JFK

Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956

By: Fredrik Logevall

Narrated by: Mark Deakins

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

A 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, 35th president.

“An utterly incandescent study of one of the most consequential figures of the twentieth century.” (Jill Lepore, author of These Truths: A History of the United States)

Winner of the Elizabeth Longford Prize • Named Biography of the Year by The Times (London) • Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The Sunday Times (London) • New Statesman • The Daily Telegraph • Kirkus Reviews

By the time of his assassination in 1963, John F. Kennedy stood at the helm of the greatest power the world had ever seen, a booming American nation that he had steered through some of the most perilous diplomatic standoffs of the Cold War. 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 American history. And while hagiographic portrayals of his dazzling charisma, reports of his extramarital affairs, and disagreements over his political legacy have come and gone in the decades since his untimely death, these accounts all fail to capture the full person.

Beckoned by this gap in our historical knowledge, Fredrik Logevall has spent much of the last decade searching for the “real” JFK. The result of this prodigious effort is a sweeping two-volume biography that properly contextualizes Kennedy amidst the roiling American Century. This volume spans the first 39 years of JFK’s life - from birth through his decision to run for president - to reveal his early relationships, his formative experiences during World War II, his ideas, his writings, and his political aspirations. In examining these pre-White House years, Logevall shows us a more serious, independently-minded Kennedy than we’ve previously known, whose distinct international sensibility would prepare him to enter national politics at a critical moment in modern US history.

Along the way, Logevall tells the parallel story of America’s mid-century rise. As Kennedy comes of age, we see the charged debate between isolationists and interventionists in the years before Pearl Harbor; the tumult of the Second World War, through which the United States emerged as a global colossus; the outbreak and spread of the Cold War; the domestic politics of anti-Communism and the attendant scourge of McCarthyism; the growth of television’s influence on politics; and more.

JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956 is a sweeping history of the United States in the middle decades of the 20th century, as well as the clearest portrait we have of this enigmatic American icon.

©2020 Fredrik Logevall (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Masterful . . . based on years toiling in the archives but written with a delightfully light touch . . . At times it reads more like a novel than a biography, so vivid is the prose and so extraordinary the material.”—The Economist

“Logevall artfully melds the biographical and historical approaches. Though crafted as a kind of bildungsroman, JFK delivers something more than the traditional story of the callow wastrel’s maturation into the admirable adult.”—The New York Times Book Review

“A superb book . . . [The] remarkable rivalries within the Kennedy family—propelled by valour, vanity and greed—form the backbone of volume one of Fredrik Logevall’s riveting life of JFK.”—The Guardian

Great book

Great book, wish the second part was available now! Mark Deakins is one of the best narrator’s in the business.

should have finished the book.

it stops before his presidential campaign. Felt like they just ran out of time.

Informative

Very informative about not only JFK, the Kennedy clan, but the turbulent times they occurred in.

Author has a tremendous grasp of vocabulary. I found myself looking up words several times and I don’t consider myself a slouch when it comes to words and their meanings.

Comprehensive Updated Biography

This biography of JFK was a fresh contemporary telling of one of the most consequential presidents of the 20th century. Not only do you learn about Kennedy himself, but the whole Kennedy clan and those attached to them. Warts and all. And their place in America in what becomes the American century. Well read and thoroughly enjoyable. I look forward to the next volume.

Not his Father's son

really shone a light on his father's isolationist views and I guess that's were he got his philandering habits from.a very complicated person

Well Worth the Listen

Surely, this must be the most detailed biography of Kennedy to date. Having heard it, I eagerly look forward to the second half. I was surprised to learn that “Jack” seemed more destined to greatness than his older brother Joe and Joe, much to his bitter disappointment seemed to realize it before his untimely death. My respect for Kennedy grew, for he was a very independent thinker in the realm of foreign policy. A speech he gave in the mid-1950s on the topic of Vietnam War was very far-sighted. It sounded like an evaluation of the war that could have been written in 1969. I’ve always been skeptical of claims by his advisors that he would have never gotten the US so deeply involved there. I can certainly see that his thinking was more along the lines of not getting involved. He also had the opportunity to see the world, especially Europe when it was on the verge of WWII. He developed his own view of what American foreign policy should be. He developed it with the influence of Winston Churchill, of whom he was a fan and against his own father; an isolationist through and through. There is much in this book about his pre-marital affairs and his extra-marital affairs. He could easily have ruined his political hopes through this activity and took great and unnecessary risks in this matter. In that world before the rise of modern feminism, he got away with it. On the other hand, in our modern world post-feminism presidents of been public womanizers and have won support from both the left and the right. Perhaps how much his behavior might have mattered had it been uncovered has been overblown. This volume ends with the completion of the campaign of 1956 with “Jack” contemplating his future in politics. I look forward to hearing part 2.

5 Stars

I’ve read several JFK bios, this one ranks right up there even as a single volume covering his pre-Presidential life. I can’t wait for the 2nd volume to come out. When it does this will be the definitive JFK biography.

Learned a thing or two

I’ve read several biographies about JFK and other Kennedys (Kick, Rosemary, Bobby), but I learned a few new things in this book. He was a complex man, for sure. I enjoyed hearing the details of his early life and career. This is a must read for JFK fans.

Wonderful biography of JFK

Excellent biography of JFK. It kept me enraptured for hours and gives a lot of background.

Great read.

Beautifully narrated & written . I lived the years of the Kennedy & admired his tenacity and brilliance.everyone should read this wonderful book.
Ester AclanRn, BSN