David Halberstam’s masterpiece, the defining history of the making of the Vietnam tragedy"A rich, entertaining, and profound reading experience.”—The New York TimesUsing portraits of America’s flawed policy makers and accounts of the forces that drove them, The Best and the Brightest reckons magnificently with the most important abiding question of our country’s recent history: Why did America become mired in Vietnam, and why did we lose? As the definitive single-volume answer to that question, this enthralling book has never been superseded. It is an American classic.Praise for The Best and the Brightest“The most comprehensive saga of how America became involved in Vietnam. . . . It is also the Iliad of the American empire and the Odyssey of this nation’s search for its idealistic soul. The Best and the Brightest is almost like watching an Alfred Hitchcock thriller.”—The Boston Globe“Deeply moving . . . We cannot help but feel the compelling power of this narrative. . . . Dramatic and tragic, a chain of events overwhelming in their force, a distant war embodying illusions and myths, terror and violence, confusions and courage, blindness, pride, and arrogance.”—Los Angeles Times“A fascinating tale of folly and self-deception . . . [An] absorbing, detailed, and devastatingly caustic tale of Washington in the days of the Caesars.”—The Washington Post Book World“Seductively readable . . . It is a staggeringly ambitious undertaking that is fully matched by Halberstam’s performance. . . . This is in all ways an admirable and necessary book.”—Newsweek“A story every American should read.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Crackling with the personalities, conflicts, and ambitions that transformed the media from something that followed the news to something that formed it, The Powers That Be is David Halberstam's forceful account of the rise of modern media as an instrument of political power, published here with a new introduction by the author.  Beginning with FDR's masterful use of radio to establish the sense of a personal, benevolently paternal relationship with the American people and culminating in the discovery and coverage of the Watergate break-in, Halberstam tracks the firm establishment of the media as a potent means of shaping both public opinion and public policy. He tells the story through vivid, intimate portraits of the men, women, and politics behind four key media organizations: CBS and its board chairman William S. Paley; Time magazine and its cofounder Henry Luce; the Washington Post and successive publishers Philip Graham and his wife, Katherine; and the Los Angeles Times and publishers Norman Chandler and his son, Otis.

Up until now, the Korean War has been the black hole of modern American history. The Coldest Winter changes that, giving readers a masterful narrative of the political decisions and miscalculations on both sides. He charts the disastrous path that led to the massive entry of Chinese forces near the Yalu, and that caught Douglas MacArthur and his soldiers by surprise. He provides astonishingly vivid and nuanced portraits of all the major figures -- Eisenhower, Truman, Acheson, Kim, and Mao, and Generals MacArthur, Almond, and Ridgway. At the heart of the book are the individual stories of the soldiers on the front lines who were left to deal with the consequences of the dangerous misjudgments and competing agendas of powerful men. We meet them, follow them, and see some of the most dreadful battles in history through their eyes. As ever, Halberstam was concerned with the extraordinary courage and resolve of people asked to bear an extraordinary burden. Contemporary history in its most literary and luminescent form, The Coldest Winter provides crucial perspective on the Vietnam War and the events of today.

One of the most influential leaders of the twentieth century, Ho Chi Minh was founder of the Indochina Communist Party and its successor, the Viet-Minh, and was president from 1945 to 1969 of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). In exploring the life and career of Ho Chi Minh, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Halberstam provides a window into traditions and culture that influenced the American war in Vietnam, while highlighting the importance of nationalism in determining the war's outcome. As depicted by Halberstam, Ho is first and foremost a nationalist and a patriot. He was also, according to the author, a pragmatist "who was able to turn the abstract into the practical and to embody the concept of revolution to his own people." This edition includes a new preface by the author.

One of the most influential leaders of the twentieth century, Ho Chi Minh was founder of the Indochina Communist Party and its successor, the Viet-Minh, and was president from 1945 to 1969 of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). In exploring the life and career of Ho Chi Minh, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Halberstam provides a window into traditions and culture that influenced the American war in Vietnam, while highlighting the importance of nationalism in determining the war's outcome. As depicted by Halberstam, Ho is first and foremost a nationalist and a patriot. He was also, according to the author, a pragmatist "who was able to turn the abstract into the practical and to embody the concept of revolution to his own people." This edition includes a new preface by the author.

Pulitzer-prize winning author David Halberstam's eyewitness account provides a riveting narrative of how the United States created a major foreign policy disaster for itself in a faraway land it knew little about. In the introduction to this edition, historian Daniel J. Singal supplies crucial background information that was unavailable in the mid-1960s when the book was written. With its numerous firsthand recollections of life in the war zone, The Making of a Quagmire penetrates to the essence of what went wrong in Vietnam. Although its focus is the Kennedy era, its analysis of the blunders and misconceptions of American military and political leaders holds true for the entire war.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam chronicles Washington politics and foreign policy in post Cold War America.Evoking the internal conflicts, unchecked egos, and power struggles within the White House, the State Department, and the military, Halberstam shows how the decisions of men who served in the Vietnam War, and those who did not, have shaped America''s role in global events. He provides fascinating portraits of those in powerClinton, Bush, Reagan, Kissinger, James Baker, Dick Cheney, Madeleine Albright, and othersto reveal a stunning view of modern political America.

