JFK
Volume 1: John F Kennedy: 1917-1956
1st Edition
Published on 10. September 2020
816 pages
978-0-241-97202-1 (ISBN)
Description
'The most compelling biography I have read in years . . . There has been a host of JFK biographies, but this one excels for its narrative drive, fine judgments and meticulous research . . . makes the story seem a cliffhanger even though we know what is coming' Max Hastings, Sunday Times
'In his utterly absorbingJFK, Fred Logevall reconstructs not only a great man, but also his entire age' Brendan Simms, author of Hitler: A Global Biography
The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian takes us as close as we have ever been to the real John F. Kennedy in this revelatory biography of the iconic, yet still elusive, thirty-fifth president.
________________
By the time of his assassination in 1963, John F. Kennedy stood at the helm of the greatest power the world had ever seen. Born in 1917 to a striving Irish American family that had become among Boston's wealthiest, Kennedy knew political ambition from an early age, and his meteoric rise to become the youngest elected president cemented his status as one of the most mythologized figures in modern history.
Beckoned by this gap in our historical knowledge, Harvard professor Fredrik Logevall has spent much of the last decade combing through material unseen or unused by previous biographers, searching for and piecing together the 'real' John F. Kennedy -- resulting in a masterpiece that reviews have agreed will be the definitive work. This first volume of this sweeping two-part biography spans the first thirty-nine years of his life, revealing his early relationships, his formative and heroic experiences during World War II, and his deeply fascinating romance with Jackie Kennedy. In examining these pre-White House years, Logevall chronicles Kennedy's extraordinary life and times with authority and novelistic sensibility, putting the reader in every room where it happened. This landmark work offers the clearest portrait we have of a remarkable figure who still inspires individuals around the world.
________________
'A riveting study of young JFK. Logevall has written a superb book.' David Runciman, Guardian
'A brisk, authoritative, and candid biography, and a wonderfully compelling history of America's heady and troubled mid-century rise' Jill Lepore, author of These Truths: A History of the United States
'[Fredrik Logevall] makes JFK as alive and compelling as if you were reading about him for the first time' George Packer, author of The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America
'A powerful, provocative, and above all compelling book' Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-Winning author of The Soul of America
'In this first volume of Fredrik Logevall's definitive biography, JFK is all too engagingly and amiably human . . . I hope Logevall's second volume will follow soon' Peter Conrad, Observer
'In his utterly absorbingJFK, Fred Logevall reconstructs not only a great man, but also his entire age' Brendan Simms, author of Hitler: A Global Biography
The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian takes us as close as we have ever been to the real John F. Kennedy in this revelatory biography of the iconic, yet still elusive, thirty-fifth president.
________________
By the time of his assassination in 1963, John F. Kennedy stood at the helm of the greatest power the world had ever seen. Born in 1917 to a striving Irish American family that had become among Boston's wealthiest, Kennedy knew political ambition from an early age, and his meteoric rise to become the youngest elected president cemented his status as one of the most mythologized figures in modern history.
Beckoned by this gap in our historical knowledge, Harvard professor Fredrik Logevall has spent much of the last decade combing through material unseen or unused by previous biographers, searching for and piecing together the 'real' John F. Kennedy -- resulting in a masterpiece that reviews have agreed will be the definitive work. This first volume of this sweeping two-part biography spans the first thirty-nine years of his life, revealing his early relationships, his formative and heroic experiences during World War II, and his deeply fascinating romance with Jackie Kennedy. In examining these pre-White House years, Logevall chronicles Kennedy's extraordinary life and times with authority and novelistic sensibility, putting the reader in every room where it happened. This landmark work offers the clearest portrait we have of a remarkable figure who still inspires individuals around the world.
________________
'A riveting study of young JFK. Logevall has written a superb book.' David Runciman, Guardian
'A brisk, authoritative, and candid biography, and a wonderfully compelling history of America's heady and troubled mid-century rise' Jill Lepore, author of These Truths: A History of the United States
'[Fredrik Logevall] makes JFK as alive and compelling as if you were reading about him for the first time' George Packer, author of The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America
'A powerful, provocative, and above all compelling book' Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-Winning author of The Soul of America
'In this first volume of Fredrik Logevall's definitive biography, JFK is all too engagingly and amiably human . . . I hope Logevall's second volume will follow soon' Peter Conrad, Observer
Reviews / Votes
The most compelling biography I have read in years -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times * Excellent . . . shaping up to be the definitive account of JFK's life -- Daniel Finkelstein * The Times, Book of the Week * Magisterial . . . an essential read -- Margaret MacMillan, author of War: How Conflict Shaped Us He makes JFK as alive and compelling as if you were reading about him for the first time -- George Packer, author of The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America and Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century JFK is biography at its very best -- Andrew Preston * The Spectator *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
File size
50,08 MB
ISBN-13
978-0-241-97202-1 (9780241972021)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Person
Fredrik Logevall is the Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School and Professor of History at Harvard University. A specialist on US foreign relations history and modern international history, he was previously the Anbinder Professor of History at Cornell University. Before that he taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he co-founded the Center for Cold War Studies. Logevall is the author or editor of ten books, including Embers of War, which won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for History and the 2013 Francis Parkman Prize, as well as the 2013 American Library in Paris Book Award and the 2013 Arthur Ross Book Award from the Council on Foreign Relations.
