David Halberstam was an American journalist and historian renowned for his incisive reporting on pivotal moments in American history, from the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement to the inner workings of media and business. He possessed a remarkable talent for dissecting the paradoxes of power, exploring how exceptionally intelligent and well-connected individuals could nonetheless contribute to significant national failures. Halberstam's work is characterized by its deep investigative nature and a narrative style that uncovers the underlying forces shaping society and major historical events. His unique approach offered readers a profound understanding of complex issues and the human element within them.
Tells the story of eight young people who, inspired by workshops on nonviolence, decided to become involved in the fight against segregation during the 1960s, beginning with staged sit-ins at Nashville lunch counters, and progressing to ever more dangerous actions on behalf of the civil rights movements.
New York Times Bestseller: “A historical overview of the auto industry in the United States and Japan [and] the gradual decline of U.S. manufacturing” (Library Journal). After generations of creating high-quality automotive products, American industrialists began losing ground to the Japanese auto industry in the decades after World War II. David Halberstam, with his signature precision and absorbing narrative style, traces this power shift by delving into the boardrooms and onto the factory floors of the America’s Ford Motor Company and Japan’s Nissan. Different in every way—from their reactions to labor problems to their philosophies and leadership styles—the two companies stand as singular testaments to the challenges brought by the rise of the global economy. From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Fifties and The Coldest Winter, and filled with intriguing vignettes about Henry Ford, Lee Iacocca, and other visionary industrial leaders, The Reckoning remains a powerful and enlightening story about manufacturing in the modern age, and how America fell woefully behind.
The most arresting photographic images in our history-all the way up to the World Trade Center tragedy and the 2002 war in Afghanistan-come to life in this complete compilation of Pulitzer Prize-winning news and feature photos, along with the stories behind them
Up until now, the Korean War has been the black-hole of modern American history. This book changes that, giving readers a masterful narrative of the political decisions and miscalculations on both sides. It tells the individual stories of the soldiers on the front, who were left to deal with the consequences of such judgements.
During the 1990s basketball star Michael Jordan became famous as the world's most compelling and charismatic sportsman. During Jordan's reign the game transformed itself into an industry. The money was huge, and the players became celebrities. This is the story of Michael Jordan.
Snare drum backbeat plus electric guitar: the simple formula that launched the rock star, and contemporary teen culture along with it. Today, rock 'n' roll seems to define postwar American culture, especially in its impact abroad. Though its inception is often imagined as sudden and seismic, it was, of course, a gradual and complex transition from boogie-woogie to the stardom of Elvis Presley and Bill Haley. A thorough survey of rock 'n' roll's bloodline would even reach back as far as 1939, a time when the electric guitar's role was mostly played by piano or saxophone. "Rock 'n' Roll 39-59" does this, with the assistance of some of the genre's finest photographers. Bruce Davidson, Wayne Miller, Robert W. Kelley, Esther Bubley, Eve Arnold and Ernest C. Withers are all here, amid a wealth of visual props, including priceless period posters, records, rare souvenirs, photographs and film stills, and indices of the movement's key venues, events, artists, producers and people. This book describes a lively mess of genres, from boogie-woogie to blues, gospel, big band jazz, country and, most of all, rhythm and blues--interbreeding against a backdrop of colossal social change, and culminating in the rock 'n' roll explosion of the mid-1950s.
Highlighting the finest sports journalism of the twentieth century, this collection features renowned writers such as A. J. Liebling, Hunter S. Thompson, and Frank Deford. It includes iconic pieces like Richard Ben Cramer's "What Do You Think of Ted Williams Now?" and Bob Considine's "Louis Knocks Out Schmeling," capturing significant moments in various sports including baseball and boxing. Edited by David Halberstam, this anthology not only showcases remarkable sports writing but also reflects the cultural significance of sports throughout the century.
