Sunday, October 07, 2018

Halberstam, The Fifties (1993) - Part 2, Lectures in History

David Halberstam.
The Fifties.
New York: Villard Books (Random House), 1993.

Book Information: Publisher; Wikipedia; Google Books; Amazon.com.

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Other parts of this post:
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Lectures in History, American History TV, C-SPAN.org.

Selected Lectures on the 1950s:

Grouped into the categories:
  • Cold War
  • Korean War
  • Presidential Politics
  • Economy, Business, Transportation
  • Culture
  • Medicine
  • African-American Civil Rights

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cold War ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Korean War ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Presidential Politics ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Economy, Business, Transportation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Some of these lectures could be placed equally appropriately in the "Culture" category.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Culture ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Medicine ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ African-American Civil Rights ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other parts of this post:
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Halberstam, The Fifties (1993)

David Halberstam.
The Fifties.
New York: Villard Books (Random House), 1993.

Book Information: Publisher; Wikipedia; Google Books; Amazon.com.

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Author Information:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Video: David Halberstam~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other Video:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wikipedia Articles:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At first glance Halberstam's book The Fifties may seem a collection of random episodes during the 1950s. This is due to the narrow focus of most of the many chapters on one topic or individual. However, in addition to several stories told in several parts across the book (for example, the politics of nuclear weapons development, the development of the birth control pill, the automobile industry, the civil rights movement), there are some themes or threads that run through the entire book:
  • the role of journalists as witnesses of events, communicating awareness of events to broad audiences;
  • the increasing power or impact of journalists as communications technologies evolved from print to radio to television;
  • the increasing sophistication in the employment of television for entertainment, advertising, politics, and journalism during the 1950s;
  • the role of television in accelerating social and political change during the 1950s;
  • that events of the 1950s were the beginnings of events and movements now more commonly associated with the 1960s: Hippies (Beatniks preceded hippies as bohemian dropouts); Rock and Roll music; the Vietnam War; the Civil Rights Movement; the Sexual Revolution; the Women's Movement;
  • and, finally, a theme that is perhaps so obvious that it is unnecessary to mention: that events are the result of the choices and actions of individuals, that history is a story of human actions.
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Friday, September 28, 2018

Goldman, The Crucial Decade–and After: America, 1945-1960 (1960)

Eric F. Goldman.
The Crucial Decade–and After: America, 1945-1960.
New York: Vintage Books, 1960.

Book Information: Google Books; Amazon.com.

First published as:
The Crucial Decade: America, 1945-1955.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1956.

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Author Information:
  • Eric F. Goldman (1916 – 1989), Wikipedia.
  • Eric F. Goldman. Rendezvous with Destiny: A History of Modern American Reform. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1952. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee (Rowman & Littlefield), 2001.
    [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
  • Eric F. Goldman. The Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1969.
    [Google Books; Amazon.com.]
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Video:

I collected some links to videos addressing the period 1945-1960 in my posts for:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wikipedia Articles:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Goldman calls the period 1945-1955 the "Crucial Decade." In the post-Roosevelt governments would the innovations of the New Deal persist? (Goldman is a vehement opponent of the domestic policies promoted by Republicans generally and Robert Taft in particular.) In the post-World War II peace would the European oriented internationalist foreign policy of Roosevelt continue or would 1930s-style isolationism return? (Goldman's dualism of Internationalism versus Isolationism is obviously too simplistic and is an expression of the political passions prevalent when he wrote his book. The U.S. had a century of activity in the Pacific and East Asia and an even longer interest in the Caribbean and Latin America; nobody argued a for decrease of U.S. intervention in those regions. Oh, wait: the "Internationalist" Truman administration issued NSC 48/2 in 1949 which excluded Korea and Formosa from the U.S.'s East Asia defense perimeter. My point is that the "Internationalism versus Isolationism" controversy was less idealistic and more narrow than Goldman relates and was mainly focused on the scale of U.S. military and economic assistance to western Europe.) It is impossible for me to describe Goldman's book without also observing that it is political advocacy disguised as history.

For an introductory history of the U.S. during the period 1945-1960, one's time might be better spent with:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~