The Fifties by David Halberstam Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Fifties
Book Review: A Decade to Remember
Summary: 5 Stars
What a book! Halberstam does a great job bringing a decade, thought by many to be quite boring, alive. He states that the 50's were the beginning of social upheaval and then he proves it very well. Don't let the size of the book intimidate you, it is an easy read. Once you begin you will be caught up in the era and not want to stop. As a young person who did not know much about the 50's, I have since become enthralled with the decade due in large part to the great writing of Halberstam. I would suggest this book to anyone with a love for both social and political history.Book Review: A GREAT INSIGHT FOR ANYONE WHO DIDN'T LIVE IN THE 50'S
Summary: 4 Stars
I learned so much about the decade of the 50's in this book! Everyone knows a lot about the 1960's, but the 50's also have some great stories to tell. From politics, McDonald's, and Korea to the beginning of TV, Halberstam covers it all.If you like non-fiction, this is a good one.
Book Review: A Guided Tour through the 1950's!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book examines the social, political and world developments that occurred in the United States during the 1950s. This is a wonderful, highly readable book that is rich in detail about a remarkable decade in history. The world changed in unpredictable ways in the 50's and Halberstam touches upon most of the major developments. This book makes clear how many novel developments of the 1950's have become an inseparable part of the fabric of today's society.This decade was a time of rapid change in which new social patterns were established. With World War II just a few years in the past, and he fruits of wartime research and development, Americans found new experiences such as television, along with uncomfortable issues such as atomic and hydrogen bombs and intercontinental missiles. Halberstam weaves a mosaic of this era by treating individual topics in each chapter. He describes the seeds of the Cold War and the Truman presidency. The tragic tale of Robert Oppenheimer, the brilliant leader of the Manhattan Project, who becomes embroiled in the era's hunt for communists is described. The rise of Joseph McCarthy, and the unbridled ambition that destroyed many lives and ultimately destroyed McCarthy. The American intervention in Korea is covered, along with Gen. Mc Arthur. The entry of China into the struggle changes the strategy, and had such a lasting effects into the 21st century. The development of the hydrogen bomb, and the first computers are highlighted. Curtis LeMay establishes the Strategic Air Command to be on constant alert to unleash nuclear destruction. Eisenhower and Khrushchev come into power, and the French are embroiled in Indochina (Viet Nam). The Russians launch Sputnik, and the US is embarrassed by Vanguard. Near the end of the decade Castro overthrows Batista and establishes Cuba as a communist regime. Gary Powers in the U-2 is shot down, and Richard Nixon prepares to run for President.
Seemingly small changes in society occur that have lasting influences. The beginning of such cultural watersheds as suburban housing (Levittown), motel chains (Holiday Inn) and fast food (McDonald's) all had their roots in the 1950's, and are all examined. The beginning of the Civil Rights movement, the rise of Elvis Presley and Rock and Roll, and the American automobile, designed with oversized fins by Harley Earl are also in these pages. A wild, tumultuous and vastly entertaining ride!
Book Review: A Lesser Halberstam Work
Summary: 3 Stars
I enjoyed David Halberstam's "The Powers That Be" and "The Coldest Winter," and I was looking forward again to his simple elegant writing in "The Fifties." I was first struck by how badly written the book was -- the book seemed rushed, and indeed there are a lot of spelling and grammatical errors in the book. But I was even more struck by the fact that Halberstam really did try to write everything that happened in the fifties.
The fifties marked the re-birth of a nation. The middle-class exploded, and middle-class values became more pervasive and entrenched. Levittowns were summoned from farmland, creating bastions of middle-class conformity and blandness, all reinforced by television shows such as "Leave it to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best." Successful entrepreneurship meant meeting the needs of the burgeoning middle-class, and that led to the rise of MacDonald's, General Motors, and the like. Resisting this cookie-cutter banality would be a new generation of thinkers and rebels. Not just troubled writers such as Tennessee Williams and Alan Ginsberg and movie icons such as Marlon Brando, but also feminist icons such as Betty Friedan and Margaret Sanger. America at that time worked itself into a frenzy over McCarthyism and the Red Scare, and whatever political innocence and civility the country might have had went away.
This book is long and sprawling, and so it's uneven and readers will feel compelled to skip so chapters now and then (although Halberstam does discuss certain characters -- such as Oppenheimer and MacArthur -- over several chapters).
Book Review: A Page-Turner
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the best books I've ever read. Covers McCarthyism and red-baiting; the Eisenhower Presidency; the civil rights movement; the Beat Poets; Marilyn Monroe; Martin Luther King; TV; Elvis; Sputnik; Nixon; the Cold War...