{"product_id":"the-coldest-winter","title":"The Coldest Winter","description":"\u003cp\u003eDavid Halberstams magisterial and thrilling The Best and the Brightest was the defining book for the Vietnam War. More than three decades later  Halberstam used his unrivalled research and formidable journalistic skills to shed light on another dark corner in our history: the Korean War. The Coldest Winter is a successor to The Best and the Brightest  even though in historical terms it precedes it.Halberstam considered The Coldest Winter the best book he ever wrote  the culmination of forty-five years of writing about Americas postwar foreign policy.Up until now  the Korean War has been the black hole of modern American history.The Coldest Winter changes that. Halberstam gives us 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 same time  Halberstam provides us with his trademark highly evocative narrative journalism  chronicling the crucial battles with reportage of the highest order.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.The Coldest Winter is contemporary history in its most literary and luminescent form  and provides crucial perspective on the Vietnam War and the events of today. It was a book that Halberstam first decided to write more than thirty years ago and that took him nearly ten years to write. It stands as a lasting testament to one of the greatest journalists and historians of our time  and to the fighting men whose heroism it chronicles.Includes an Afterword by Russell BakerTributes to David HalberstamDavid Halberstam died at the age of 73 in a car accident in California on April 23  2007  just after completing The Coldest Winter. Legendary for his work ethic  his kindness to young writers  and his unbending moral spine  Halberstam had friends and admirers throughout journalism  many of whom spoke at his memorial service and at readings across the country for the release of The Coldest Winter. We have included testimonials given at his memorial service by two writers who made their reputations at the same newspaper where he won a Pulitzer Prize for his Vietnam War reporting  The New York Times: Anna Quindlen ...David occupied a lot of space on the planet. Perhaps he felt the price he must pay for that big voice  that big reach  that big reputation  was that his generosity had to be just as large. Most of us  when we take to the road and meet admiring strangers  vow afterward to answer the note pressed into our hands or to pass along the speech we promised to the person whose daughter couldnt be there to hear it. But with the best will in the world we arrive home to deadlines  bills  kids  friends  all the demands of a busy life. We mean to be our best selves  but often we forget. David did it. He always did it. The note  the call  the book  the advice. When I mentioned this once he dug his hands deep intothe pockets of his grey flannels  set his mouth at the corners  looked down and rumbled  \"Well  but its so easy.\" Thats nonsense. Its not easy. But it is important  and why he has been remembered with enormous affection by ordinary readers all over this country  and why each of us who live some sort of public life would do well  with all due respect to Jesus  to ask ourselves about those small encounters: what would David do ... Read her full tributeDexter Filkins .\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44984472567861,"sku":"ByrdShop_1401384854","price":30.3,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781401384852.jpg?v=1770834333","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-coldest-winter","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}