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The Next Century
Drawing on his experience as a correspondent for The New York Times in Europe and Vietnam, David Halberstam takes a moment to reflect on the recent past, the astonishing events now taking place in the world, and the look of the next century. From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Best and the Brightest and Summer of '49.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1991
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202 people want to read
About the author
David Halberstam
98 books866 followersDavid Halberstam was an American journalist and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, and later, sports journalism. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1964.
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, writing for The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee, he covered the beginnings of the American Civil Rights Movement.
In the mid 1960s, Halberstam covered the Vietnam War for The New York Times. While there, he gathered material for his book The Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era. In 1963, he received a George Polk Award for his reporting at the New York Times. At the age of 30, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the war. He is interviewed in the 1968 documentary film on the Vietnam War entitled In the Year of the Pig.
Halberstam's most well known work is The Best and the Brightest. Halberstam focused on the paradox that those who shaped the U.S. war effort in Vietnam were some of the most intelligent, well-connected and self-confident men in America—"the best and the brightest"—and yet those same individuals were responsible for the failure of the United States Vientnam policy.
After publication of The Best and the Brightest in 1972, Halberstam plunged right into another book and in 1979 published The Powers That Be. The book provided profiles of men like William Paley of CBS, Henry Luce of Time magazine, Phil Graham of The Washington Post—and many others.
Later in his career, Halberstam turned to the subjects of sports, publishing The Breaks of the Game, an inside look at the Bill Walton and the 1978 Portland Trailblazers basketball team; an ambitious book on Michael Jordan in 1999 called Playing for Keeps; and on the pennant race battle between the Yankees and Red Sox called Summer of '49.
Halberstam published two books in the 1960s, three books in the 1970s, four books in the 1980s, and six books in the 1990s. He published four books in the 2000s and was on a pace to publish six or more books in that decade before his death.
David Halberstam was killed in a car crash on April 23, 2007 in Menlo Park, California.
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, writing for The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee, he covered the beginnings of the American Civil Rights Movement.
In the mid 1960s, Halberstam covered the Vietnam War for The New York Times. While there, he gathered material for his book The Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era. In 1963, he received a George Polk Award for his reporting at the New York Times. At the age of 30, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the war. He is interviewed in the 1968 documentary film on the Vietnam War entitled In the Year of the Pig.
Halberstam's most well known work is The Best and the Brightest. Halberstam focused on the paradox that those who shaped the U.S. war effort in Vietnam were some of the most intelligent, well-connected and self-confident men in America—"the best and the brightest"—and yet those same individuals were responsible for the failure of the United States Vientnam policy.
After publication of The Best and the Brightest in 1972, Halberstam plunged right into another book and in 1979 published The Powers That Be. The book provided profiles of men like William Paley of CBS, Henry Luce of Time magazine, Phil Graham of The Washington Post—and many others.
Later in his career, Halberstam turned to the subjects of sports, publishing The Breaks of the Game, an inside look at the Bill Walton and the 1978 Portland Trailblazers basketball team; an ambitious book on Michael Jordan in 1999 called Playing for Keeps; and on the pennant race battle between the Yankees and Red Sox called Summer of '49.
Halberstam published two books in the 1960s, three books in the 1970s, four books in the 1980s, and six books in the 1990s. He published four books in the 2000s and was on a pace to publish six or more books in that decade before his death.
David Halberstam was killed in a car crash on April 23, 2007 in Menlo Park, California.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 20, 2017
There is only one word for this book, and that word is prescient.