NOW IN PAPERBACK! From bestselling author David Halberstam comes the story of the 60-year friendship among baseball greats Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, and Johnny Pesky, all of whom played baseball together with the Boston Red Sox in the late 1940s.Ted Williams always remained not only a revered and visible baseball legend, but his talent and appeal made him one of the most recognizable figures in American sports history. With his recent passing, interest in his life has only grown. Halberstam frequently interviewed Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, and Johnny Pesky. In this book, he will offer a rare glimpse into the special lives and friendships of these men. It will be a must-buy for every baseball and sports fan who ever wanted to know more about these legends and the type of friendship that comes only through sharing the trials and triumphs of playing for one of the greatest major league baseball teams in history.But this book does even more as it will focus on the more than 50-year friendship among these men. This will be a book about loyalty and the bonds of friendship. It will include stories of their glory days with the Boston Red Sox, their lifelong friendship, and the reaction of the remaining three to the death of Ted Williams.

For years the legendary John Seigenthaler hosted A Word on Words on Nashville's public television station, WNPT. During the show’s four-decade run (1972 to 2013), he interviewed some of the most interesting and most impor­tant writers of our time. These in-depth exchanges revealed much about the writers who appeared on his show and gave a glimpse into their creative pro­cesses. Seigenthaler was a deeply engaged reader and a generous interviewer, a true craftsman. Frye Gaillard and Pat Toomay have collected and transcribed some of the iconic interactions from the show.Featuring interviews with:Arna Bontemps • Marshall Chapman • Pat Conroy • Rodney Crowell • John Egerton • Jesse Hill Ford • Charles Fountain • William Price Fox • Kinky Friedman • Frye Gaillard • Nikki Giovanni • Doris Kearns Goodwin • David Halberstam • Waylon Jennings • John Lewis • David Maraniss • William Marshall • Jon Meacham • Ann Patchett • Alice Randall • Dori Sanders • John Seigenthaler Sr. • Marty Stuart • Pat Toomay

Now in paperback, legendary journalist and author David Halberstam's in-depth look at the life and career of the NFL's winningest coach, Bill Belichick, with unprecedented access to Belichick.Bill Belichick's 31 years in the NFL have been marked by amazing success-first in Cleveland, then with the Giants, and most recently, his two out of the last three Super Bowl wins with the New England Patriots have made him second to only Vince Lombardi in his record for playoff victories. In this groundbreaking new book, David Halberstam explores the nuances of both the game and the man behind it. He uncovers what makes Bill Belichick tick both on and off the field, as a coach, a father, and a son. "I've been fascinated by Bill Belichick for more than 20 years, going back to the time when he was a young coach in his early 30s working with the linebackers on the Giants." Halberstam writes. "There was, I thought, a certain signature to a Belichick game--whatever it was the other team's offense was doing in the first half, the team coached by Belichick tended to take it away in the second half. I was fascinated by that, and by the fact that he seemed so un-coachlike, or perhaps the prototype for a very different kind of modern coach in what was an increasingly complicated game. He wasn't in any way charismatic, and he made no attempt to be charismatic--if anything, quite the reverse--but he always seemed to be one step ahead of everyone else. If anything, that made him even more interesting to me--a man who had no interest in the celebrity culture, but had been projected into the epicenter of it because of the nature of his job and his success with it." Set apart by his Wesleyan education, Belichick approaches coaching differently than anyone else in the NFL. Here, for the first time, we learn why and how.

"Sometimes sports mirrors society, sometimes it allows us to understand the larger society a little better. But mostly, it is a world of entertainment of talented and driven young men and women who do certain things with both skill and passion."--David Halberstam David Halberstam was a distinguished journalist and historian of American politics. He was also a sports writer. Everything They Had brings together for the first time his articles from newspapers and magazines, a wide-ranging collection edited by Glenn Stout, selected over the full scope of Halberstam's five decades as one of America's most honored journalists. These are dazzling portraits of some of the most compelling sports figures of our era, the superstars of popular sports like basketball, football, and baseball, but also fishing, soccer, and rowing, and the amateur athletes who play for the love of the game. In "My Dinner with Theodore," Halberstam recounts his long anticipated--and unforgettable--meeting with Red Sox legend Ted Williams. Against the backdrop of 1960s Nashville, he beautifully recounts a lifelong love of football in "How I Fell in Love with the NFL." And "Men Without Women," set on a fishing expedition in Patagonia, is more than a hunt for giant brown trout--it is a story of fishing, friendship, and fellowship. These and many more stories exemplify the breadth and depth of David Halberstam's devotion to diverse sports and his respect and fascination for the men and women who play them so well. The result is an intimate and personal collection that reveals the issues and the ideals David Halberstam cared about--racial equality, friendship, loyalty, and character--and creates a vivid and unforgettable portrait of the author himself. Everything They Had takes its rightful place alongside Halberstam's bestselling sports titles, which include The Breaks of the Game, The Amateurs, Summer of '49, and The Education of a Coach.

