Douglas Century
Encyclopedia
Douglas Century is a Canadian
author and journalist. He was educated at Princeton University
(1986).
, Details
, Rolling Stone
, Men's Journal
, Radar
, Blender
, VIBE
and The Guardian
newspaper. He has written frequently about hip-hop and pop culture trends in the Sunday New York Times.
Century's first book, Street Kingdom: Five Years Inside the Franklin Avenue Posse, was cited by many critics as a significant work of "participatory journalism." "Merits a place alongside The Grapes Of Wrath and Native Son," wrote the Detroit Free Press in February 1998. "Street Kingdom ... is an inventive mix of courageous investigative reporting, accomplished storytelling, knowing social commentary and wicked street-smart prose...One of the miracles of this book is that it occurred at all." Publishers Weekly called the debut book, "At once mesmerizing, humorous and tragic....A heady mixture of reportage and memoir."
Century's second book, describing Operation Wasteland
, was Takedown: The Fall of the Last Mafia Empire (coauthored with NYPD Detective First-Grade Rick Cowan) was a New York Times best-seller, a finalist for the 2003 Edgar Award ("Best Fact Crime"), and a finalist for the 2003 Audie Awards ("Best Audiobook of the Year, Non-Fiction, Abridged", as read by actor Christopher Meloni
). Newsweek described the book as a "new gangland epic."
Following the publication of his third book, the best-seller Barney Ross
, Century has toured extensively, speaking across the United States and Canada about the life and times of Ross (born Dov Ber Rasofsky), the Hall of Fame boxing great and World War II hero. "This is an excellent story of a man and his times," wrote boxing historian Bert Randolph Sugar in The New York Times Book Review. "And proof positive that time does not relinquish its hold over men or monuments. In a sport devoted to fashioning halos for its superstars, Ross wore a special nimbus, and this book properly fits him for that.
Century is the coauthor of Brotherhood of Warriors: Behind Enemy Lines with a Commando in one of the World’s Most Elite Counterterrorism Units, with former Israeli Special Forces operative Aaron Cohen, published by Ecco/HarperCollins in April 2008. The book recounts Cohen's work in the mid 1990s as a member of Duvdevan Unit
a controversial Special Forces outfit which runs missions targeting wanted terrorist suspects in the occupied territories of the West Bank, often while posing in undercover disguise as Palestinian Arabs.
In October 2008, the Penguin Group published the memoir of Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Colonel Jack H. Jacobs
, If Not Now, When?: Duty and Sacrifice In America's Time of Need, coauthored by Douglas Century, with a foreword by NBC Nightly News anchor and managing editor Brian Williams
.
If Not Now, When? is the winner of the 2010 Colby Award
, recognizing "a first work of fiction or nonfiction that has made a significant contribution to the public's understanding of intelligence operations, military history, or international affairs."
Century is a member of the Writers Guild of America, East
and the Writers Guild of Canada
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
author and journalist. He was educated at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(1986).
Journalism
As a journalist, Century has written for numerous publications, including The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Details
Details (magazine)
Details is an American monthly men's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications, founded in 1982. Though primarily a magazine devoted to fashion and lifestyle, Details also features reports on relevant social and political issues.-History:...
, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, Men's Journal
Men's Journal
Men's Journal is an American men's lifestyle magazine focused on outdoor recreation and comprising editorials on the outdoors, environmental issues, health and fitness, style and fashion, and "gear". It is owned by Jann Wenner of Wenner Media....
, Radar
Radar (magazine)
RadarOnline is an American online publication. It started as a magazine first printed in 2003 as a test issue, relaunched twice in 2005 and 2006, and ceased publication in 2008. The magazine published articles on entertainment, fashion, politics, and human interest...
, Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
, VIBE
VIBE
Vibe is a music and entertainment magazine founded by producer Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip-hop music artists, actors and other entertainers...
and The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper. He has written frequently about hip-hop and pop culture trends in the Sunday New York Times.
