A very informative and (to my eye at least) comprehensive account of the rise of the Students for a Democratic Society to its spectacular crash and metamorphosis into the Weather Underground.

A lot of the information was new to me, from SDS's start as the Student League for Industrial Democracy (SLID), the university wing of the League for Industrial Democracy (LID), both of whom suffer from unfortunate acronyms, so it was no surprise that Students for a Democratic Society was quickly preferred. SDS's rise to prominence is well covered and, like anyone who has been involved in a student organisation, you could foresee and empathise with SDS members the problems they would face, and it's still difficult to countenance the non-violent activism of the early SDS to the bomb-making, Leary gaol-busting organisation it became.

Although out of date now, especially with regards to SDS member Bill Ayres's connection to the current US President, it's definitely worth a read to get a basic, thorough understanding of this once-feared organisation. ( )

About the rise and fall of SDS, from a very straight intellectual discussion group run by Robert's Rules of Order to the Weathermen.