This vivid New York Times bestseller about 1950s America from the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist is "an engrossing sail across a pivotal decade" (Time).Joe McCarthy. Marilyn Monroe. The H-bomb. Ozzie and Harriet. Elvis. Civil rights. It''s undeniable: The fifties were a defining decade for America, complete with sweeping cultural change and political upheaval. This decade is also the focus of David Halberstam''s triumphant The Fifties, which stands as an enduring classic and was an instant New York Times bestseller upon its publication. More than a survey of the decade, it is a masterfully woven examination of far-reaching change, from the unexpected popularity of Holiday Inn to the marketing savvy behind McDonald''s expansion.A meditation on the staggering influence of image and rhetoric, The Fifties is vintage Halberstam, who was hailed by the Denver Post as "a lively, graceful writer who makes you . . . understand how much of our time was born in those years.""Fascinating. . . . The Pulitzer Prize–winning author and journalist leaves no stone of the ''50s unturned." —The Washington Post Book World"Outstanding. . . . As journalist David Halberstam shows . . . events and key personalities during the ''50s not only made the revolutionary ''60s happen, they were also as full of ground-breaking episodes as any decade in 20th-century American history." —The Christian Science MonitorThis ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

The Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist delivers "a thoughtful evaluation of the nation''s condition" in this New York Times bestseller (Business Week).What can we learn from the events of twentieth century? With the effects of the Cold War still evident in the global economy and the lives of everyday Americans, master journalist and historian David Halberstam sets out to answer this question. His perceptive The Next Century looks to the future by examining the past.From the rise of the Japanese economy to the startling changes that reshaped the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, Halberstam argues that the American economy''s survival depends on the rededication and continued education of the American worker. As pertinent in today''s economy as it was when first published in 1991, The Next Century is a timeless call to arms, reminding us that we must continually better ourselves in order to compete on the world stage."Engaging . . . The Next Century is far from shock therapy. But by addressing readers intelligently instead of bludgeoning them with dire statistics, it catches the ear." —The New York Times"A remarkable book . . . Eloquent, knowledgeable, and impassioned. His analysis of the changing face of America is informed and penetrating, his theses as elegant as they are unsettling." —Los Angeles ReaderThis ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

A Pulitzer Prize winner''s in-depth look at four media-business giants: CBS-TV, Time magazine, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.In this fascinating New York Times bestseller, the author of The Best and the Brightest, The Fifties, and other acclaimed histories turns his investigative eye to the rise of the American media in the twentieth century.Focusing on the successes and failures of CBS Television, Time magazine, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, David Halberstam paints a portrait of the era when large, powerful mainstream media sources emerged as a force, showing how they shifted from simply reporting the news to becoming a part of it. By examining landmark events such as Franklin D. Roosevelt''s masterful use of the radio and the unprecedented coverage of the Watergate break-in, Halberstam demonstrates how print and broadcast media as a whole became a player in society and helped shape public policy.Drawn from hundreds of exhaustive interviews with insiders at each company, and hailed by the Seattle Times as "a monumental X-ray study of power," The Powers That Be reveals the tugs-of-war between political ambition and the quest for truth in a page-turning read."[An] important and admirable book . . . The Powers That Be will remain stirring history." —The New York Times Book Review"Halberstam deploys a stunning novelistic skill in showing how his scores of characters feel about one another. . . . Every page carries a graphic revelation of some piece of subtle delineation, flashes of insight struck off by the adjacencies of power." —The NationThis ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

This New York Times–bestselling history is "an immense, and immensely readable, saga of the American and Japanese auto industries" (Boston Globe).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. Pulitzer Prize-winner 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 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."An impressive achievement . . . A wide-ranging and revealing account of the sources of the Japanese success and the causes of the American failure . . . Halberstam deals brilliantly with the human cost of the defeat." —New York Times Book Review"Wonderful . . . unique and valuable . . . A cautionary tale that makes us understand why we weep for America at the same time that we buy Japanese." —Chicago TribuneThis ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

