Bing Crosby: Swinging on a Star: The War Years, 1940-1946 (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780316887922)

"The best thing to happen to Bing Crosby since Bob Hope," (WSJ) Gary Giddins presents the second volume of his masterful multi-part biography.

Bing Crosby dominated American popular culture in a way that few artists ever have. From the dizzy era of Prohibition through the dark days of the Second World War, he was a desperate nation's most beloved entertainer. But he was more than just a charismatic crooner: Bing Crosby redefined the very foundations of modern music, from the way it was recorded to the way it was orchestrated and performed.

In this much-anticipated follow-up to the universally acclaimed first volume, NBCC Winner and preeminent cultural critic Gary Giddins now focuses on Crosby's most memorable period, the war years and the origin story of White Christmas. Set against the backdrop of a Europe on the brink of collapse, this groundbreaking work traces Crosby's skyrocketing career as he fully inhabits a new era of American entertainment and culture. While he would go on to reshape both popular music and cinema more comprehensively than any other artist, Crosby's legacy would be forever intertwined with his impact on the home front, a unifying voice for a nation at war. Over a decade in the making and drawing on hundreds of interviews and unprecedented access to numerous archives, Giddins brings Bing Crosby, his work, and his world to vivid life -- firmly reclaiming Crosby's central role in American cultural history.

Author: Gary Giddins
ISBN-10: 0316887927
ISBN-13: 9780316887922
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Language: English
Published: 10/30/2018
Pages: 736
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 2.30lbs
Size: 9.50h x 6.30w x 1.60d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 07/09/2018
Booklist 10/15/2018 pg. 13
Kirkus Reviews 09/01/2018 pg. 78
Library Journal 09/15/2018 pg. 60