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5 Local Warehouse Biography- Political
25 Remote Warehouse World History- 1650 to Present


The Kennedys Amidst the Gathering Storm: A Thousand Days in London, 1938-1940

by Will Swift

The Kennedys Amidst the Gathering Storm: A Thousand Days in London, 1938-1940 Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In The Kennedys Amidst the Gathering Storm, Will Swift presents a fresh, empathetic interpre­tation of the ambassadorship of Joseph Kennedy and explores the intricate, often shifting relation­ships among Kennedy, Chamberlain, Churchill, and, of course, Roosevelt.

Arriving in London in early 1938, the Irish-Catholic Kennedys were welcomed by politicians, aristocrats, and intellectuals, all eager to court America. They finally appeared to have overcome their lifelong status as outsiders. From 1938 to 1940, the Kennedys crystallized their identity as protagonists on the world stage, making public the competitive and clannish intrafamily dynamics that would fuel their mythic rise to power. They all learned from their father's successes—and failures. The older children—Joe Jr., Jack, and Kathleen—took an active part in England's glittering, "last fling before the bombs fall" society, but all nine children charmed, their every move chronicled by the British and American media. John F. Kennedy's path to the White House began in London. As his father's political fortunes dimmed, Jack published a best-selling book and his star rose.

Drawing on recently released Kennedy family archives, Joseph P. Kennedy's private papers, and using rare photographs of English society and the photogenic Kennedy clan, Dr. Swift, with penetrating psychological insight, brings to life this fascinating family during a dramatic one thousand day period.

Review:

"Clinical psychologist and historian Swift (The Roosevelts and the Royals) capably documents Joseph P. Kennedy's troubled tenure as American minister to the Court of St. James's, and the experiences of his family during these years, aiming to present a 'fair and comprehensive' portrait of a man he says has been caricatured by other historians. But Kennedy's flaws still appear to outweigh his virtues. He proved a problem to FDR almost immediately, casting his lot with such British appeasers as Neville Chamberlain, Nancy Astor and others of the so-called Cliveden set. This earned him the enmity of Winston Churchill and criticism from such administration figures as Henry Morgenthau Jr., Cordell Hull and FDR himself, who had to regularly remind Kennedy that his role was to implement, not define, United States policy. Kennedy lasted just over two years, during which his second eldest son, Jack, became a bestselling author with Why England Slept. Eldest son Joe Jr. toured war-torn Spain and wrote articles in support of Franco's Fascist forces. And daughter Kathleen ('Kick') became immersed in aristocratic British nightlife, meeting Billy Cavendish — the marquess of Hartington and a Protestant — to whom she would eventually be married, to her Catholic mother's horror. All this Swift narrates with grace and style. Illus. and photos." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"When Joseph P. Kennedy became ambassador to Britain in February 1938, a friend told him he was heading for disaster. 'The job of Ambassador to London ... needs skills brought by years of training. And that, Joe, you simply don't possess. ... If you don't realize that soon enough, you're going to be hurt as you were never hurt in your life.'

Kennedy, who had lobbied President Franklin... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review)

Book News Annotation:

Having previously assessed Joseph P. Kennedy (1888-1969) in his The Roosevelts and the Royals as "an opportunistic thorn in the president's side" during his 1000-day ambassadorship in Britain on the eve of World War II, the author now believes Kennedy deserves a more balanced assessment regarding his time in the US Embassy in London. Kennedy still doesn't emerge as a very positive figure, and among the substantial, even tragic flaws the narrative ascribes to him are a failure to see the implications of Nazi ideology, and overemphasis on an economic view of international relations, a failure to acknowledge the importance of maintaining a balance of power in European politics, an inability to recognize "the intangible aspects of spirit that would allow Britain and democracy to triumph in war," a tendency to confuse his own point of view with that of the United States, and a propensity for reckless behavior in both his professional and personal life. In addition to assessing Joseph Kennedy's ambassadorship, the book also explores the effect of the Kennedys' European sojourn on the lives and later political careers of the Kennedy children, especially John F. Kennedy. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Synopsis:

Swift presents a fresh interpretation of the ambassadorship of Joseph Kennedy and explores the intricate, often shifting relationships among Kennedy, Chamberlain, Churchill, and Roosevelt. Two 8-page b&w photo inserts.

About the Author

Will Swift, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist, who has been writing about American leaders and British royalty of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries for more than twenty years. He is the author of The Roosevelts and the Royals, which Blanche Wiesen Cook called "a splendid addition to our understanding of the extraordinary Anglo-American partnership," and which Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., called "an excellent book." Will Swift lives in New York City and at the Nathan Wild House in Valatie, New York.

Product Details

ISBN:
9780061173561
Subtitle:
A Thousand Days in London, 1938-1940
Author:
Swift, Will
Author:
by Will Swift
Publisher:
Collins
Subject:
World war, 1939-1945
Subject:
Ambassadors
Subject:
Modern - 20th Century
Subject:
General
Subject:
Political
Subject:
United States - 20th Century (1900-1945)
Subject:
Europe - Great Britain - General
Subject:
Family
Subject:
Kennedy family
Subject:
United States Foreign relations.
Publication Date:
May 2008
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
374
Dimensions:
9.28x6.34x1.29 in. 1.53 lbs.

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