This #1 bestselling baseball classic of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is "a celebration of a vanished heroic age" (The New York Times Book Review).The summer of 1949: It was baseball''s Golden Age and the year Joe DiMaggio''s New York Yankees were locked in a soon-to-be classic battle with Ted Williams''s Boston Red Sox for the American League pennant. As postwar America looked for a unifying moment, the greatest players in baseball history brought their rivalry to the field, captivating the American public through the heart-pounding final moments of the season. This expansive story captures an era, incorporating profiles of the players and their families, fans, broadcasters, baseball executives, and sportswriters.Riveting in its blend of powerful detail and exhilarating narrative, the #1 New York Times bestseller The Summer of ''49 is Pulitzer Prize winner David Halberstam''s engrossing look at not only a sports rivalry, but a time when America''s very identity was wrapped up in its beloved national game."The national pastime at its most innocent, heroic best. . . . David Halberstam brings the era vividly to life." —Washington Post Book World"A gorgeous story with personalities and anecdotes jam-packing every page." —NewsweekThis ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

The New York Times bestseller by the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, capturing the 1964 World Series between the Yankees and Cardinals."Compelling . . . [October] 1964 is a chronicle of the end of a great dynasty and of a game, like the country, on the cusp of enormous change." —NewsweekDavid Halberstam, an avid sportswriter with an investigative reporter''s tenacity, superbly details the end of the fifteen-year reign of the New York Yankees in October 1964. That October found the Yankees going head-to-head with the St. Louis Cardinals for the World Series pennant. Expertly weaving the narrative threads of both teams'' seasons, Halberstam brings the major personalities on the field—from switch-hitter Mickey Mantle to pitcher Bob Gibson—to life. Using the teams'' subcultures, Halberstam also analyzes the cultural shifts of the sixties. The result is a unique blend of sports writing and cultural history as engrossing as it is insightful."Superb reporting. . . . One of the many joys of this book is the humanity with which Halberstam explores the characters as well as the talents of the players, coaches and managers. These are not demigods of summer but flawed, believable human beings who on occasion can rise to peaks of heroism." —Chicago Sun-Times"Halberstam''s latest gives us the feeling of actually being there—in another time, in the locker rooms and in the minds of baseball legends. His time and effort researching the book result in a fluency with his topic and a fluidity of writing that make the reading almost effortless. . . . Absorbing." —San Francisco ChronicleThis ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

"The early days of the civil-rights movement come to life as never before" in this history from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author (Wall Street Journal).The young men and women at the heart of David Halberstam''s brilliant and poignant The Children came together through Reverend James Lawson''s workshops on nonviolence. Idealistic and determined, they showed unwavering bravery during the sit-ins at the Nashville lunch counters and on the Freedom Rides across the South—all chronicled here with Halberstam''s characteristic clarity and insight.The Children exhibits the incredible strength of generations of Black Americans, who sacrificed greatly to improve the world for their children. Following Diane Nash, John Lewis, Gloria Johnson, Bernard Lafayette, Marion Barry, Curtis Murphy, James Bevel, and Rodney Powell, among others, The Children is rooted in Halberstam''s coverage of the civil rights movement for Nashville''s Tennessean.A New York Times Notable Book, this volume garnered extraordinary acclaim for David Halberstam, the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Best and the Brightest. Upon its publication, the Philadelphia Inquirer called it "utterly absorbing . . . The civil rights movement already has produced superb works of history, books such as David J. Garrow''s Bearing the Cross and Taylor Branch''s Pillar of Fire. . . . Halberstam adds another with The Children.""[A] wonderfully rich account . . . crammed with history and humanity." —The New YorkerThis ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

The Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist looks at the life and times of the Chicago Bulls superstar— “The best Jordan book so far” (The Washington Post). 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.

"One of the best books ever written about a sport," the New York Times–bestselling story of four amateur US rowers and their 1984 Olympic dream (Newsweek).In 1984, rowing was a sport continually relegated to the margins, far from the spotlights attracted by other Olympic events. That year, four men went head-to-head for the right to compete for gold as the United States'' single sculler, an honor that would lead not to lucrative endorsement deals, but to the fleeting glory of the Olympic Games, and the satisfaction of ranking supreme among their competitive community of oarsmen. In pursuit of that goal, the rowers pushed through crippling pain, delaying personal relationships and careers, all for the rush of winning.Determined to understand these athletes of a seemingly bygone era, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author David Halberstam chronicles their bravery and obsession, delivering a dramatic human story, buzzing with adrenaline, about the lengths to which athletes will go to prove their mettle and compete on the highest level."Mr. Halberstam delves into the backgrounds of these four men, explores their psyches and tries to explain what drives them . . . The Amateurs is their deftly told story." —The New York Times"[A] masterful job . . . Maintains the suspense to the very last stroke . . . Halberstam makes us care about the four men, their disappointments and the brutal testing of their friendships." —Sports IllustratedThis ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

