errors; a poor map of the site.
• Reprints the discredited Portage County Grand Jury Report to support their case
• Claims to represent both students and guardsmen, but clearly is a defense of guard's actions.

• Interviews and essays by people intimately involved with May 4 over the years.
• Excellent descriptive annotated bibliography section.

• Thorough recapping of 1970-1982 events in the introduction.
• Attempts to provide all political and ideological viewpoints in the articles.
• Photos and documents not in other books.
• Interviews feature good questions and enlightening answers.

• Few photos of May 1-4, 1970.
• Except for the introduction, this is a book of personal, rather than factual, accounts.
• Some may feel there should be more articles by people other than Kent students, faculty, and townspeople.

• Detailed narrative of the testimonies at the 1975 civil trials, by one of the lawyers for the families of the dead and wounded students.
• First person accounts of May 4 by participants an all sides.

• Very readable; an insider's point of view of the trial and the reactions of those involved.
• Written directly from the trial transcripts; useful as a time-saving alternative to researching the originals.
• Gives personal backgrounds on all the students who were shot.

• This is not a really totally "objective" account; Kelner is somewhat biased and fairly emotional in his descriptions and accounts of the trial.
• Photos had been published elsewhere; new photos from the trial evidence could have been used.
• Coverage of the 1979 settlement is too short and critical. despite the fact that his former clients, the shooting victims and their families, agreed to it.

• Describes the making of the NBC-TV movie, Kent State, from the point of view of Payne, the historical consultant.
• Includes photos from the movie, thoughts of the actors, and various anecdotes.

• "The People" section features statements, letters, interviews and photos from the families and wounded students - very effective in  personalizing the experience for the reader
• Other photos, telegrams and letters not seen elsewhere.

• Most of the May 4 photos are from other books; MAYDAY   is written on and around the photos, for some reason.
• The chronology of 1970-1980 events rehashes what is in other books; Payne could have used this space to expand other chapters.
• Included in the Appendix are an incomplete version of Governor Rhodes's May 3 speech and the discredited Portage County Grand Jury Report.

• First publication  of the Justice Department's secret summary of FBI findings on Kent State.

• Includes, for comparison, excerpts from the Knight Newspapers Report and the Portage Grand Jury Report.
• Stone's essays are very blunt and perceptive.

• No photos.
• Stone may be seen as to "liberal" by some.

What happens when twenty-five years after an event people come together to recall it? What happens when what they recall suddenly comes alive for them ? What happens when that event is the shooting of students on a Midwest college campus during the protests of the Viet Nam war?

NIGHTWALKING is an exploration of the memories surrounding one day in May of 1970 when four students were shot to death on a college campus. It is a dramatic chorus of testimonies and the trip back in time for one of the witnesses to his own family. Often non-linear, dream-like with a chorale quality, NIGHTWALKING brings us the reality of those days as the civil war gripped the country, and the truth that can still never be fully understood of the tragedy that stopped a campus ­ and a nation.

From the Back Cover:

At Kent State University on May 3-6, 1990, more than 300 poets from around the nation came together to remember the four students slain and nine wounded by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970, and the two students shot 10 days later at Jackson State College in Mississippi. Representing a wide range of aesthetic and political perspectives, the poets assembled to reflect on the tragedies and contribute to the healing process, an ancient function of poetry. Many had been involved in organizing readings against the Vietnam War and felt the events of May, 1970 signified a turning point in that war and in their own lives.

• First book published on May 4.
• Features reactions to May 4 by students and faculty: honest, emotional, first-hand accounts right after the shootings.

• Photos not seen in other May 4 books.
• Includes a  New York Times interview with eleven KSU students on their reactions to the shootings one week after the event.

• Sloppy, with topographical and factual errors.
• No later editions were published to correct these errors.

• Extensive photos on May 1-4, including a sequence on May 4 not seen elsewhere (except in Peter Davies' book later)'
• Background on student protests and the black movement.
• First comprehensive investigation on Kent State and Jackson State.

• Basis of factual knowledge for other reports and books.
• Good bibliography of books (sources for The Report and literature on campus unrest).

• Section on Jackson State is only one-third as long as the Kent State section.
• Jackson State section has few photos.
• Location of dead and wounded at Kent State is wrong (Map, p. 410).

• An attempt to understand May 4 from a communications standpoint, utilizing results from questionnaires and interviews with administrators, faculty and students of Kent State.
• Written by former Kent State faculty members.

• Candid comments by anonymous faculty and students; viewpoints not in other May 4 books.
• "Inside view" of Kent State policies and communications channels at the time.
• Good photos (by John Filo) in the appendix.

• Sections describing May 1-4 are sketchy and sometimes inaccurate.
• "Conclusions" chapter was short and sketchy; for some reason, recommendations resulting from the study were tucked away in the appendix.
• Photos of May 4 all in an appendix, with no descriptive matter. Photos were mostly seen in other books.

• A questionnaire method of obtaining the ideas and opinions of 7000 Kent State students.
• Written by Kent State faculty and students.

• There are sections for each day, along with student opinions on what happened and who was responsible. Included are sections on the causes of student unrest and the prevention of violence.
• Presentation of the data is simple; no confusing statistical analyses.
• All 200 questions asked of the students are included in the Appendix.
• Includes photos not in other books.

• Information on what happened each day is sketchy.
• Photos are either not identified, or miscaptioned. Some of the captions are hard to read. Photos are not in chronological order.
• Includes only the Portage County Grand Jury Report; other investigations,   such as the Knight Newspapers Report or the Scranton Commission Report should have been available for citation by the time this book was written.
• No index.

• An account of how  the Knight Newspapers, Inc. special report  was written.

• Graphic detail of the efforts made by each reporter to investigate May 4.
• Final essay, "The Need for Understanding", is an excellent summary of journalists' dilemmas in covering stories like this.

• Does not give detailed facts about May 4 in the text (but does reproduce the 30,000 word special report.

• A comparison of events at Kent State and Jackson State, with emphasis on their effects on the academic structures at those schools, and the implications for all of higher education.
• Prepared by a special committee of the American Association of University Professors.

• Compares the settings, antecedents of protests, events, and aftermaths, of Kent and Jackson State.
• Features Jackson State documents, such as the Hinds County Grand Jury Report and a statement from the mayor of Jackson, not seen elsewhere.
• Deals with implications for university governance, academic freedom, campus-community relations, freedom of expression, and the role of campus police, in light of Kent and Jackson State.

• Chronology of events is sketchy; this is not a primary source for information on what happened at Kent or Jackson State.
• No photos.
• Kent State is dealt with in greater detail than Jackson State.
• Some of the issues raised are dated.
• Title of book is indicative of the authors' refusal to attach responsibility for the events.