The Kennedys: America's Emerald Kings: A Five-Generation History of the Ultimate

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		The Kennedys: America's Emerald Kings: A Five-Generation History of the Ultimate
		The Kennedys: America's Emerald Kings: A Five-Generation History of the Ultimate

基本信息·出版社：Basic Books; Reprint edition
·页码：676 页
·出版日期：2004年10月
·ISBN：0465043186
·条形码：9780465043187
·装帧：平装
·外文书名：肯尼迪家族

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"Be more Irish than Harvard," inscribed Robert Frost in the book of poetry he gave to John F. Kennedy at the 1961 presidential inauguration. With these simple words, Frost hit upon the experience that defined America's favorite political dynasty for over five generations: their Irish Catholicism. Drawing on groundbreaking research both here and abroad, acclaimed journalist Thomas Maier shows how their cultural background molded the Kennedy family to the core-both bolstering stunning successes and coloring spectacular tragedies. Casting new light on the Kennedys' struggles with race, anti-Semitism, the sexual mores of the Catholic Church, and even on John F. Kennedy's A Nation of Immigrants, the result is a revelatory glimpse at a remarkable intersection of private beliefs and public politics-and a spellbinding, uniquely American epic.
作者简介 Thomas Maier is a staff reporter at New York Newsday. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed Dr. Spock: An American Life, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. He lives in East Northport, New York.
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From Publishers Weekly
With Doris Kearns Goodwin''s The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys out of favor and discredited by charges of plagiarism, the door is open and the time is right for another serious, multigenerational history of America''s most fabled clan. Newsday reporter Maier (Dr. Spock: An American Life) answers the need quite well with this fascinating account, which emphasizes the family''s roots as Catholics and products of the Irish diaspora. Unlike Ed Klein''s provocative The Kennedy Curse, this thoughtful study does not dwell on the sensational. Maier goes to the heart of the Kennedys'' spiritual and tribal identity in order to define and explain a range of subplots within the family saga. For example, one sees Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy''s appeasement of the Nazis and his general insensitivity to the plight of Europe''s Jews during the late 1930s in fuller colors than before when one realizes the context in which he operated and the tradition out of which he sprang, rich with ancient, profound and unapologetic anti-Semitism. (JPK also clung to the traditional Irish-Catholic bias against Great Britain.) Maier likewise supplies a masterful account of the culture and habits related to Boston''s distinctly Irish-Catholic ward politics, first experienced by young JFK in 1946. And he goes on to explore conservative Catholic anger over JFK''s moves to "appease"-in the opinion of the Jesuit magazine America-anti-Catholic bigots during the 1960 election. This is all very fertile ground seeded, to a great extent, with items quite rare in recent Kennedy scholarship: new information mingled with genuine insight. It''s an admirable job overall. 32 pages of photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From AudioFile
If you''re expecting the same old gossip about the Kennedys, think again. Did you know that when Pope Pius XII was a cardinal, he sat on a sofa in the Kennedy house and that no one ever sat there again? Beginning with the seventeenth-century Irish struggle to defend Catholicism, the author weaves an artful blend of culture and history to introduce the eponymous Boston family--portraying the clan''s men with their tragic hubris and uncontrollable hormones. Alan Sklar, whose voice is a deep-voiced delight, manipulates volume and speed to punctuate the long sentences with commas we cannot see. His familiarity with the material allows him to emphasize and minimize with precision, a covetable skill for history narrators. Passing the story through the muse in Sklar''s mind doubles the enjoyment of the print version. J.A.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

From Booklist
Just when you thought there was no way to write about the Kennedys from a new angle, Maier comes up with one. His take is to view the family through the green prism of Ireland and, by extension, to examine their relationship to the Roman Catholic Church. This makes for surprisingly fresh reading. Although many of the stories related here are familiar--Joe Kennedy''s attempts to break into Brahmin society, the impact on the family of daughter Kathleen''s penchant for Protestant men--Maier deepens the account by also bringing up less discussed incidents, such as Congressman John Kennedy''s trip to Ireland (and Jackie''s, four years after the assassination) and how both the Catholic faith and JFK''s Irish heritage played integral parts at the president''s funeral. Nor does the story end with the Camelot days. Jean Kennedy Smith, the eighth child in the family, served as ambassador to Ireland, and Bobby Kennedy''s daughter, Courtney, married Paul Hill, wrongly imprisoned by the police for terrorism. This extremely readable biography not only examines one particular immigrant family but also sheds light on the larger story of Irish Americans from the early twentieth century onward. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

- Houston Chronicle
"A fascinating new perspective.... A valuable book because of it focus on influences other biographies have overlooked."

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