Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Publisher: Time-Warner Audio Books
Release Date: May 2003
ISBN: 1-58621-543-4
Awards:
Format Reviewed: Audio Cassettes
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Genre: Nonfiction / Biography
Reviewed: 2003
Reviewer: Jo Rogers
Reviewer Notes:

An Unfinished Life
John F. Kennedy: 1917 - 1963
By Robert Dallek  

     Historian Robert Dallek has given us the most complete biography of John F. Kennedy ever published. His careful research has brought to light many previously untold stories about the Kennedy family, and John Kennedy in particular. You will come away with a much better understanding of the man as you learn where he came from and how he got where he was. You may have a clearer understanding of his death and his place in history.

     Dallek begins his tale before the birth of John Kennedy with details of P. J. Kennedy and his reasons for coming to the United States from Ireland. Then Joseph Kennedy was born. His courtship of Rose Fitzgerald is discussed as well as their marriage and the birth of each of their children. Much is told about their attitudes toward health problems that explain John Kennedy.

     Jack, as he was called, did not have the robust good health he always presented to the public eye. He was, in fact, a very sickly child prone to catch all the childhood diseases as well as upper respiratory infections and the like. His doctors treated him for Addison's Disease though a confirmed diagnosis was never made. His parents refused to have the tests done, not wanting the stigma of imperfection to darken the family name again as it had with Rosemary.

     This attitude, though reprehensible, is typical of wealthy families. This, a love of politics and current affairs, and his rivalry with his older brother shaped John Kennedy into the man he became. Is his place in history justified? Listen to An Unfinished Life and decide for yourself.

     The reading of actor Richard McGonagle will keep you engrossed in an already interesting tale. You might find you prefer the audio to the printed version. I do.

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