Top 5 Books of 1960

The 1960s were a time of great change for America. A significant counterculture grew out of this era that was influenced by the beatniks and eventually led to the hippie subculture. The literature at the beginning of this decade reflects this climate of change, producing works that comment on aspects of counterculture and about American society as a whole. The top five books of 1960, according to the New York Times Best Sellers list, provide insight into what people were particularly interested in as the decade began.

May This House be Safe from Tigers

This Alexander King novel was a bestseller in 1960, selling 1,500 copies a day at its peak. The protagonist of the book is Author King, an oddball himself who gains wisdom and insight from those he encounters. He hates the beatniks; the novel speaks volumes about the culture of the 60s.

This is Joy Adamson's memoir about her travels to Africa and her adventures as the surrogate mother of Elsa, a lioness cup who was orphaned. This book has long been targeted at younger readers in order to raise their environmental awareness. A film adaptation of the memoir was released in 1966 starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers.

This book by William L. Shirer is a history of Nazi Germany that covers 1933 through 1945. Shirer bases his history on captured Nazi documents, the journals of Joseph Goebbels, minister of propaganda to Hitler, testimonies given during the Nuremberg, and his own recollections of reportage of the Third Reich. It was critically acclaimed and won the National Book Award and the Carey-Thomas award for non-fiction. It was made into a TV miniseries in 1966.

Vance Packard was a prolific social commentator from the 1950s though the 70s. This book deals with the rampant industrialization of American society after World War II. Materialism, he argues, is degrading our society and will eventually lead to ruin. This work of non-fiction was written to be an expose providing insight into the industrialization of America and the growing consumerism in the country.

This critically acclaimed bestseller and Pulitzer Prize winner was published in 1960. It was Harper Lee's first and only novel. It tells the tale of Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the fictional small town of Maycomb, Alabama, who defends Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape. The story is told through the eyes and voice of Atticus's daughter, Scout, who is 10 years old when the events of the novel take place.