(EXPANDED ON 8/11/2022)
I would rank David Halberstam’s The Reckoning as one of the top automotive histories of the last 50 years. The book was published in 1986 but still provides one of the most insightful glimpses into why U.S. automakers failed to effectively compete with foreign automakers.
Halberstam was smart to focus on two automakers, one American (Ford) and one Japanese (Nissan). That allowed him to delve much more deeply into the historical dynamics that shaped each of these automakers than would have been possible if the focus was the U.S. industry as a whole. As a case in point, he offered a nuanced look at the complex relationship between Ford CEO Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca. At the same time, Halberstam did an excellent job of connecting the history of Ford and Nissan to larger trends in the industry and American society.
The Reckoning painted a richly textured picture of an industry — and a nation — in decline. However, Halberstam’s narrative did not display the hard-charging advocacy of, say, Keith Bradsher (2002), who more recently critiqued sport-utility vehicles. The Reckoning’s rhetorical approach was primarily grounded in the journalistic dictum: “Show, don’t tell.”
The usual folks couldn’t have written this book
The Reckoning is very different from most auto history books. Unlike those written by car buffs, few product details were presented. Nor did Halberstam traffic in the breathless hagiography so common to books written by automotive journalists (e.g., Hoffman, 2012). Although The Reckoning offered a tough-minded analysis of Detroit that was more akin to scholarly books, it was wrapped in a storyline that was engaging rather than plodding (for an example of the latter, see Hyde, 2009).
Also see ‘Brock Yates brilliantly analyzed fall of U.S. auto industry‘
Perhaps Halberstam’s greatest strength was the ability to present anecdotes that explained power relationships — formal and informal — within an automaker. As you can see from the quotes below, his narrative was written through the eyes of individual players. This is a tricky technique for a writer to pull off because it requires exceptional attention to factual details. I have not found any fact errors, which is unusual for a book written by someone from outside of the auto industry (e.g., Critchlow, 1996).
A benchmark for assessing other auto history books
At the risk of sounding harsh, I would suggest that The Reckoning is such a good book precisely because Halberstam was not an automotive journalist, scholar or car buff writer. This allowed him to transcend the field’s limited conception of what an auto history book should look like. Of course, it also helped that he was an exceptionally gifted researcher and writer who was in the prime of his career (Wikipedia; 2022).
The Reckoning may be getting on in age but its analysis has held up remarkably well. I would go as far as to point to this book as a benchmark for evaluating newer auto history works.
The Reckoning
- David Halberstam; 1986
- William Morrow & Co., New York, NY
“Now, with Ford apparently resisting the early bait, Iacocca set out to surround him. He did it by getting the rest of the Ford Motor Company and then the auto world intrigued about the Mustang. He began giving glimpses of the car to people inside Ford and to Detroit auto writers. Their excitement, as he knew it would, soon turned into auto-world gossip. Soon the word was out: Ford had a hot car. As outsiders heard about the Mustang, they began to question people at upper levels of the company, and within the company, now, anticipation about the Mustang began to build.” (p. 368)
“Roche once referred to Nader as ‘one of the bitter gypsies of dissent who plague America.’ The remark showed how someone at the top of the Detroit power structure, like Roche, perceived Nader: To Roche, Nader was a rootless, insubstantial person who owned no property, had never married, and contributed little to those around him in the conventional sense. He was not a citizen as the executives of GM defined citizenship.” (p. 491)
“Yutaka Katayama watched this startling success and knew that it marked the end of his freedom. As long as Nissan America was small, profitable, and making progress (but not too much progress), he was relatively safe in his job. If he had been very unsuccessful, Tokyo would have paid attention, and now that he had become very successful, Tokyo, he realized, would pay a great deal more attention. If anything his growing accomplishment and the considerable publicity he was receiving were reminders back home that he was getting out of control and accepting credit for things that were not, it was felt, rightly his to take credit for.” (p. 506)
OTHER REVIEWS:
The New York Times | Los Angeles Times | The Story’s Story | Kirkus Review | Amazon | Goodreads
RE:SOURCES
- Bradsher, Keith; 2002. High and Mighty: SUVs — The World’s Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got that Way. Public Affairs, New York, NY.
- Critchlow, Donald T.; 1996. Studebaker: The Life and Death of an American Corporation. Indiana University Press, Indianapolis, IN.
- Hoffman, Bryce G.; 2012. American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company. Crown Business, New York, NY.
- Hyde, Charles K; 2009. Storied Independent Automakers: Nash, Hudson, and American Motors. Wayne State University Press, Detroit, MI.
- Wikipedia; 2022. “David Halberstam.” Page last modified Aug. 8.
This review was originally posted on April 6, 2013 and expanded on Aug. 11, 2022.
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