January 3, 2008
**Just so I alleviate my need to mention multiple times that I read this book some 15 years after it was originally published, let me disclaim that fact now. I read this book from a unique perspective- one in which I could look back reflectively upon Mr. Halberstam's claims, stories, accusations, statements, anecdotes, summaries, and thoughts with hindsight and 20/20 vision. It made for an interesting approach to this book, and may have even enhanced the pleasure I obtained from reading it.**
I'm still a novice Halberstam follower, having only read his Bill Belichick study, "Education of a Coach". In my short time reading Mr. Halberstam, I've decided that he is a gentle man who writes as if he were telling stories to his grandchildren. He never comes off accusative, bitter, or condescending, but rather relays the information and knowledge he has gained in a helpful, affable manner. This makes for an enjoyable read, one in which the reader doesn't feel the obligation to take on any form, "act", or pretense. David allows the reader to imbibe the information unobstructed from any celebrity.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable read for me- partly due to the fact that I'm only 28 years old and have little experience with the scenarios laid out in the book. This book is in no way a replacement for an education in the history of the last 100 years, but it does boil down a few situations to their pertinence to current events and times.
The other reason I enjoyed this book so much was due to the correctness of Mr. Halberstam's insight. He seemed to predict much of the way the 90's and 00's have unfolded- not necessarily with exact measure but with enough precision that it lent credence to the book and his experiences.
I can't help but think if more people had read this or been taught these lessons that we as a society would be better off. Halberstam conveys displeasure with the way American education is being handled in the late 20th century, which seems fitting in this day and age where education is a hot topic in political debates and public discussion. He also describes the trade imbalance between Japan and the U.S. as if he were standing here in 2007 witnessing what he writes of. In fact, the trade imbalance for the U.S can be seen with almost all of its trade partners- more incoming than is outgoing. We are becoming more and more beholden to other nations as far as debt (China) is concerned, as well as importing more goods than we export.
He's writing this book in a pre-globalized (or early globalized) world, but Mr. Halberstam is unknowingly writing of a globalized world. The scenarios laid out here describe the influence a globalized world has on the U.S- from the medias effect in Communist Soviet Union, to the characterization of and fissures in the educational systems here in America as contrasted with Japan and Korea, to the juxtaposition of the political/ cultural/ economic systems in Japan and the U.S. There's also many correlations to the Vietnam fiasco and the leadership of our "empire" that can be paralleled to today's experiences in Iraq/ Iran/ Afghanistan.
In many ways, Mr. Halberstam displays how truly prescient he was in the 80's. Many of his suppositions and guesses have come to fruition, which speaks to the validity of this book as a whole.
It's unfortunate that David Halberstam will not be afforded the luxury of seeing his prognostications and insight into "The Next Century" come true. I sense that he could have become the change we wish to see in this world- at least from a journalistic point of view.
I highly recommend this book to anyone curious about our current society's relationship to our most recent past. Mr. Halberstam writes of many things currently being discussed in books such as "The World is Flat" and "Democracy Matters", which to me is a wonderful realization that this book was well before it's time!
I'm still a novice Halberstam follower, having only read his Bill Belichick study, "Education of a Coach". In my short time reading Mr. Halberstam, I've decided that he is a gentle man who writes as if he were telling stories to his grandchildren. He never comes off accusative, bitter, or condescending, but rather relays the information and knowledge he has gained in a helpful, affable manner. This makes for an enjoyable read, one in which the reader doesn't feel the obligation to take on any form, "act", or pretense. David allows the reader to imbibe the information unobstructed from any celebrity.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable read for me- partly due to the fact that I'm only 28 years old and have little experience with the scenarios laid out in the book. This book is in no way a replacement for an education in the history of the last 100 years, but it does boil down a few situations to their pertinence to current events and times.
The other reason I enjoyed this book so much was due to the correctness of Mr. Halberstam's insight. He seemed to predict much of the way the 90's and 00's have unfolded- not necessarily with exact measure but with enough precision that it lent credence to the book and his experiences.
I can't help but think if more people had read this or been taught these lessons that we as a society would be better off. Halberstam conveys displeasure with the way American education is being handled in the late 20th century, which seems fitting in this day and age where education is a hot topic in political debates and public discussion. He also describes the trade imbalance between Japan and the U.S. as if he were standing here in 2007 witnessing what he writes of. In fact, the trade imbalance for the U.S can be seen with almost all of its trade partners- more incoming than is outgoing. We are becoming more and more beholden to other nations as far as debt (China) is concerned, as well as importing more goods than we export.