David Halberstam’s masterpiece, the defining history of the making of the Vietnam tragedy"A rich, entertaining, and profound reading experience.”—The New York TimesUsing portraits of America’s flawed policy makers and accounts of the forces that drove them, The Best and the Brightest reckons magnificently with the most important abiding question of our country’s recent history: Why did America become mired in Vietnam, and why did we lose? As the definitive single-volume answer to that question, this enthralling book has never been superseded. It is an American classic.Praise for The Best and the Brightest“The most comprehensive saga of how America became involved in Vietnam. . . . It is also the Iliad of the American empire and the Odyssey of this nation’s search for its idealistic soul. The Best and the Brightest is almost like watching an Alfred Hitchcock thriller.”—The Boston Globe“Deeply moving . . . We cannot help but feel the compelling power of this narrative. . . . Dramatic and tragic, a chain of events overwhelming in their force, a distant war embodying illusions and myths, terror and violence, confusions and courage, blindness, pride, and arrogance.”—Los Angeles Times“A fascinating tale of folly and self-deception . . . [An] absorbing, detailed, and devastatingly caustic tale of Washington in the days of the Caesars.”—The Washington Post Book World“Seductively readable . . . It is a staggeringly ambitious undertaking that is fully matched by Halberstam’s performance. . . . This is in all ways an admirable and necessary book.”—Newsweek“A story every American should read.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Crackling with the personalities, conflicts, and ambitions that transformed the media from something that followed the news to something that formed it, The Powers That Be is David Halberstam's forceful account of the rise of modern media as an instrument of political power, published here with a new introduction by the author.  Beginning with FDR's masterful use of radio to establish the sense of a personal, benevolently paternal relationship with the American people and culminating in the discovery and coverage of the Watergate break-in, Halberstam tracks the firm establishment of the media as a potent means of shaping both public opinion and public policy. He tells the story through vivid, intimate portraits of the men, women, and politics behind four key media organizations: CBS and its board chairman William S. Paley; Time magazine and its cofounder Henry Luce; the Washington Post and successive publishers Philip Graham and his wife, Katherine; and the Los Angeles Times and publishers Norman Chandler and his son, Otis.

Up until now, the Korean War has been the black hole of modern American history. The Coldest Winter changes that, giving readers a masterful narrative of the political decisions and miscalculations on both sides. He charts the disastrous path that led to the massive entry of Chinese forces near the Yalu, and that caught Douglas MacArthur and his soldiers by surprise. He provides astonishingly vivid and nuanced portraits of all the major figures -- Eisenhower, Truman, Acheson, Kim, and Mao, and Generals MacArthur, Almond, and Ridgway. At the heart of the book are the individual stories of the soldiers on the front lines who were left to deal with the consequences of the dangerous misjudgments and competing agendas of powerful men. We meet them, follow them, and see some of the most dreadful battles in history through their eyes. As ever, Halberstam was concerned with the extraordinary courage and resolve of people asked to bear an extraordinary burden. Contemporary history in its most literary and luminescent form, The Coldest Winter provides crucial perspective on the Vietnam War and the events of today.

One of the most influential leaders of the twentieth century, Ho Chi Minh was founder of the Indochina Communist Party and its successor, the Viet-Minh, and was president from 1945 to 1969 of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). In exploring the life and career of Ho Chi Minh, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Halberstam provides a window into traditions and culture that influenced the American war in Vietnam, while highlighting the importance of nationalism in determining the war's outcome. As depicted by Halberstam, Ho is first and foremost a nationalist and a patriot. He was also, according to the author, a pragmatist "who was able to turn the abstract into the practical and to embody the concept of revolution to his own people." This edition includes a new preface by the author.

One of the most influential leaders of the twentieth century, Ho Chi Minh was founder of the Indochina Communist Party and its successor, the Viet-Minh, and was president from 1945 to 1969 of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). In exploring the life and career of Ho Chi Minh, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Halberstam provides a window into traditions and culture that influenced the American war in Vietnam, while highlighting the importance of nationalism in determining the war's outcome. As depicted by Halberstam, Ho is first and foremost a nationalist and a patriot. He was also, according to the author, a pragmatist "who was able to turn the abstract into the practical and to embody the concept of revolution to his own people." This edition includes a new preface by the author.

Pulitzer-prize winning author David Halberstam's eyewitness account provides a riveting narrative of how the United States created a major foreign policy disaster for itself in a faraway land it knew little about. In the introduction to this edition, historian Daniel J. Singal supplies crucial background information that was unavailable in the mid-1960s when the book was written. With its numerous firsthand recollections of life in the war zone, The Making of a Quagmire penetrates to the essence of what went wrong in Vietnam. Although its focus is the Kennedy era, its analysis of the blunders and misconceptions of American military and political leaders holds true for the entire war.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam chronicles Washington politics and foreign policy in post Cold War America.Evoking the internal conflicts, unchecked egos, and power struggles within the White House, the State Department, and the military, Halberstam shows how the decisions of men who served in the Vietnam War, and those who did not, have shaped America''s role in global events. He provides fascinating portraits of those in powerClinton, Bush, Reagan, Kissinger, James Baker, Dick Cheney, Madeleine Albright, and othersto reveal a stunning view of modern political America.

