Rads: The 1970 Bombing of the Army Math Research Center at the University of Wisconsin and Its Aftermath

New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992. First edition. First edition [stated]. First printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/good. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. xviii, [4], 465, [7] p. Illustrations. Map. Cast of Characters. Index. Black mark at bottom edge. DJ has wear and soiling. Tom Bates was a history professor and journalist who chronicled the 1970 fatal bombing at the University of Wisconsin in his book "Rads." Bates, was a former senior editor of the Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine. In his 1992 book, "Rads: The 1970 Bombing of the Army Math Research Center at the University of Wisconsin and Its Aftermath," Bates wrote about history as he had experienced it. He was on the Wisconsin campus as a graduate student at the time of the bombing, and two years later would be fired from his first teaching position for protesting the Vietnam War. The book details events and politics of the 1960s leading up to the bombing, which killed a young postdoctoral researcher and caused $6 million in damage to 26 campus buildings. Three men, Karl and Dwight Armstrong and David Fine, were captured and served prison sentences. The fourth, Leo Burt, has not been seen in 29 years. A Times book reviewer, Elinor Langer, concluded that Bates' book was "a braided narrative that is part biography and part true crime." The Sterling Hall Bombing that occurred on the University of Wisconsin Madison campus on August 24, 1970 was committed by four young people as a protest against the University's research connections with the US military during the Vietnam War. It resulted in the death of a university physics researcher and injuries to three others. The bombers were Karleton Armstrong, Dwight Armstrong, David Fine, and Leo Burt. They called themselves the "New Year's Gang", a name which was derived from a previous exploit from New Year's Eve 1969. Before the Sterling Hall bombing, Karl committed several other acts of terrorism, including arson attacks on ROTC installation at the Red Gym and one meant for the state Selective Service headquarters which instead hit the UW Primate Research Center. Karl also attempted to plant explosives at the Prairie du Sac electric substation which supplied power to the ammunition plant, but was frightened off by the night watchman.