The Breaks of the Game focuses on one grim season (1979–80) in the life of the Bill Walton–led Portland Trail Blazers, a team that only three years before had been NBA champions. As Halberstam follows this collection of men through the months, through the losing streaks and occasional victories, the endless trips and the brutal schedules, we come to know them and their world--the other players, coaches, and owners; the competition, drafts, trades, and traditions; the wives, the fans, the media connections--a world of grand dreams, impossible expectations, and bracing realities. The tactile authenticity of Halberstam's knowledge of the basketball world is unrivaled. Yet he is writing here about far more than just basketball. This is a story about a place in our society where power, money, and talent collide and sometimes corrupt, a place where both national obsessions and naked greed are exposed. It's about the influence of big media, the fans and the hype they subsist on, the clash of ethics, the terrible physical demands of modern sports (from drugs to body size), the unreal salaries, the conflicts of race and class, and the consequences of sport converted into mass entertainment and athletes transformed into superstars--all presented in a way that puts the reader in the room and on the court, and The Breaks of the Game in a league of its own.
In The Powers That Be, theologian and biblical scholar Walter Wink helps us reformulate our ancient concepts - such as God and Satan, angels and demons, principalities and powers - in light of what we now know. Wink's theology is shaped as much by his study of the Bible as by his involvement in the civil rights movement and the fight against apartheid in South Africa. The result is nothing less than a new worldview, one that will help us address the problems of the present and meet the challenges of the future. The Powers That Be is as concerned with salvation as with justice, as relevant for our spiritual selves as for our political lives. Wink closely examines "the Powers, " and by exposing them for what they are in true prophetic fashion, levels a mighty blow against them.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist comes “the best Jordan book so far” ( The Washington Post ), the story of Michael Jordan’s legendary years with the Chicago Bulls, capped by the 1998 NBA Finals and the team’s second three-peat.From The Breaks of the Game to Summer of ’49, David Halberstam has brought the perspective of a great historian, the insider knowledge of a dogged sportswriter, and the love of a fan to bear on some of the most mythic players and teams in the annals of American sports. With Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls he has given himself the greatest challenge and produced his greatest triumph.In Playing for Keeps, Halberstam takes the first full measure of Michael Jordan’s epic career, one of the great American stories of our time. A narrative of astonishing power and human drama, brimming with revealing anecdotes and penetrating insights, the book chronicles the forces in Jordan’s life that have shaped him in to history’s greatest basketball player and the larger forces that have converged to make him the most famous living human being in the world.
David Halberstam’s masterpiece offers a profound exploration of America’s involvement in Vietnam, featuring a new Foreword by Senator John McCain. Through vivid portraits of flawed policymakers and the forces shaping their decisions, this work addresses the critical question of why the U.S. became entrenched in Vietnam and ultimately faced defeat. As a definitive account, it remains an American classic that has never been surpassed. Critics have praised it as the most comprehensive narrative of America’s Vietnam engagement, likening it to an epic tale of the American empire and the nation’s quest for its idealistic identity. The Boston Globe describes it as akin to an Alfred Hitchcock thriller, while the Los Angeles Times highlights its emotional depth, capturing the overwhelming events of a distant war filled with illusions, myths, and the complexities of human nature. The Washington Post Book World calls it a captivating story of folly and self-deception, portraying the political climate of the era with sharp insight. Newsweek commends its ambitious scope and Halberstam’s exceptional execution, deeming it a necessary read. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch emphasizes its importance, asserting that it is a story every American should engage with.
An account of the 1964 World Series baseball championship between the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals.
