Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688048382 ISBN 13: 9780688048389

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 1986

In his usual style, David Halberstam explores the American economy by choosing two companies--this time, Ford and Nissan--and telling their stories from the founders and owners to the assembly workers. 13 cassettes.

From AudioFile:

This is a fascinating look at industrial policy through vignettes and mini-biographies surrounding the Ford and Nissan motor companies. The stark differences between the Japanese and American experiences are explored in Halberstam's readable and listenable prose. At first, narrator Anthony's youthful voice doesn't seem appropriate. Soon, however, his deliberate pacing and care in pronunciation make one forget he's there. Audio quality is moderate but is clear and comfortable. One learns a lot about manufacturing, cultural attitudes and automobiles, and enjoys it for thirty-six hours. D.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Publishers Weekly:

Powerfully developing his thesis that the complacency and shortsightedness of American workers and their bosses, especially the automakers of Detroit, have led to a decline of industrial know-how so critical that Asian carmakers, particularly the Japanese, have virtually taken over the market, Halberstam tells in panoramic detail a story that is alarming in its implications. Immediately ahead lies a harsh scenario that will see America's standards of living fall appreciablyonly sacrifices will restore our "greatness." This lengthy book with its skilled, dramatic interweaving of two little-known storiesthe inside struggles of the Ford organization (including the firing of Lee Iacocca) in the 1970s and the growth of the Japanese automotive industry, notably Nissan, since the 1950scompletes the trilogy Halberstam began with The Best and the Brightest and The Powers That Be. Here is fresh and crucially meaningful material researched with notable thoroughness, replete with graphic portraits of top American and Japanese industrialists competing blindly on the one hand and with brilliant cunning on the other. The book is among the most absorbing of recent years, every page contributing to the breathtaking picture of an America that is going to learn to retool or else. 200,000 first printing.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.