NOW IN PAPERBACK! From bestselling author David Halberstam comes the story of the 60-year friendship among baseball greats Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, and Johnny Pesky, all of whom played baseball together with the Boston Red Sox in the late 1940s.Ted Williams always remained not only a revered and visible baseball legend, but his talent and appeal made him one of the most recognizable figures in American sports history. With his recent passing, interest in his life has only grown. Halberstam frequently interviewed Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, and Johnny Pesky. In this book, he will offer a rare glimpse into the special lives and friendships of these men. It will be a must-buy for every baseball and sports fan who ever wanted to know more about these legends and the type of friendship that comes only through sharing the trials and triumphs of playing for one of the greatest major league baseball teams in history.But this book does even more as it will focus on the more than 50-year friendship among these men. This will be a book about loyalty and the bonds of friendship. It will include stories of their glory days with the Boston Red Sox, their lifelong friendship, and the reaction of the remaining three to the death of Ted Williams.

For years the legendary John Seigenthaler hosted A Word on Words on Nashville's public television station, WNPT. During the show’s four-decade run (1972 to 2013), he interviewed some of the most interesting and most impor­tant writers of our time. These in-depth exchanges revealed much about the writers who appeared on his show and gave a glimpse into their creative pro­cesses. Seigenthaler was a deeply engaged reader and a generous interviewer, a true craftsman. Frye Gaillard and Pat Toomay have collected and transcribed some of the iconic interactions from the show.Featuring interviews with:Arna Bontemps • Marshall Chapman • Pat Conroy • Rodney Crowell • John Egerton • Jesse Hill Ford • Charles Fountain • William Price Fox • Kinky Friedman • Frye Gaillard • Nikki Giovanni • Doris Kearns Goodwin • David Halberstam • Waylon Jennings • John Lewis • David Maraniss • William Marshall • Jon Meacham • Ann Patchett • Alice Randall • Dori Sanders • John Seigenthaler Sr. • Marty Stuart • Pat Toomay

Now in paperback, legendary journalist and author David Halberstam's in-depth look at the life and career of the NFL's winningest coach, Bill Belichick, with unprecedented access to Belichick.Bill Belichick's 31 years in the NFL have been marked by amazing success-first in Cleveland, then with the Giants, and most recently, his two out of the last three Super Bowl wins with the New England Patriots have made him second to only Vince Lombardi in his record for playoff victories. In this groundbreaking new book, David Halberstam explores the nuances of both the game and the man behind it. He uncovers what makes Bill Belichick tick both on and off the field, as a coach, a father, and a son. "I've been fascinated by Bill Belichick for more than 20 years, going back to the time when he was a young coach in his early 30s working with the linebackers on the Giants." Halberstam writes. "There was, I thought, a certain signature to a Belichick game--whatever it was the other team's offense was doing in the first half, the team coached by Belichick tended to take it away in the second half. I was fascinated by that, and by the fact that he seemed so un-coachlike, or perhaps the prototype for a very different kind of modern coach in what was an increasingly complicated game. He wasn't in any way charismatic, and he made no attempt to be charismatic--if anything, quite the reverse--but he always seemed to be one step ahead of everyone else. If anything, that made him even more interesting to me--a man who had no interest in the celebrity culture, but had been projected into the epicenter of it because of the nature of his job and his success with it." Set apart by his Wesleyan education, Belichick approaches coaching differently than anyone else in the NFL. Here, for the first time, we learn why and how.

"Sometimes sports mirrors society, sometimes it allows us to understand the larger society a little better. But mostly, it is a world of entertainment of talented and driven young men and women who do certain things with both skill and passion."--David Halberstam David Halberstam was a distinguished journalist and historian of American politics. He was also a sports writer. Everything They Had brings together for the first time his articles from newspapers and magazines, a wide-ranging collection edited by Glenn Stout, selected over the full scope of Halberstam's five decades as one of America's most honored journalists. These are dazzling portraits of some of the most compelling sports figures of our era, the superstars of popular sports like basketball, football, and baseball, but also fishing, soccer, and rowing, and the amateur athletes who play for the love of the game. In "My Dinner with Theodore," Halberstam recounts his long anticipated--and unforgettable--meeting with Red Sox legend Ted Williams. Against the backdrop of 1960s Nashville, he beautifully recounts a lifelong love of football in "How I Fell in Love with the NFL." And "Men Without Women," set on a fishing expedition in Patagonia, is more than a hunt for giant brown trout--it is a story of fishing, friendship, and fellowship. These and many more stories exemplify the breadth and depth of David Halberstam's devotion to diverse sports and his respect and fascination for the men and women who play them so well. The result is an intimate and personal collection that reveals the issues and the ideals David Halberstam cared about--racial equality, friendship, loyalty, and character--and creates a vivid and unforgettable portrait of the author himself. Everything They Had takes its rightful place alongside Halberstam's bestselling sports titles, which include The Breaks of the Game, The Amateurs, Summer of '49, and The Education of a Coach.