"The freer we are … the stronger we are," writes David Halberstam in this probing compilation of original essays which distill the essence of America, an evergreen subject rendered even more timely by recent world events that highlight cultural clashes and prompt us not just to reconsider foreign attitudes and aspirations but to think anew about our own. Each chapter explores fundamental qualities, concepts and accomplishments that shape the American character: the sheer size of our country; the legendary events of our history; the heroes, villains, and icons of our national mythology; our enduring dream of a meritocratic society; and the unmistakable spirit that defines us both to ourselves and the rest of the world. Halberstam's keen observations introduce richly varied contributions by distinguished and eloquent commentators like Russell Baker, Ben Bradlee, James Fallows, Cynthia Gorney, Vartan Gregorian, and Janet Maslin, among others, who consider everything from Manifest Destiny to the McCarthy hearings and from Paul Revere's midnight gallop to John Wayne's classic cowboy riding tall through the American Century. Inspiring, enlightening, and enhanced by more than 300 photographs and illustrations, this wide-ranging collection provides thought-provoking, often surprising insights into how today's America took shape, who we are as a nation now, and where our country is headed.
Bush, Clinton and the generals
"Halberstam evokes the internecine conflicts, the untrammeled egos, and the struggles for dominance among the key figures in the White House, the State Department, and the military.
"The Best and the Brightest" was David Halberstam's classic account of how America became involved in Vietnam. In "War in a Time of Peace", he brilliantly evokes the internecine conflicts, the untrammelled egos, and the struggles for dominance among the key figures in the White House, the State department, and the military in the post-Soviet period. He shows how in the last ten years the Vietnam war has shaped American politics and policy makers and especially the decisions of men who served in the war, such as General Colin Powell and presidential advisors Richard Holbrooke and Anthony Lake as well as those who did not. Sweeping in scope and impressive in its depth, "War in a Time of Peace" provides fascinating portraits of the main players including Clinton, Bush, Reagan and Kissinger and a stunning view of what lies behind the US government over which George W. Bush now presides. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand America in the twenty-first century. "Halbertsam's most important book, more ambitious and revealing than "The Best and the Brightest" Just as Vietnam was the test case for our elders, the Balkans and other tragic conflicts became the proving ground for the Bush and Clinton administrations. What Halberstam has written is nothing less than a "War and Peace" for our generation" - Leslie H. Gelb, President, Council on Foreign Relations.
A revealing portrait of a once-in-a-generation athlete and global icon One of sport's biggest superstars, Michael Jordan is more than an internationally renowned athlete. As illuminated through David Halberstam's trademark balance of impeccable research and fascinating storytelling, Jordan symbolizes the apex of the National Basketball Association's coming of age. Long before multimillion-dollar signings and lucrative endorsements, NBA players worked in relative obscurity, with most games woefully unattended and rarely broadcast on television. Then came Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, Jordan's two great predecessors, and the game's status changed. The new era capitalized on Jordan's talent, will power, and unrivaled competiveness. In "Playing for Keeps," Halberstam is at his investigative best, delving into Jordan's expansive world of teammates and coaches. The result is a gripping story of the athlete and media powerhouse who changed a game forever. This ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.
David Halberstam ve své rozsáhlé práci dokazuje, že na první pohled nevýrazná etapa padesátých let je pro Ameriku i pro svět mnohem důležitější. Právě v padesátých letech se rodila americká moderní politika: tehdy se diskutovalo o tom, zda vyrábět stále mocnější zbraně hromadného ničení, tehdy se hledaly cesty, jak čelit komunismu. Nešlo jen o ideové nebo morální a politické otázky: v padesátých letech se masově rozšířila televize, která zásadně změnila způsob vedení politického boje a především životy průměrných Američanů. Ve stejné dekádě začaly pronikat do lidského života počítače. Halberstam rozvážně, ale přesvědčivě dokazuje, že v amerických padesátých letech je třeba hledat kořeny mnoha jevů a věcí, které se posléze rozšířily do celého světa, dopomohly Americe, ale například i západní Evropě k současnému bohatství a v důsledku předznamenaly i globalizaci se všemi problémy, které jsou s ní spojeny. Ve svém vyprávění načrtává mnoho portrétů slavných i méně známých postav amerického politického, vojenského, kulturního i obchodního života.
