The Best and the Brightest

By: David Halberstam

Narrated by: David Clennon

David Halberstam’s masterpiece, the defining history of the making of the Vietnam tragedy, with a new Foreword by Senator John McCain.

"A rich, entertaining, and profound reading experience.”—The New York Times

Using portraits of America’ s flawed policy makers and accounts of the forces that drove them, The Best and the Brightest reckons magnificently with the most important abiding question of our country’ s recent history: Why did America become mired in Vietnam, and why did we lose? As the definitive single-volume answer to that question, this enthralling book has never been superseded. It is an American classic.

Praise for The Best and the Brightest

“The most comprehensive saga of how America became involved in Vietnam. . . . It is also the Iliad of the American empire and the Odyssey of this nation’s search for its idealistic soul. The Best and the Brightest is almost like watching an Alfred Hitchcock thriller.”—The Boston Globe

“Deeply moving . . . We cannot help but feel the compelling power of this narrative. . . . Dramatic and tragic, a chain of events overwhelming in their force, a distant war embodying illusions and myths, terror and violence, confusions and courage, blindness, pride, and arrogance.”—Los Angeles Times

“A fascinating tale of folly and self-deception . . . [An] absorbing, detailed, and devastatingly caustic tale of Washington in the days of the Caesars.”—The Washington Post Book World

“Seductively readable . . . It is a staggeringly ambitious undertaking that is fully matched by Halberstam’s performance. . . . This is in all ways an admirable and necessary book.”—Newsweek

“A story every American should read.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Critic reviews

"A rich, entertaining, and profound reading experience.”—The New York Times

“The most comprehensive saga of how America became involved in Vietnam. . . . It is also the Iliad of the American empire and the Odyssey of this nation’s search for its idealistic soul. The Best and the Brightest is almost like watching an Alfred Hitchcock thriller.”—The Boston Globe

“Deeply moving . . . We cannot help but feel the compelling power of this narrative. . . . Dramatic and tragic, a chain of events overwhelming in their force, a distant war embodying illusions and myths, terror and violence, confusions and courage, blindness, pride, and arrogance.”—Los Angeles Times

“A fascinating tale of folly and self-deception . . . [An] absorbing, detailed, and devastatingly caustic tale of Washington in the days of the Caesars.”—The Washington Post Book World

“Seductively readable . . . It is a staggeringly ambitious undertaking that is fully matched by Halberstam’s performance. . . . This is in all ways an admirable and necessary book.”—Newsweek

“A story every American should read.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Excellent history of the politics which led to war

Where does The Best and the Brightest rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Revealing history of the politicians and bureaucrats which led the U.S. into war in Vietnam. Halberstam ferrets out the gross assumptions and motivations which can lead to disastrous policy and decision making.

enjoyed it

A good overview. An excellent book well read and recommended. I found the quote 'a man of compelling mediocrity' to be worthy of keeping handy for my future needs.

the first and still the best

definitive account of our most disastrous military venture. the first, and still the best account of where we went wrong.

Unabridged, please

This audio is really only a brief overview of this completely absorbing book. After listening to this abridged version (why abridge a good book?) I had to run to the library for the real thing. A must read (the book, unabridged) for any one interested in politics. Abridged audio will hook you to the book.

Brightest and Briefest

Obviously one of the great books George W. Bush never read during his goof time at Yale. Great book, okay reading, but I agree with others, too brief.