This vivid New York Times bestseller about 1950s America from the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist is "an engrossing sail across a pivotal decade" (Time).Joe McCarthy. Marilyn Monroe. The H-bomb. Ozzie and Harriet. Elvis. Civil rights. It''s undeniable: The fifties were a defining decade for America, complete with sweeping cultural change and political upheaval. This decade is also the focus of David Halberstam''s triumphant The Fifties, which stands as an enduring classic and was an instant New York Times bestseller upon its publication. More than a survey of the decade, it is a masterfully woven examination of far-reaching change, from the unexpected popularity of Holiday Inn to the marketing savvy behind McDonald''s expansion.A meditation on the staggering influence of image and rhetoric, The Fifties is vintage Halberstam, who was hailed by the Denver Post as "a lively, graceful writer who makes you . . . understand how much of our time was born in those years.""Fascinating. . . . The Pulitzer Prize–winning author and journalist leaves no stone of the ''50s unturned." —The Washington Post Book World"Outstanding. . . . As journalist David Halberstam shows . . . events and key personalities during the ''50s not only made the revolutionary ''60s happen, they were also as full of ground-breaking episodes as any decade in 20th-century American history." —The Christian Science MonitorThis ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

The Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist delivers "a thoughtful evaluation of the nation''s condition" in this New York Times bestseller (Business Week).What can we learn from the events of twentieth century? With the effects of the Cold War still evident in the global economy and the lives of everyday Americans, master journalist and historian David Halberstam sets out to answer this question. His perceptive The Next Century looks to the future by examining the past.From the rise of the Japanese economy to the startling changes that reshaped the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, Halberstam argues that the American economy''s survival depends on the rededication and continued education of the American worker. As pertinent in today''s economy as it was when first published in 1991, The Next Century is a timeless call to arms, reminding us that we must continually better ourselves in order to compete on the world stage."Engaging . . . The Next Century is far from shock therapy. But by addressing readers intelligently instead of bludgeoning them with dire statistics, it catches the ear." —The New York Times"A remarkable book . . . Eloquent, knowledgeable, and impassioned. His analysis of the changing face of America is informed and penetrating, his theses as elegant as they are unsettling." —Los Angeles ReaderThis ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

A Pulitzer Prize winner''s in-depth look at four media-business giants: CBS-TV, Time magazine, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.In this fascinating New York Times bestseller, the author of The Best and the Brightest, The Fifties, and other acclaimed histories turns his investigative eye to the rise of the American media in the twentieth century.Focusing on the successes and failures of CBS Television, Time magazine, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, David Halberstam paints a portrait of the era when large, powerful mainstream media sources emerged as a force, showing how they shifted from simply reporting the news to becoming a part of it. By examining landmark events such as Franklin D. Roosevelt''s masterful use of the radio and the unprecedented coverage of the Watergate break-in, Halberstam demonstrates how print and broadcast media as a whole became a player in society and helped shape public policy.Drawn from hundreds of exhaustive interviews with insiders at each company, and hailed by the Seattle Times as "a monumental X-ray study of power," The Powers That Be reveals the tugs-of-war between political ambition and the quest for truth in a page-turning read."[An] important and admirable book . . . The Powers That Be will remain stirring history." —The New York Times Book Review"Halberstam deploys a stunning novelistic skill in showing how his scores of characters feel about one another. . . . Every page carries a graphic revelation of some piece of subtle delineation, flashes of insight struck off by the adjacencies of power." —The NationThis ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

This New York Times–bestselling history is "an immense, and immensely readable, saga of the American and Japanese auto industries" (Boston Globe).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. Pulitzer Prize-winner 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 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."An impressive achievement . . . A wide-ranging and revealing account of the sources of the Japanese success and the causes of the American failure . . . Halberstam deals brilliantly with the human cost of the defeat." —New York Times Book Review"Wonderful . . . unique and valuable . . . A cautionary tale that makes us understand why we weep for America at the same time that we buy Japanese." —Chicago TribuneThis ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