He's writing this book in a pre-globalized (or early globalized) world, but Mr. Halberstam is unknowingly writing of a globalized world. The scenarios laid out here describe the influence a globalized world has on the U.S- from the medias effect in Communist Soviet Union, to the characterization of and fissures in the educational systems here in America as contrasted with Japan and Korea, to the juxtaposition of the political/ cultural/ economic systems in Japan and the U.S. There's also many correlations to the Vietnam fiasco and the leadership of our "empire" that can be paralleled to today's experiences in Iraq/ Iran/ Afghanistan.
In many ways, Mr. Halberstam displays how truly prescient he was in the 80's. Many of his suppositions and guesses have come to fruition, which speaks to the validity of this book as a whole.
It's unfortunate that David Halberstam will not be afforded the luxury of seeing his prognostications and insight into "The Next Century" come true. I sense that he could have become the change we wish to see in this world- at least from a journalistic point of view.
I highly recommend this book to anyone curious about our current society's relationship to our most recent past. Mr. Halberstam writes of many things currently being discussed in books such as "The World is Flat" and "Democracy Matters", which to me is a wonderful realization that this book was well before it's time!
January 11, 2022
He even bloviates, fulminates about the state of turn-of-the-century America with style, and not a little bit of accurate prophecy for where we are now from 30 years back. His place as one of my most favorite writers is secure.
December 23, 2021
Halberstam The Legend
To read David Halberstam’s The New Century, published in 1991, today in 2021, is eye opening and mind boggling! He predicted the conditions of the last twenty years, and showed me that we as a country did absolutely nothing to right the wrong headed thinking of our political leaders at every level. I am disappointed in myself as a participant in this short sightedness.
To read David Halberstam’s The New Century, published in 1991, today in 2021, is eye opening and mind boggling! He predicted the conditions of the last twenty years, and showed me that we as a country did absolutely nothing to right the wrong headed thinking of our political leaders at every level. I am disappointed in myself as a participant in this short sightedness.
March 23, 2024
This is a book that everyone should read, just to remind you how non-seriously to take all pundits and pundit-adjacent personnel.
We begin with Halberstam at a speech by Kissinger in about maybe 1988. Kissinger is telling us that even though we like Gorbachev, politics is about more than just relationships, and the circumstances of Russia mean that structurally they will not be our friends long-term. Halberstam is quick to mock this claim. So yeah, score one for Kissinger.
From that we move on to the bulk of the book. See, the REAL enemy is not the USSR, it's --- Japan! They're just so ahead in the technologies of the future (like cars) while we in the US are wasting our time with nonsense like computers. Sematech also comes in for some bashing – once again structurally, you see, the Japanese have this covered, whereas the US' stupid scheme of kinda co-operating while also competing is doomed to failure.
There are also some glorious prognostications on the future of news (see, it's going to be dominated by TV...)
Now look, OK, it's 1991. But that's kinda my point. He got some elements of the 90s correct – but he did not call his book The Next Decade...
We've had this sort of book being written since at least 1900, and it rarely goes well. Even when there's some sort of kernel of truth in your prediction of the future, it's essentially impossible to see until the future comes.
There's a truth in _The Decline of the West_ IF you see it as a decline of the specific civilization of 19th C Europe, from Christianity to Kings to Colonialism. But reading it at the time, would you see it that way; or would you think of it as decline of economic power and political relevance.
There's a truth deep in _The Greening of America_ IF you see it as something about how the rejection of liberal society will lead to vastly more oppressive forms of enforced conformity. But reading it at the time would you see it that way, or would you see the Age of Aquarius as harbinger of a groovy future of ever more free speech and spirited debate?
