Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Penguin Books Ltd (2004), 848 pages
Description
"Robert Dallek's masterful John F. Kennedy : an unfinished life was a number one national bestseller, and it remains the most widely read one-volume biography of the 35th president. Now, in this marvelous short biography of John F. Kennedy, Dallek achieves a miracle of compression, capturing in a small space the essence of his renowned full-length masterpiece. Here readers will find the fascinating insights and groundbreaking revelations found in An unfinished life. The heart of the book focuses on Kennedy's political career, especially the presidency. The book sheds light on key foreign affairs issues such as the Bay of Pigs debacle, Khrushchev's misguided bullying of Kennedy in Vienna, the Cuban Missile crisis, the nuclear test ban, the race for space, and the initial dealings with Southeast Asia, especially Laos. It also highlights the difficulties Kennedy faced getting a domestic agenda passed, from a tax cut to spur the economy, to federal aid to education, Medicare, and civil rights. Dallek reveals the thinking behind Robert Kennedy's appointment as attorney general and convincingly argues that Kennedy would never have expanded the war in Vietnam the way that Lyndon Johnson did. The book also addresses questions about Kennedy's assassination and concludes with his presidential legacy and why he remains so popular despite serving only a thousand days in office. Based upon the definitive biography, John F. Kennedy offers readers a concise, authoritative, and highly readable life of one of our best-loved presidents"--Provided by publisher.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Smiley
Wonderful, neatly balanced biography of JFK that adds new information on his medical history/condition.
Dallek does a first rate job as a biographer and historian but he also lets Kennedy's personality and those of his close associates and family members shine after almost half a century of
While Dallek sometimes seems to fall under the "Kennedy spell" it is not often and never for long. He is objective, fair and critical by turns. And he can write. There is not a dusty, dry paragraph in the 711 pages.
There are extensive notes at the end of the book and a small but complete bibliography for further reading.
I was amazed that after so much, good and bad, worshipful and outrageous that has been published since the assination that I learned some new things. If you are going to read just one book on JFK this should be the one. I'm contemplating reading his two volume biography of Lyndon Johnson: Lone Star Rising and Flawed Giant. Dallek is that good.
Dallek does a first rate job as a biographer and historian but he also lets Kennedy's personality and those of his close associates and family members shine after almost half a century of
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accumulated jingoistic dust. While Dallek sometimes seems to fall under the "Kennedy spell" it is not often and never for long. He is objective, fair and critical by turns. And he can write. There is not a dusty, dry paragraph in the 711 pages.
There are extensive notes at the end of the book and a small but complete bibliography for further reading.
I was amazed that after so much, good and bad, worshipful and outrageous that has been published since the assination that I learned some new things. If you are going to read just one book on JFK this should be the one. I'm contemplating reading his two volume biography of Lyndon Johnson: Lone Star Rising and Flawed Giant. Dallek is that good.
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LibraryThing member creamy
This was a great book on a President that seemed destined for greatness or at least determined to get it by any means necessary. JFK was a man of many contradictions. A man that could inspire pride from the blue state to the red state. As I read this book the thing that really struck me was how
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amazing it was that he ever became President in the first place. Dalleck researched and puts Kennedy's health struggles and a few brushes with death in a whole new light. It's amazing with all his problems along with many infidelities that he ever was in a position to be elected President. This book is very educational and truly inspirational read for anyone with a love of history and politics. Show Less
LibraryThing member irckigalirw
An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy 1817-1963, by Robert Dallek (read 11 July 2003) Having been well-pleased by Dallek's two-volume biography of LBJ, which I finished June 18, 1998, I wanted to read this--since I had not read a biography as such of JFK and since I have a project to read a bio of
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every US president--a project not far from completion (only Hoover, and some living ex-presidents (Carter, Ford) still to do, with Polk, TR, and FDR but partially done). Some of the account, telling of events thoroughly familiar to me, were not exciting, and the big events, such as the Cuban missile crisis, are much read about territory. One is astounded by all the health problems JFK had, and dismayed by his reckless and unpardonable sex life. But the book is well done, Dallek's view on Kennedy corresponding with my own. So this is a good good book. ( ) Show Less
LibraryThing member Bobby3457
I think that this book tells the life of John F. Kennedy very well. It is the shortend version of a literary masterpiece. The book that it was based off of won awards and was named the best book that has told the life of John Kennedy. Even thought it is a shortend version of the book it contains
One thing that I liked the most about this book was that it is the shortened version of the book. The original is more than 800 pages and this version is much less. Even though I enjoyed reading about this president I felt like that would be a lot of reading to do. I also thought that it must have been mainly a bunch of details about the same things that were written in the shortened version that I read. I am not a very literal person so I don't really like too much detail in a book when that is more than half of what has been written. I personaly enjoyed learning about the history of the country that I am home to. I feel like it is a shame that he died and that he didn't get to see how influential he was to the space program in the United States. I think that anyone that likes history of any kind would like this book and the way that it is so well written.