This #1 bestselling baseball classic of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is "a celebration of a vanished heroic age" (The New York Times Book Review).The summer of 1949: It was baseball''s Golden Age and the year Joe DiMaggio''s New York Yankees were locked in a soon-to-be classic battle with Ted Williams''s Boston Red Sox for the American League pennant. As postwar America looked for a unifying moment, the greatest players in baseball history brought their rivalry to the field, captivating the American public through the heart-pounding final moments of the season. This expansive story captures an era, incorporating profiles of the players and their families, fans, broadcasters, baseball executives, and sportswriters.Riveting in its blend of powerful detail and exhilarating narrative, the #1 New York Times bestseller The Summer of ''49 is Pulitzer Prize winner David Halberstam''s engrossing look at not only a sports rivalry, but a time when America''s very identity was wrapped up in its beloved national game."The national pastime at its most innocent, heroic best. . . . David Halberstam brings the era vividly to life." —Washington Post Book World"A gorgeous story with personalities and anecdotes jam-packing every page." —NewsweekThis ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

The New York Times bestseller by the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, capturing the 1964 World Series between the Yankees and Cardinals."Compelling . . . [October] 1964 is a chronicle of the end of a great dynasty and of a game, like the country, on the cusp of enormous change." —NewsweekDavid Halberstam, an avid sportswriter with an investigative reporter''s tenacity, superbly details the end of the fifteen-year reign of the New York Yankees in October 1964. That October found the Yankees going head-to-head with the St. Louis Cardinals for the World Series pennant. Expertly weaving the narrative threads of both teams'' seasons, Halberstam brings the major personalities on the field—from switch-hitter Mickey Mantle to pitcher Bob Gibson—to life. Using the teams'' subcultures, Halberstam also analyzes the cultural shifts of the sixties. The result is a unique blend of sports writing and cultural history as engrossing as it is insightful."Superb reporting. . . . One of the many joys of this book is the humanity with which Halberstam explores the characters as well as the talents of the players, coaches and managers. These are not demigods of summer but flawed, believable human beings who on occasion can rise to peaks of heroism." —Chicago Sun-Times"Halberstam''s latest gives us the feeling of actually being there—in another time, in the locker rooms and in the minds of baseball legends. His time and effort researching the book result in a fluency with his topic and a fluidity of writing that make the reading almost effortless. . . . Absorbing." —San Francisco ChronicleThis ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

"The early days of the civil-rights movement come to life as never before" in this history from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author (Wall Street Journal).The young men and women at the heart of David Halberstam''s brilliant and poignant The Children came together through Reverend James Lawson''s workshops on nonviolence. Idealistic and determined, they showed unwavering bravery during the sit-ins at the Nashville lunch counters and on the Freedom Rides across the South—all chronicled here with Halberstam''s characteristic clarity and insight.The Children exhibits the incredible strength of generations of Black Americans, who sacrificed greatly to improve the world for their children. Following Diane Nash, John Lewis, Gloria Johnson, Bernard Lafayette, Marion Barry, Curtis Murphy, James Bevel, and Rodney Powell, among others, The Children is rooted in Halberstam''s coverage of the civil rights movement for Nashville''s Tennessean.A New York Times Notable Book, this volume garnered extraordinary acclaim for David Halberstam, the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Best and the Brightest. Upon its publication, the Philadelphia Inquirer called it "utterly absorbing . . . The civil rights movement already has produced superb works of history, books such as David J. Garrow''s Bearing the Cross and Taylor Branch''s Pillar of Fire. . . . Halberstam adds another with The Children.""[A] wonderfully rich account . . . crammed with history and humanity." —The New YorkerThis ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

The Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist looks at the life and times of the Chicago Bulls superstar— “The best Jordan book so far” (The Washington Post). 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.

"One of the best books ever written about a sport," the New York Times–bestselling story of four amateur US rowers and their 1984 Olympic dream (Newsweek).In 1984, rowing was a sport continually relegated to the margins, far from the spotlights attracted by other Olympic events. That year, four men went head-to-head for the right to compete for gold as the United States'' single sculler, an honor that would lead not to lucrative endorsement deals, but to the fleeting glory of the Olympic Games, and the satisfaction of ranking supreme among their competitive community of oarsmen. In pursuit of that goal, the rowers pushed through crippling pain, delaying personal relationships and careers, all for the rush of winning.Determined to understand these athletes of a seemingly bygone era, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author David Halberstam chronicles their bravery and obsession, delivering a dramatic human story, buzzing with adrenaline, about the lengths to which athletes will go to prove their mettle and compete on the highest level."Mr. Halberstam delves into the backgrounds of these four men, explores their psyches and tries to explain what drives them . . . The Amateurs is their deftly told story." —The New York Times"[A] masterful job . . . Maintains the suspense to the very last stroke . . . Halberstam makes us care about the four men, their disappointments and the brutal testing of their friendships." —Sports IllustratedThis ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.