And of course it holds as much for today. Things do indeed look grim in the US of A as of March 2024. Straight line extrapolation of all the trends leads to miserable conclusions, and there are plenty of people willing to tell us that whether it's Woke, Trump, or Social Media, the Next Century is one of unrelieved gloom. Maybe so, stranger things have happened.
But chances are, the best they can do is get the Next Decade correct, so that by this time in 2034 the concerns of today will still be live, but in a rather different form, while in 2050 they will be utterly irrelevant, swamped by argument about Rights for Robots, or whether it's acceptable to create pets that are permanent kittens/puppies, or whatever.
We begin with Halberstam at a speech by Kissinger in about maybe 1988. Kissinger is telling us that even though we like Gorbachev, politics is about more than just relationships, and the circumstances of Russia mean that structurally they will not be our friends long-term. Halberstam is quick to mock this claim. So yeah, score one for Kissinger.
From that we move on to the bulk of the book. See, the REAL enemy is not the USSR, it's --- Japan! They're just so ahead in the technologies of the future (like cars) while we in the US are wasting our time with nonsense like computers. Sematech also comes in for some bashing – once again structurally, you see, the Japanese have this covered, whereas the US' stupid scheme of kinda co-operating while also competing is doomed to failure.
There are also some glorious prognostications on the future of news (see, it's going to be dominated by TV...)
Now look, OK, it's 1991. But that's kinda my point. He got some elements of the 90s correct – but he did not call his book The Next Decade...
We've had this sort of book being written since at least 1900, and it rarely goes well. Even when there's some sort of kernel of truth in your prediction of the future, it's essentially impossible to see until the future comes.
There's a truth in _The Decline of the West_ IF you see it as a decline of the specific civilization of 19th C Europe, from Christianity to Kings to Colonialism. But reading it at the time, would you see it that way; or would you think of it as decline of economic power and political relevance.
There's a truth deep in _The Greening of America_ IF you see it as something about how the rejection of liberal society will lead to vastly more oppressive forms of enforced conformity. But reading it at the time would you see it that way, or would you see the Age of Aquarius as harbinger of a groovy future of ever more free speech and spirited debate?
And of course it holds as much for today. Things do indeed look grim in the US of A as of March 2024. Straight line extrapolation of all the trends leads to miserable conclusions, and there are plenty of people willing to tell us that whether it's Woke, Trump, or Social Media, the Next Century is one of unrelieved gloom. Maybe so, stranger things have happened.
But chances are, the best they can do is get the Next Decade correct, so that by this time in 2034 the concerns of today will still be live, but in a rather different form, while in 2050 they will be utterly irrelevant, swamped by argument about Rights for Robots, or whether it's acceptable to create pets that are permanent kittens/puppies, or whatever.
December 29, 2020
Published in 1991 this review of circumstances by the brilliant author David Halberstam reviews some things done well and, generally, gets to the point that if we are to make something of ourselves in any century education is prime element.
At the time of the last decade of the last century, Halberstam is impressed with what the Japanese and, beyond that, the South Koreans are making of their countries and the world. Both countries have good applications by companies and individuals of seeing a problem and responding to it hold up Kyocera (Jap. ceramics manufacturer)does well in applications for micro electronics.
While television (which leads the way in time sinks for most) is described as preferring fame to real achievement, there are companies doing well for the public and for themselves.
Finally, after Frank Gibney saying "Don't forget, education is the stem which winds the watch." p. 112
he writes, in what I consider coda,
"An establishment knows it isn't good enough for just its own children to do well, to get on an elite track, because if their own children are running a country where 60 percent of the children cannot make it, something terrible is going to happen." p. 125
He anticipates by some years the pronunciamento of Picketty on Capitalism that inequality that we need to resolve this problem. I agree.
At the time of the last decade of the last century, Halberstam is impressed with what the Japanese and, beyond that, the South Koreans are making of their countries and the world. Both countries have good applications by companies and individuals of seeing a problem and responding to it hold up Kyocera (Jap. ceramics manufacturer)does well in applications for micro electronics.
