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University of California Press

About the Book

A hinge moment in recent American history, 1995 was an exceptional year. Drawing on interviews, oral histories, memoirs, archival collections, and news reports, W. Joseph Campbell presents a vivid, detail-rich portrait of those memorable twelve months. This book offers fresh interpretations of the decisive moments of 1995, including the emergence of the Internet and the World Wide Web in mainstream American life; the bombing at Oklahoma City, the deadliest attack of domestic terrorism in U.S. history; the sensational “Trial of the Century,” at which O.J. Simpson faced charges of double murder; the U.S.-brokered negotiations at Dayton, Ohio, which ended the Bosnian War, Europe’s most vicious conflict since the Nazi era; and the first encounters at the White House between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, a liaison that culminated in a stunning scandal and the spectacle of the president’s impeachment and trial. As Campbell demonstrates in this absorbing chronicle, 1995 was a year of extraordinary events, a watershed at the turn of the millennium. The effects of that pivotal year reverberate still, marking the close of one century and the dawning of another.

About the Author

W. Joseph Campbell is Professor in the School of Communication at American University. He is the author of five other nonfiction books, including Getting It Wrong: Ten of the Greatest Misreported Stories in American Journalism (UC Press, 2010).

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Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction to an Improbable Year
1 • The Year of the Internet
2 • Terror in the Heartland, and a Wary America
3 • O.J., DNA, and the “Trial of the Century”
4 • Peace at Dayton and the “Hubris Bubble”
5 • Clinton Meets Lewinsky
Conclusion: The Long Reach of 1995
The Timeline of a Watershed Year: 1995
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index

Reviews

"A compulsively readable new book."
Reason
"A worthy, informative, and sporting attempt to convince us that the world we live in was crucially shaped by things that happened in 1995. . . . Campbell’s book draws our attention to the nineteen-nineties. And he’s right when he points out that the decade is pretty much ignored."
New Yorker
"One of the country’s best media watchers has turned his attention to some major reporting debacles, missteps and missed opportunities which have had continuing repercussions over the past 20 years."
Washington Times
"A remarkable book. . . . Campbell’s intense commitment to his material brings it to life. He’s a persuasive writer with an excellent sense of detail and a knack for narrative. Even those who clearly remember 1995, and know how major events turned out, will find his book illuminating."
National Post
"Campbell makes the case that 1995 was a watershed year."
National Journal
"Well-written and entertaining . . . This book offers brilliantly concise examinations, coupled with a fascinating introduction and concluding time line."
CHOICE
"Deep, exhaustively sourced . . . [engages] the reader's humanity as well as intellect." 
Journalism History
"An eventful year, 1995, and one instructive to look back upon."
Maclean's
"Campbell writes a clear-eyed examination of the pop and political happenings of a single year in the 1990s."
Book Riot
"This book is excellent!"
Internet History Podcast
"This book is essential reading."—Bomani Jones

"W. Joseph Campbell has done a magnificent job revisiting a year we all think we remember well and convincing us that so much of what us distinctive about our current age sprouted in 1995."—Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of The Googlization of Everything (and Why We Should Worry

Awards

  • Sidney Kobre Award for Lifetime Achievement 2024 2024, American Journalism Historians Association