Books
In several nonfiction books, Century has written about diverse subjects, ranging from inner-city gangs, organized-crime, undercover police investigations, military operations and the history of Jewish prizefighting in the United States.Century's first book, Street Kingdom: Five Years Inside the Franklin Avenue Posse, was cited by many critics as a significant work of "participatory journalism." "Merits a place alongside The Grapes Of Wrath and Native Son," wrote the Detroit Free Press in February 1998. "Street Kingdom ... is an inventive mix of courageous investigative reporting, accomplished storytelling, knowing social commentary and wicked street-smart prose...One of the miracles of this book is that it occurred at all." Publishers Weekly called the debut book, "At once mesmerizing, humorous and tragic....A heady mixture of reportage and memoir."
Century's second book, describing Operation Wasteland
Operation Wasteland
Operation Wasteland was an undercover investigation into organized crime control of the waste disposal industry in New York City.The investigation resulted in the indictment and conviction of over one hundred participants in price-fixing and bid rigging of waste hauling contracts in the city.The...
, was Takedown: The Fall of the Last Mafia Empire (coauthored with NYPD Detective First-Grade Rick Cowan) was a New York Times best-seller, a finalist for the 2003 Edgar Award ("Best Fact Crime"), and a finalist for the 2003 Audie Awards ("Best Audiobook of the Year, Non-Fiction, Abridged", as read by actor Christopher Meloni
Christopher Meloni
Christopher Peter Meloni is an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and as inmate Chris Keller on the HBO prison drama Oz.-Early life:Meloni was born the youngest of three children in...
). Newsweek described the book as a "new gangland epic."
Following the publication of his third book, the best-seller Barney Ross
Barney Ross
Barney Ross , born Beryl David Rosofsky, was a world champion boxer in three weight divisions and decorated veteran of World War II.-Early life:...
, Century has toured extensively, speaking across the United States and Canada about the life and times of Ross (born Dov Ber Rasofsky), the Hall of Fame boxing great and World War II hero. "This is an excellent story of a man and his times," wrote boxing historian Bert Randolph Sugar in The New York Times Book Review. "And proof positive that time does not relinquish its hold over men or monuments. In a sport devoted to fashioning halos for its superstars, Ross wore a special nimbus, and this book properly fits him for that.
Century is the coauthor of Brotherhood of Warriors: Behind Enemy Lines with a Commando in one of the World’s Most Elite Counterterrorism Units, with former Israeli Special Forces operative Aaron Cohen, published by Ecco/HarperCollins in April 2008. The book recounts Cohen's work in the mid 1990s as a member of Duvdevan Unit
Duvdevan Unit
Duvdevan is an elite special forces unit within the Israel Defense Forces, directly subordinate to the West Bank Division and the Paratroopers Brigade. Duvdevan are particularly noted for conducting undercover operations against militants in urban areas...
a controversial Special Forces outfit which runs missions targeting wanted terrorist suspects in the occupied territories of the West Bank, often while posing in undercover disguise as Palestinian Arabs.
In October 2008, the Penguin Group published the memoir of Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Colonel Jack H. Jacobs
Jack H. Jacobs
Jack Howard Jacobs is a retired colonel in the United States Army and a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions during the Vietnam War. He currently serves as a military analyst for MSNBC and previously worked as an investment manager....
, If Not Now, When?: Duty and Sacrifice In America's Time of Need, coauthored by Douglas Century, with a foreword by NBC Nightly News anchor and managing editor Brian Williams
Brian Williams
Brian Douglas Williams is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004...
.
If Not Now, When? is the winner of the 2010 Colby Award
Colby Award
The William E. Colby Award was established in 1999 by the William E. Colby Military Writers' Symposium at Norwich University in Vermont in order to recognize "a first work of fiction or non-fiction that has made a major contribution to the understanding of intelligence operations, military history,...
, recognizing "a first work of fiction or nonfiction that has made a significant contribution to the public's understanding of intelligence operations, military history, or international affairs."
Other
Century holds dual United States and Canadian citizenship.Century is a member of the Writers Guild of America, East
Writers Guild of America, East
Writers Guild of America, East is a labor union representing writers of television and film and employees of television and radio news. The 2006 membership of the guild was 3,770....
and the Writers Guild of Canada
Writers Guild of Canada
The Writers Guild of Canada represents more than 1,800 professional writers working in film, television, radio, and multimedia production in Canada...
.