While television (which leads the way in time sinks for most) is described as preferring fame to real achievement, there are companies doing well for the public and for themselves.
Finally, after Frank Gibney saying "Don't forget, education is the stem which winds the watch." p. 112
he writes, in what I consider coda,
"An establishment knows it isn't good enough for just its own children to do well, to get on an elite track, because if their own children are running a country where 60 percent of the children cannot make it, something terrible is going to happen." p. 125
He anticipates by some years the pronunciamento of Picketty on Capitalism that inequality that we need to resolve this problem. I agree.
October 21, 2025
Wow, this is a powerful book published in 1991 as the Soviet empire was collapsing. The title is a bit of a misnomer as the book is much more about looking backwards as it is predicting what the 21st century would be.
The author is extremely pessimistic about the future of the US, and reading this, it's as if we are living in the nightmare that he worried about, the decline of Democracy, lack of respect for education, neglecting the value of frugality, our leaders ignoring issues of importance to focus on issues that are divisive (he wrote an outsider would think that prayer in school or burning the flag were more important issues than economic development or education).
The first half of the book focuses on the collapse of the Communist empire and draws on his experience as a foreign reporter there. Reading this material makes one reflect how little people (at least in the US) think of these momentous events. The second half focuses on the economic rise of Asia, a topic Halberstam had covered before in The Reckoning.
There are a lot of insights into the book that seem quite fresh 30+ years later. Halberstam doesn't fit easily into the left or the right and that feels refreshing. I suspect he'd be appalled at how our country never learned from the lessons he wrote about.
The author is extremely pessimistic about the future of the US, and reading this, it's as if we are living in the nightmare that he worried about, the decline of Democracy, lack of respect for education, neglecting the value of frugality, our leaders ignoring issues of importance to focus on issues that are divisive (he wrote an outsider would think that prayer in school or burning the flag were more important issues than economic development or education).
The first half of the book focuses on the collapse of the Communist empire and draws on his experience as a foreign reporter there. Reading this material makes one reflect how little people (at least in the US) think of these momentous events. The second half focuses on the economic rise of Asia, a topic Halberstam had covered before in The Reckoning.
There are a lot of insights into the book that seem quite fresh 30+ years later. Halberstam doesn't fit easily into the left or the right and that feels refreshing. I suspect he'd be appalled at how our country never learned from the lessons he wrote about.
February 28, 2018
Fascinating essays from 1990 in which he ruminates on Russia, Japan and Korea and the viability of our own aging empire. His worries about the debt run up by the Reagan Administration seem downright quaint in light of our current fiasco(s). He calls Reagan's tax cuts perhaps the most irresponsible move ever by a President. If only he could see us now!
In a particularly illuminating (and chilling) passage Halberstam answers criticism of his journalistic brethren from the Vietnam era. "If we were guilty of anything in those days it was not of being too liberal or cowardly... we were too rational and took too seriously our attempts to achieve journalistic truth. We did not realize that America had become an empire, run by men suited to running empires, men who did not necessarily value the truth. They were far too grand for that; they valued power over truth... In power there was truth."
Sound like anyone you know? Oh dear God, what have we wrought?
In a particularly illuminating (and chilling) passage Halberstam answers criticism of his journalistic brethren from the Vietnam era. "If we were guilty of anything in those days it was not of being too liberal or cowardly... we were too rational and took too seriously our attempts to achieve journalistic truth. We did not realize that America had become an empire, run by men suited to running empires, men who did not necessarily value the truth. They were far too grand for that; they valued power over truth... In power there was truth."
Sound like anyone you know? Oh dear God, what have we wrought?
August 12, 2025
A wide ranging book written in 1991 by a celebrated journalist. Written at the time of Gorbachev and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the reunification of German and the new freedoms of the Eastern European nations, he projects the way forward - much of it positive but he did not foresee Putin.
