Loading...
123rd out of 456 books
—
63 voters
My rating:
add to my books
The Fifties
The Fifties is a sweeping social, political, economic, and cultural history of the ten years that Halberstam regards as seminal in determining what our nation is today. Halberstam offers portraits of not only the titans of the age: Eisenhower Dulles, Oppenheimer, MacArthur, Hoover, and Nixon, but also of Harley Earl, who put fins on cars; Dick and Mac McDonald and Ray Kroc...more
Paperback, 816 pages
Published
May 10th 1994
by Ballantine Books
(first published 1993)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
1,314)
I just love this book. I've read it before but I have it on my nightstand now, probably as a result of the confluence between "Mad Men" being back on AMC (oh my goodness, WHAT is going on with Betty?!) and my parents' ongoing Great PreDeath Cleanout of Books. It's a great book for just dipping into and reading; you can easily skip around, and/or just read the chapters that intrigue you. I have to say I find the book rather slapdash in that sense--the chapters usually are stand-alone es...more
view 1 comment
I finally finished this massive tome (730 pages) after borrowing it from my future father-in-law around Christmas.
The good: It's an often fascinating look at the culture, politics, and society of the 1950s. Many things we now take for granted (fast food, Elvis, the 'burbs, TV news and game shows, etc) are traced back to their beginnings in this decade. I absolutely loved those chapters.
The bad: Parts of this book desperately needed a good editor. There are many missing words,...more
The good: It's an often fascinating look at the culture, politics, and society of the 1950s. Many things we now take for granted (fast food, Elvis, the 'burbs, TV news and game shows, etc) are traced back to their beginnings in this decade. I absolutely loved those chapters.
The bad: Parts of this book desperately needed a good editor. There are many missing words,...more
This is a comprehensive history of post-World War II America, covering political, economic, and social developments of the period. The book is very accessible to the general reader, and the author does a good job of showing how the 1950s represented both continuity and change in American life. My only complaint about the book is its organization; the chapters ranged from politics to economics to social life and then back to politics again. I think the book could have been arranged topically, ...more
Always liked Halberstam's style, makes history real fun reading. Areas I really liked
were the start of the franchises that we take today as just being part of the
woodwork, and often derisively so.
However when McDonalds, Holiday Inn and the like got started there was
a real need for their services, a clean, cheap place to feed the family, and
reliable place to stay. Fascinating how they grew and grew. I recall
going on an Indian Guides field trip wh...more
I tried. I really did. I wanted to be a good person and finish this book. But I just couldn't....I just got too bogged down in the details, and I think that I really needed the Cliff's Notes version. The writing was good, but the subject matter just wasn't for me. I still feel the shame.
This was a remarkable sweeping description of an entire decade that shaped postwar America. Political, Entertainment, and Industrial changes that propelled America into the role of global superpower. I loved how Halberstam weaved together all the threads that made the fabric of the world in which we live. From nuclear research to Milton Berle, from Eisenhower to McDonald's, from the creation of hotel chains starting with Holiday Inn to the grand investigations into communism at every level o...more
ENORMOUSLY ENJOYABLE.
“It was, in fact, an astonishing age of abundance…”—page 496
Reading David Halberstam’s book, ‘The Fifties,’ was like visiting with a long lost friend. The memories weren’t always pleasant, but they were always precious. Pity the reader who wouldn’t like to revisit the greatest decade in the history of forever: the decade that bracketed most of their teenage years.
Recommendation: For anyone who [fondly] remembers the 1950s; even those of us w...more
“It was, in fact, an astonishing age of abundance…”—page 496
Reading David Halberstam’s book, ‘The Fifties,’ was like visiting with a long lost friend. The memories weren’t always pleasant, but they were always precious. Pity the reader who wouldn’t like to revisit the greatest decade in the history of forever: the decade that bracketed most of their teenage years.
Recommendation: For anyone who [fondly] remembers the 1950s; even those of us w...more
I really liked this book, although it wasn't quite as good as I expected. It made a good trip down memory lane, though!
