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The 1950s are fast becoming what the 1960s were not all that long ago. Which is to say that the era that set the stage for the obviously upheaval-heavy '60s is getting its own undressing, and the interlocutors are finding all sorts of fascinating stuff. Historian David Halberstam, who logged time in the era as a journalist and civil rights struggle participant, helped nudge the era's current popularity with his book, which gives this exhaustive six-tape series its name. And given art historian Karal Ann Marling's consideration of the era as the dawn of "visual culture" in her own book on the 1950s, it's fitting that this set is so geared towards the visual. From its coverage of the McCarthy era and the baby boom to its study of the growth of affluence as a national ideal, the set roots many of its themes through the ways 1950s culture came together as a visual spectacle. First there is television ad-mogul Rosser Reeves and the leveraging of the television as a sales machine, then there's Richard Nixon's first career salvage job via television, then there are the running visual (and literary) constructions and interrogations of domesticity, and much more. Also prevalent in the set, though, is the concurrent rise of the "men's magazine" (i.e., Playboy), the then-alluring first edition of the Kinsey Report, and the spread of a manifest culture of desire--which in writing sounds amply intellectual but in viewing is fast-paced, compelling, and easy to engage for long periods of time. Probably most compelling in the set is the way the era's visuals changed society irrevocably--and swiftly. The civil rights era's catapult was due in large part to general citizenry witnessing fire hoses and police dogs trained on children and the astonishing power of Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolent resistance. On another level, the visuals also created both a dizzying array of styles, captured here in regard to automobile manufacturers, and the flattening of one style into a de facto standard, captured here in the spreading communist fear, the rise of McDonald's restaurants, and even Elvis Presley. This series is the best up-close focus on the 1950s, making it essential to students of American culture, general history fans, and anyone curious about the tendrils of culture in the United States. --Andrew Bartlett

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Most helpful customer reviews   0 of 1 people found the following review helpful: Uneven portrayal of 1950s, Mar 24 2004 By  M. Rogan "buzymom" (Northern Maine, USA) - See all my reviews    I lived in the 1950s and it was just great. This show presented too many stuff from a 90s leftist perspective. At the outset, however, there is SOME good to be found in this miniseries: the descriptions of the civil rights movement, suburbanization, the beatniks, television, the fall of Cuba to Castro and the rise of rock and roll are quite accurate, even if you can get by the "teens are rebels" slant. That, unfortunately, is all the good to be found in this seemingly endless procession of leftist viewpoints. Having portrayed the usual happy image of the decade, the producers seem willing to declare war on this, and they do. They fling us from the frying pan of rock and roll straight into the fire of total liberalism. The producers' goal is clear from the beginning: to portray the 1950s as a horrible decade where everyone was afraid, where people refused to speak out, and where society hated certain things (i.e. sex) that they didn't want others to do when in fact THEY and all their friends were doing it. The charges that Joe McCarthy created paranoia when there really was no real Communist threat is presented like it always is, even though the Venona Project confirms that there were Soviet spies in the highest branches of the U.S. government who were giving atomic secrets to Stalin. Portrayals of feminism, the birth of the birth control pill and glorification of the Communist idiot Betty Friedan are presented in legthy detail. It doesn't stop there: it gets worse. (...) Hugh Hefner, Alfred Kinsey, Betty Friedan and Julius Rosenberg are presented as the real 1950s icons, NOT Dwight Eisenhower, Jonas Salk, Joseph McCarthy or Guy Mitchell when in fact THEY were the real 1950s icons. Steer completely away from this and instead seek out other resources. I might start working on a 50s documentary to show things the way they REALLY were. Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   The raw appearance of a decade known for proper appearances, April 18 2002 By  Charles Ashbacher "(cashbacher@yahoo.com)" (Marion, Iowa United States(cashbacher@yahoo.com)) - See all my reviews    To many, the sixties cannot be mentioned without prefacing it with the adjective turbulent. However, as can be seen from this tape, in the fifties, the turbulence was there, just subterranean and pressing hard towards the surface. Quite frankly, I do not understand how anyone could be nostalgic for that decade. You see in detail the paranoia against communism milked so well by Joe McCarthy, the incredible hatred blacks faced and how people were so dissatisfied in an era of unprecedented prosperity. Without a doubt the most moving segments dealt with the civil rights movement in the south and the integration of the schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. No one can look on those scenes of federal troops protecting black high school students from ferocious whites and not appreciate the fact that our society has moved so far beyond that. While saddened, I was proud that there were people in our nation who were willing to do whatever it took to enforce the federal laws under the constitution. In a point surprising to me, the other segments that moved me most were the ones about the development and testing of the hydrogen bomb. As a weapon, it has no use other than to destroy cities and the scenes of shock waves from detonations would scare the creator herself. It really makes one understand how dangerous those times were. There were certainly events in the fifties that are not covered in this tape. However, in it, you see all the rawness of the decade, even though so much of it is wrapped in flannel suits and restrictive social mores. It really was a time of difficult but essential change. Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   The American Dream Unfolds, Jun 18 2000 By  Harvey Eccleston (Denver) - See all m