He reviews key themes of the US and Japan since the end of WWII and the changing nature of the media, of education and the risk of US isolationism. He sees some of the current gulf within the US in the Trump era. Fascinating read.
He reviews key themes of the US and Japan since the end of WWII and the changing nature of the media, of education and the risk of US isolationism. He sees some of the current gulf within the US in the Trump era. Fascinating read.
September 7, 2018
We need him more than ever!
This book, though written in 1991 was so accurate in predicting our decline into oligarchy, that it's almost scary. Even the author never conceived that we would descend to the level of having a Russian puppet elected president and an entire political party be complicit in keeping him in power.
This book, though written in 1991 was so accurate in predicting our decline into oligarchy, that it's almost scary. Even the author never conceived that we would descend to the level of having a Russian puppet elected president and an entire political party be complicit in keeping him in power.
May 10, 2017
Awesome
Echoes of 2017 US uncertainty in this book from the late 1980s. He is my favorite author with his classic vignettes and pithy sentences.
Echoes of 2017 US uncertainty in this book from the late 1980s. He is my favorite author with his classic vignettes and pithy sentences.
April 1, 2020
Prescient indeed. Too bad we don’t have David around to comment in the age of Trump.
July 21, 2022
Re-reading this book 30 years after its publication is a deeply troubling experience. Halberstam predicted all too well where we were headed, and we've gotten there.
September 28, 2023
David Halberstam is one of my favorite historians...hands down.
January 29, 2025
David Halberstam takes on a topic and discusses it thoroughly. But after reading at least five of his many books, I’m starting to see his extensive research overlapping in his writing projects.
September 6, 2021
my first Halberstam read...this book was published 30 years ago and what then was considered center left is today, given the country's constant further move right, basically extreme left.
January 5, 2014
I'm not at all sure why its called The Next Century as it is a summary and analysis of the last century and never really prophesies very far into the future. What little it does prophesy though, it prophesies well. That America seemed to be sleep-walking with its current state (from the 1990 perspective)and would need a financial shock to begin to wake up is successful prescience that alone shows the credibility his analysis deserved, and deserves now if missed then. That the newly awakened America (Tea Party) would blame the moment it woke up and not look to see how long it slept may surprise the author, but if the T.P. really is concerned with debt it should logically look to Reagan and the moment when we became the world's largest debtor nation ever. This party apparently was apparently in a blackout during the 80's. This is excellent as recent historical analysis, chronicling the fall of the Soviet Union and the changing world economy; the weakness in modern adaptation and competition the United States brought into the future as well as the rise of the Far East economies and the precarious balance the dollar still survives on. Short read and still worthwhile 20-25 years later and probably much longer than that.
May 10, 2008
Thank heavens I bought this on a table at Wal-Mart for a dollar, and thank heavens it's so short. Like many journalists who try to write, this book is a series of stories, interviews, and parables. While not a great historical method, it does protect us from his analysis of the United States and Japan. His analysis is typical East Cost/New York City drivel that bares little relation with reality just six years after publication. This is just a bad book.
February 6, 2014
The Next Century is a dated (1991) look at the near future for the United States economically and socially. The author is insightful, any yet offers little from other insightful prognosticators. As we've heard many times before education is the key. How we get our society excited with that prospect is apparently harder than anyone could have thought. I'm recommending free electronics for anyone that breaths well in class.
June 19, 2011
In this book-length essay, published in the early 1990s (roughly contemporaneous with RISE AND FALL OF THE GREAT POWERS and Michael Crichton's novel RISING SUN), Halberstam warns that despite their victory in the Cold War, Americans need to start working and studying much harder, or they will be crushed by the East Asian economic juggernaut that is...Japan. Seems a bit dated now, if you ask me.
July 29, 2019
There were a lot of these sort of books going about as the millennium drew to a close. This is one of the better ones.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews