The Rebel in Autumn

At a small southern university in the late 1960s, the censorship of a story submitted to the college literary magazine turns a local dispute into a confrontation over authority and free expression. History professor Max Rainer argues that publishing the work would end the matter, but administrators and conservative interests treat the controversy as a challenge to the institution itself.

Student protest expands amid opposition to the Vietnam War, anger over racism and distrust of the police. Rainer is drawn into the conflict while his own conduct and relationships expose the compromises behind his public principles. As rhetoric hardens and officials prepare to restore order, the campus moves towards a violent climax that anticipates the confrontations defining American universities at the end of the decade.