Books by Douglas Century
- Street Kingdom: Five Years Inside the Franklin Avenue Posse (New York: Warner Books, 1999), a portrait of hip-hop and gangster subculture set in Brooklyn.
- Takedown: The Fall of the Last Mafia Empire, (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2002), an investigative account of Operation WastelandOperation WastelandOperation Wasteland was an undercover investigation into organized crime control of the waste disposal industry in New York City.The investigation resulted in the indictment and conviction of over one hundred participants in price-fixing and bid rigging of waste hauling contracts in the city.The...
co-authored with NYPD Detective Rick Cowan. - Barney Ross (New York: Nextbook/Schocken: 2006), a biography of the legendary Jewish boxing champion Barney RossBarney RossBarney Ross , born Beryl David Rosofsky, was a world champion boxer in three weight divisions and decorated veteran of World War II.-Early life:...
and Silver StarSilver StarThe Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
-awarded U.S. Marine Corps hero of the Battle of Guadalcanal. - Brotherhood of Warriors: Behind Enemy Lines with a Commando in one of the World’s Most Elite Counterterrorism Units, by Aaron Cohen and Douglas Century (New York: Ecco, 2008).
- If Not Now, When?: Duty and Sacrifice In America's Time of Need, by Colonel Jack Jacobs (Ret.) and Douglas Century (New York: Berkley Caliber, 2008), a memoir of the famed Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and NBC military analyst. Winner of the 2010 Colby AwardColby AwardThe William E. Colby Award was established in 1999 by the William E. Colby Military Writers' Symposium at Norwich University in Vermont in order to recognize "a first work of fiction or non-fiction that has made a major contribution to the understanding of intelligence operations, military history,...
.
Reviews of books by Douglas Century
- "Punching Through" Barney Ross reviewed in The New York Times Book ReviewThe New York Times Book ReviewThe New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
by Bert Randolph Sugar, February 19, 2006. - "Two-Fisted Hero" Barney Ross reviewed in The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
by Jonathan Yardley, January 17, 2006. - "A Jew in the Modern World" Barney Ross reviewed in The New York Sun by Carl Rollyson, February 8, 2006.
Selected Essays and Articles
- "Boxing" by Douglas Century, in Jews and American Popular Culture, Vol. III, by Paul Buhle (ed.), (Greenwood Publishing: 2006)
- "My Brooklyn: Still a Contender on the Waterfront," by Douglas Century, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
Arts & Leisure Section, March 12, 1999 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9506E0DB173EF931A25750C0A96F958260
- "Not So Fly for This White Guy," by Douglas Century, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
Sunday Styles, January 31, 1999 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A01E4DE1638F932A05752C0A96F958260
- "Alpine, NJ: Home to Hip-Hop Royalty," by Douglas Century, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
Arts & Leisure Section, February 11, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/arts/music/11cent.html?ex=1190001600&en=e7a39451eaf9340e&ei=5070
See also
- Barney RossBarney RossBarney Ross , born Beryl David Rosofsky, was a world champion boxer in three weight divisions and decorated veteran of World War II.-Early life:...
- Jack H. JacobsJack H. JacobsJack Howard Jacobs is a retired colonel in the United States Army and a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions during the Vietnam War. He currently serves as a military analyst for MSNBC and previously worked as an investment manager....
- Operation WastelandOperation WastelandOperation Wasteland was an undercover investigation into organized crime control of the waste disposal industry in New York City.The investigation resulted in the indictment and conviction of over one hundred participants in price-fixing and bid rigging of waste hauling contracts in the city.The...
- Aaron Cohen
- Jailhouse rock (fighting style)
External links
- Author Website
- NextBook's 2006 interview and Podcast with Douglas Century on Barney Ross conducted by Jeff Z. Klein, of the New York Times
- An interview with author Douglas Century on Eight Forty-Eight radio program, WBEZ public radio; Chicago, Illinois; March 9, 2006.
- A Rough and Tumble Life," Douglas Century on The Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC.
- BBC World Service Audio interview with Douglas Century about the Mafia's historic control of garbage-hauling in New York
- Official Brotherhood of Warriors" HarperCollins site
- Official If Not Now, When? web site of the Penguin Group .
- Excerpt of If Not Now, When? by Colonel Jack Jacobs and Douglas Century on MSNBC.com.