Review: The Reckoning

The Reckoning by David Halberstam
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought from the cover that this was a period and thus maybe dated considering of Japanese disruption of the American car market back in the 80s. If anything, that is a merely the denouement of a consideration of the history of both nation's auto industries, largely from WWII to the early '80s. The author focuses on Ford and the corresponding Japanese #2, Nissan. On the Ford side, the eventual modernization and broadening of the company's scope seems to have occured in spite of Henry Ford the found -- he comes across as heading toward paranoid seclusion -- and his grandson Henry II who comes across as a disinterested, petulant drunk. Of course, Chrysler (apparently perennially in need of rescue) gets a lot of coverage as the Iacocca era is a bit of a post-Ford venture.

The Japanese side is really a tale of a broken nation -- broken even in spirit -- finding will and in America friendly opportunity and then succeeding through the hard work, diligence and attention to quality lacking for too long on the large car-loving other side of the Pacific where fat times got translated into pay (from laborer to CEO) and benefits too dear for indefinite support.

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