Posted on September 1, 2011 by David Wayne

Summing up the decade of the 1960s takes more than a book. Over the past couple of years, two Columbus State Community College instructors have edited a comprehensive collection of those turbulent times. From the Vietnam War and Civil Rights movement to the Beatles and flower power, Encyclopedia of the Sixties: A Decade of Culture and Counterculture covers the era with more than 1,100 pages of text and photographs.

Western Civilization instructors James Baugess and Abbe DeBolt have spent two years compiling more than 500 entries for the collection. A third instructor, Dr. Marilyn Howard, a key contributor, wrote nearly two dozen entries in her areas of expertise: African-American history and popular culture.

Baugess says, "I had only contributed three entries when the original editor failed to produce a manuscript. Greenwood Press, the original publisher, asked me to start the project from the beginning. The new publisher, ABC-Clio, wanted it in two years time and I knew I could not go it alone. That's why I brought in Abbe DeBolt as co-editor.  Abbe's expertise in art and her background in international affairs proved invaluable."

The two-volume encyclopedia will be published on December 31, 2011, and retail for $189.00. Pre-publication sales have begun on Amazon.com.