John F Kennedy: An Unfinished Life
£3.19
A model political biography - Robert Dallek s book on JFK is a masterpiece. Readable, objective and informative, it achieves everything a fine political biography should achieve. With so much already published on probably the most iconic US political figure of the 20th century, Dallek was in danger of treading over-familiar ground. But this book is fresh, and reveals new insights into just how ill a man Kennedy was throughout his life, and just how so much of this was hidden from the public.Mixing political and personal history is never easy, but Dallek achieves the balance well. He reports Kennedy s strengths and weaknesses, both as a man and a political figure - with rare objectivity, the text never passes anything less than fair, rational analysis on things. For me, the book achieved the rarest of feats - I finished it feeling a good deal more respect and understanding of a major political figure, when usually the warts and all approach has the opposite affect. I would recommend Dallek s book to anyone wishing to know more about this troubled, idealistic and ultimately tragic figure.
An Unfinished Life - This is a rather dry and academic account of JFK s life. There are a few passages and parts of chapters that are genuinely exciting and fascinating to read (the Cuban missile crisis being one of them) but generally this book goes into too great a depth of information about things that you don t want to know that much about. This is a good read to learn about JFK s politics, but useless to learn about the man. It barely mentions his children and his relationship with his wife is only written about in relation to his womanising (which again isn t explored too much) or her dislike of white house life. I felt like I came away knowing a great deal about his political life and policy decisions, but sadly lacking any real insight into his character. Although this aspect was mentioned at times and especially in the first part of the book, it wasn t to any degree that you feel you know what motivated him and it was written in a very dry way. Worth a read if part of an overall study of the man, but look elsewhere for a more rounded biography.
Fascinating..... - This book is an in-depth portrayal of John F Kennedy and I think you would be hard-pressed to find a more detailed account of his life.The book explains JFK’s beginnings and leads us through his privileged childhood and early adult-hood before embarking on his political career. As a youth and into his early adulthood JFK was over-shadowed by his older brother who his father had decided was destined for politics from day 1. When his brother was killed in battle the shadow moved and JFK moved to the forefront.I was aware of JFK’s back problems but I didn’t realize the extent of his ailments until I read this book. JFK’s determination to be the best propelled him to overcome the prejudices he faced as a Catholic Irish American and become the first Catholic President of the USA. The pain he suffered throughout his life is testament to his steel will.While this book focuses on his political life there is little or no mention of his private life which disappointed me slightly. His relationship with Jackie is given a fleeting mention while his relationship with John Jr and Caroline is not mentioned at all. I found this lacking somewhat disappointing. But don’t let this steer you away from buying this book. This is a fascinating read which shows JFK as a President who always felt that there was a way to talk problems through even when his closest advisors were trying to steer him into all out war. His determination at being his own man and making his own decisions is what took the USA away from the brink of war on so many occasions. A weaker leader would have succumbed to the pressures put on him and marched the country into a conventional or, God forbid, nuclear war.
strongly disagree - I would like to express my strong disagreement with those who complain that this book was all about politics. If this book makes one thing perfectly clear then it is that JFK lived for politics, and that it is simply impossible to separate the man from his politics. People should not be disappointed with the biography, but with Kennedy himself who apparently lead a much less interesting life than s/he thought before.
JFK: A Real Human Being - Almost every time John F Kennedy is mentioned nowadays, it is because of his assassination, but many seem to have forgotten that JFK was still a real person who lived a fascinating and important life before he left the world in 1963. Robert Dallek does the Kennedy legacy proud in this one volume treatment of his `unfinished life , and by focusing a sizable portion of the book on Kennedy s childhood and run-up to his Presidency, (something most biographers of Kennedy have chosen not to do) he has given us an even better understanding of the man. Much of the book discusses Kennedy s tasks in foreign policy, and the author defends and applauds the President s actions, more often than not with justification. He also defends Kennedy s position on civil rights, a subject on which Kennedy has been increasingly criticised, but here Dallek is convincing. He explains that Kennedy faced a congress that was hostile to his aims, and one that would have rejected any radical plan he put to them. He then creates a sympathetic portrait of Kennedy as a man who had to balance the needs of blacks in his own country with those of a world at the brink of a war that could destroy civilisation as he knew it. Although the domestic problems were important, one can understand why Kennedy chose to put them second behind effectively saving the world from possible destruction. On the assassination, Dallek is staunchly dismissive of the conspiracy theories, and offers a good explanation on why - he claims that people find it hard to accept that someone as powerful and as important to the world as Kennedy could so easily be snatched from us by a loser like Lee Harvey Oswald. Conspiracy theories, therefore, make people feel better because of the belief that a group of powerful forces beyond our control are what killed Kennedy, rather than an assassin acting alone One complaint that could be made of this biography is that Dallek comes across as solidly liberal, which is fine if you share those beliefs (like me), but perhaps not so for those who want a more balanced study, or even one that aims to debunk the Kennedy `myth . I have to admit that even I found it surprisingly one sided at times. Even so, Dallek has written a fine and fitting tribute to a life that was tragically cut short.