I loved this social, cultural, political, and economic history of the 1950s. Each of the chapters can stand alone and readers can read all 730 pages straight through or skip around to find topics of their interest. The rise of the Cold War, the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement, the growth of suburbs, McDonald's, Holiday Inns, rock and roll, Eisenhower, and McCarthy--it's all in here. The stories range from entertaining, to depressing, to uplifting and the mini-biographies are fascinati...more
This is a gigantic book. Halberstam cycles through the political, military, social, technological and cultural history of the decade. In particular, he hits on Truman, Eisenhower, the Korean war, McCarthyism, General Motors, Television, nuclear weapons and the civil rights movement. Remarkably, it all weaves together into a seamlessly readable story. As Halberstam was a journalist, it tends to touch on the role of the press in most of the events of the decade. The list of author interviews that ...more
This thing read like a college textbook. There was no storytelling whatsoever; just a bunch of facts I'd already learned from a college textbook. I had expected a bit more dramatic narrative because I'd read Halberstam's earlier book, 1964, and really enjoyed it. This book was OK but it just seemed dry by comparison. I did learn some random trivia about Peyton Place author Grace Metalious, so you can bet I'll figure out a way to work her into my next cocktail party small talk: "You kno...more
This is one of the best and most entertaining history books I have ever read. It covers more than just the fifties, though. It starts in the forties with the seeds of those changes and trends that shaped our culture during the fifties and goes into the early part of the sixties and ends with the beginnings of the flower power revolution.
It is a very long book. It covers so much it has to be. I recommend reading this as an ebook because the trade paperback is rather heavy. You will not regre...more
It is a very long book. It covers so much it has to be. I recommend reading this as an ebook because the trade paperback is rather heavy. You will not regre...more
There is more to the 1950s than "Leave it to Beaver"
The Good
This book is a clear, engaging and provocative look at a time that is usually overlooked in favor of the 1960s (i.e. Civil Rights) and the 1940s (i.e. World War II). To be honest, I knew next to nothing about this time period, my entire view predicated on shows like "Leave it to Beaver" (both as an example of the times and the knowledge that life was nothing like it). Halberstam does an overview o...more
The Good
This book is a clear, engaging and provocative look at a time that is usually overlooked in favor of the 1960s (i.e. Civil Rights) and the 1940s (i.e. World War II). To be honest, I knew next to nothing about this time period, my entire view predicated on shows like "Leave it to Beaver" (both as an example of the times and the knowledge that life was nothing like it). Halberstam does an overview o...more
Erik Graff
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Americans
Recommended to Erik by:
no one
Shelves:
history
Everything I've ever read by David Halberstam has been rewarding and everything, except his early and probably most important book, The Best and the Brightest, has been a sheer pleasure. The Best and the Brightest reads most like an academic history. His other history books are more popular in their style, flowing like collections of short stories on a single theme.
The Fifties interested me because that was Dad's decade. He was in his thirties, done with school, back from Europe w...more
The Fifties interested me because that was Dad's decade. He was in his thirties, done with school, back from Europe w...more
My parents grew up in the fifties, and what I knew of it from their attitudes, those of their parents, and also the memories of both. In David Halberstam's hulking book about the decade, The Fifties, he describes the peaceful, simpler time my family remembered: "The fifties were captured in black and white, most often by still photographers; by contrast, the decade that followed was, more often than not, caught in living color on tape or film. Not surprisingly, in retrospect the pace of ...more
This book is nothing short of amazing to me - an epic adventure ride into a decade that was fascinating politically, socially, and culturally. The 60s get all the attention, but Halberstam wrote this book to show how the seeds of the 60s were planted in the 50s.
What makes the 50s even more powerful, as shown by Halberstam, is the way the revolutionary spirit of the decade was glossed over by, or even a reaction to, the extreme conventiality of the decade. The fifties is a decade of ...more
What makes the 50s even more powerful, as shown by Halberstam, is the way the revolutionary spirit of the decade was glossed over by, or even a reaction to, the extreme conventiality of the decade. The fifties is a decade of ...more
Vast and very readable. Sometimes the transitions between chapters were very abrupt; I felt like I was reading a series of stories linked only by the fact they happened in the same 10-year period. In the end, it lacked the feeling of "historical sweep" (that was one of the best parts of, for example, Milton Viorst's "Fire in the Streets". I guess the issue is that Halberstam was trying to cram many aspects of this era-- politics, culture and commerce-- into a single book. It ...more
David Halberstam was a giant in my opinion and I have loved every book he ever wrote, including the ones about baseball!!! This window on the era of bomb shelters and President Eisenhower is just stunning. If you remember the 1950s, as I do, it is like time travel.....if you don't remember the 1950s, you will after reading this book. The book has a style that I would call comfortable.........Halberstam was a true storyteller as well as a great historian of the American experience.
