1993 history book by David Halberstam
First edition (publ. Villard )
The Fifties (1993) is a history book by David Halberstam centered on the decade of the 1950s in the United States . Rather than using a straightforward linear narrative, Halberstam separately profiles many of the notable trends and people of the post-war era, starting with Harry S. Truman 's stunning presidential victory in 1948 against Thomas E. Dewey . Halberstam chronicles political and cultural trends during the decade, including the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement and the Cold War , the creation of rock and roll via the rise of Elvis Presley , the introduction of fast food and mass marketing via the rise of McDonald's , the Holiday Inn hotel chain, the transformation of General Motors into the center of new car culture through the work of designer Harley Earl , the beginnings of the sexual revolution with the creation of the birth control pill , and the beginnings of the American counterculture through the emergence of actors Marlon Brando and James Dean and Beat Generation writers Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg . The book ends with an account of the first televised debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy , serving as a prelude to the 1960s.
Journalist Frye Gaillard cited it as an inspiration for his book A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s .[ 1] A documentary adaption of the book was aired in 1997 on The History Channel .
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