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all of the same main points with losing some of the smaller details. This book has 96 pages and the original has more than 800 pages so they must have lost a lot of information in it. It tells about his family from his grandparents to his son Patrick in the year 2010. This book includes when he was just becoming governor. It also goes through his campaign to the white house and him being elected as the 35th president of the United States of America.One thing that I liked the most about this book was that it is the shortened version of the book. The original is more than 800 pages and this version is much less. Even though I enjoyed reading about this president I felt like that would be a lot of reading to do. I also thought that it must have been mainly a bunch of details about the same things that were written in the shortened version that I read. I am not a very literal person so I don't really like too much detail in a book when that is more than half of what has been written. I personaly enjoyed learning about the history of the country that I am home to. I feel like it is a shame that he died and that he didn't get to see how influential he was to the space program in the United States. I think that anyone that likes history of any kind would like this book and the way that it is so well written.
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LibraryThing member zen_923
A very detailed and informative account of JFK's life. My only comment on this book is that the author kept mentioning all these medicines and diseases with little or no explanation at all on what they are. It is as if the author assumed that the reader already knows about those things.
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Nevertheless, i like the book and i recommend it to everyone. Show Less
LibraryThing member drneutron
I've come to what may be the hardest Presidential biography to review. I was born in 1962, and so never really experienced Kennedy in real life. I've heard and read many things about him over the years and so I'm having a bit of a hard time not being very skeptical of what I read - what with all
Frankly, the picture Dallek paints isn't so nice. JFK, and all the Kennedy kids, really, were rich, and had a very tenuous connection with normal people. He wasn't a very nice person in a lot of ways as he grew up and went out into the world. His family - from Joe Kennedy on down - was pretty screwed up. His treatment of women in general was awful. Yet JFK was incredibly charismatic even as a young man, and people genuinely liked him. And later in life as he went into politics through his presidency, he found his niche in foreign relations, and he turned out to be incredibly well placed to meet Cold War challenges.
An Unfinished Life, though, is a flawed biography - not so much in content as in execution. The first half or so of the book up until Kennedy's campaign for the presidency is quite good. The second half, about 350 pages, deals with the last four years of his life in sometimes excruciating and repetitive detail. I wish Dallek had had a heavier hand in the editing of the book. Still, it's a pretty good discussion of a very interesting life.
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the mythology built up around him. Fortunately, Dallek's biography does a pretty good job of cutting through the noise to get to the real man, at least as much as one can.Frankly, the picture Dallek paints isn't so nice. JFK, and all the Kennedy kids, really, were rich, and had a very tenuous connection with normal people. He wasn't a very nice person in a lot of ways as he grew up and went out into the world. His family - from Joe Kennedy on down - was pretty screwed up. His treatment of women in general was awful. Yet JFK was incredibly charismatic even as a young man, and people genuinely liked him. And later in life as he went into politics through his presidency, he found his niche in foreign relations, and he turned out to be incredibly well placed to meet Cold War challenges.