Magisterial, to use an overused word. I haven't read other books by Halberstam but plan to remedy that immediately. This book goes roughly chronological through the decade, each chapter is a nearly self-contained profile of a person (Kinsey, McCarthy, Marilyn Monroe, Oppenheimer, King, MacArthur, Elvis, William Levitt, dozens more) or event that had an impact on American politics, pop culture, science, literature, and music. He's a terrific writer, the book is dense but flows beautifully. It too...more
My most favorite reading assignment in college and a great read for anyone interested in an excellent, captivating "summary" of that decade. If you're not much of a history buff - it was way more than cars and poodle skirts. I had a week to read this book but I finished it in less than 36 hours because it was fascinating and superbly written. I sat up all night on a Saturday because I couldn't put it down. How many 21 year-olds can say that? Don't answer! ;-)
Helped me understand what my parents young adult life was like, and the earliest part of my childhood that I don't remember. My default reaction to books like this one is positive, but for anyone over 40 an curious to get a sense for what life was like for the generation that made all of this possible, you ought to read it.
After you do, you will no longer wonder why your mother or grandmother is still a bit confused by cell phones and computers!
After you do, you will no longer wonder why your mother or grandmother is still a bit confused by cell phones and computers!
Halberstam writes beautifully. I was born in the Fifties, so I feel a special connection to the decade; it felt helpful to read about what was going on in the country during my earliest years. The chapters can easily be read independently. Each provides insight into a remarkable thing that happened in that particular decade.
Had to read this for a class a few years back, and what first appeared to be a dry tome turned into a fascinating piece of journalism and cultural history. I find myself thinking about things I read in this all the time. Or mostly when I watch Mad Men.
I really liked this book. I used to own it, and it ended up with an ex of mine. I miss the book more than I miss the ex. The kicker here is that I know it's still in the trunk of his car and that he never did- and probably never will- read it.
I read this book and loved it. I enjoy understand the foundations of the world we live in today and understanding the highway origins its effects, suburbia, levitttown, etc. It was all terribly interesting.
First, I can read anything David Halberstam wrote. What an amazing decade, and how much of current life was born in those years. I thought the 60's were influential, nothing compared to the 50s.
The Fifties starts "In the beginning, that era was dominated by the shadow of a man no longer there--Franklin D Roosevelt." The phrasing is fitting because, in its epic scope, in its cast of thousands, in the way it swings from chronicling the struggles and triumphs of little people (like Dick and Maurice McDonald, sons of a shoe-factory worker who'd go on to make millions of children fat) to those of rulers and generals (like Douglas MacArthur, whose mother got him most of his promoti...more
Very interesting book that looks at the causes and affects of events that took part in the 5o's and helped shape our world. Each chapter is on a different event or topic.
If you want to understand the conflict in the United States today (2011), you should start at the latest with the 1950's. This is an excellent place to start.
For starters, I really do not care for recent history very much; maybe that is why I had difficulty with this book. I was able to force myself to continue through roughly half, but had to give up. At our book club meeting last month, a fellow member said that if one chapter gives you “a hard time,” then just skip to the next (as it will be about a different topic). Even doing this, I ran out of patience. Maybe one day I will be in a better mood, but for now, I think I will pass on finishing ...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers Also Enjoyed
David Halberstam (April 10, 1934–April 23, 2007) was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author known for his early work on the Vietnam War and his later sports journalism.
Halberstam graduated from Harvard University with a degree in journalism in 1955 and started his career writing for the Daily Times Leader in West Point, Mississippi. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, ...more
More about David Halberstam...
Halberstam graduated from Harvard University with a degree in journalism in 1955 and started his career writing for the Daily Times Leader in West Point, Mississippi. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, ...more
Share This Book
2 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