An Unfinished Life, though, is a flawed biography - not so much in content as in execution. The first half or so of the book up until Kennedy's campaign for the presidency is quite good. The second half, about 350 pages, deals with the last four years of his life in sometimes excruciating and repetitive detail. I wish Dallek had had a heavier hand in the editing of the book. Still, it's a pretty good discussion of a very interesting life.
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LibraryThing member Scarchin
A thorough account of JFK's background, life, and presidency. This book is suitable to history buffs and casual readers alike. I enjoyed it very much.
LibraryThing member autumnturner76
A good biography of Kennedy. Gave it three stars. It wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst. I think I might just have read too many Kennedy books to give more stars unless the material is presented in more intriguing fashion.
If John Kennedy is one of your favorite historical figures, you won't
If John Kennedy is one of your favorite historical figures, you won't
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be disappointed. Show Less
LibraryThing member briandrewz
An exhaustive...and sometimes exhausting...look at the political life of John F. Kennedy. If you are looking for a personal biography of the late president, this isn't it. This work recounts in minute detail almost every single political decision made by JFK. Missing from this are the personal
Maybe this should have been titled "An Unfinished Book".
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details of his life. Granted the book made huge strides in telling of his medical conditions, there is almost a complete absence of family life within these pages. His marriage to Jackie, the births of their children, and the death of their son are barely talked about. One wonders why, as they were so important to Kennedy.Maybe this should have been titled "An Unfinished Book".
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LibraryThing member mgalyon789
I absolutely love biography. I love American history. I love studying presidents. And I loved this book.
Dallek did a nice job of balancing both President Kennedy's pre-presidential life (his time at Harvard, his WWII service, his time in the congress) with his time in office. The thing with JFK,
The presidential years are fascinating. The Bay of Pigs incident, the dealings with Kruschev and the U.S.S.R., Castro/Cuba, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, and Civil Rights are all covered as thorough as possible in a one volume biography. Certainly, there is much more to be said about all of these events and issues, but those have all received thorough treatment in other places. There is very little discussion of the assassination, so if that's what you're here for you'll need to look somewhere else.
An Unfinished Life is a wonderful biography for those looking for a thorough and accessible presentation of John F. Kennedy's life. I would recommend it highly.
Dallek did a nice job of balancing both President Kennedy's pre-presidential life (his time at Harvard, his WWII service, his time in the congress) with his time in office. The thing with JFK,
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and really the entire Kennedy family, is the personal stories are sometimes more interesting than the accounts of their public service. The accounts of Kennedy's womanizing are stuff of legend, and while the more salacious accounts make for fun reading, Dallek doesn't dive into those as much as he keeps to facts.The presidential years are fascinating. The Bay of Pigs incident, the dealings with Kruschev and the U.S.S.R., Castro/Cuba, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, and Civil Rights are all covered as thorough as possible in a one volume biography. Certainly, there is much more to be said about all of these events and issues, but those have all received thorough treatment in other places. There is very little discussion of the assassination, so if that's what you're here for you'll need to look somewhere else.
An Unfinished Life is a wonderful biography for those looking for a thorough and accessible presentation of John F. Kennedy's life. I would recommend it highly.
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LibraryThing member smallself
I highly doubt that I have anything unique to say about Kennedy, but I do like Dallek.
LibraryThing member Rockhead515
I didn't know much about Kennedy prior to reading this so I learned quite a bit about him.
Notably focused on his health that is interesting at first but then it just seems to repeat earlier mentions of issues/med's which does not further any understanding of JFK and really only serves as a
This book covers early life through his presidency pretty well, and while seeming to cover all aspects of the good, bad, and ugly, I felt it ran more towards adoring conclusions.
Notably focused on his health that is interesting at first but then it just seems to repeat earlier mentions of issues/med's which does not further any understanding of JFK and really only serves as a
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reminder.This book covers early life through his presidency pretty well, and while seeming to cover all aspects of the good, bad, and ugly, I felt it ran more towards adoring conclusions.
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Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2003
Physical description
848 p.; 5.08 inches
ISBN
0141015357 / 9780141015354