One of my responsibilities at the bookstore is the Presidents section. I have always loved history and Lemuria has quite an extensive history collection but this section is given over to just presidents. Among others, we have books on Bush, Carter, Ford, Clinton, Obama, all the Roosevelts, Hoover, Truman, Reagan and of course, the Kennedys. Our fascination with THIS family seems to be unquenchable! There are several new Kennedy books out right now that are certainly worth mentioning.
Brothers in Arms: the Kennedys, the Castros, and the Politics of Murder by Gus Russo and Stephen Molton caught my eye. With Cuba back in the news, learning more about our connection with this small but strategic country seems very important. The “brother component” on each side also fascinated me. At this particular point in time (the 1960s), you have John and Robert Kennedy, who represent American privilege and a renewed youthful sense of hope and on the other side; you have Fidel and Raul Castro, reformers whose grand scheme of a utopia was slumping into violence and betrayal. In the middle of this, strangely enough, is Lee Harvey Oswald, whose ties with Cuba will cause immense interest in the days to come. This book looks primarily at Kennedy’s assassination and how these five people each play a defining role and are bizarrely inter-connected. The authors wrote out of 30 years worth of intense research. What they uncover about Oswald’s motive in killing Kennedy and the role that the Castros played is really quite fascinating and the book is a must for anyone who is a history/Kennedy nut!!
Joseph P. Kennedy presents His Hollywood Years by Cari Beauchamp is another book that looked really interesting and fun to me. If I once knew it, I had forgotten, but the foundation of the Kennedys wealth came from Joseph Kennedy owning and running three movie studios in Hollywood. He made his fortune by masterminding the creation of RKO and it profited Kennedy millions. He was only 31 and was very hands on in the running of these studios. It was rumored that he had an affair with Gloria Swanson during this time and was instrumental in the making and the ruination of many Hollywood stars. He was a shrewd businessman and seemed to know a good risk. He was a contemporary of William Randolph Hearst, Cecil B DeMille and David Sarnoff. Kennedy was smart, greedy and believed that motion pictures were a gold mine and he was proven right. A great book for anyone interested in movie history, the Kennedys or both!!
Edward Klein’s latest book is entitled, Ted Kennedy: The Dream that Never Died. Obviously, this is not the first book written on Ted Kennedy but it is up to the moment and really tries to reconcile the disparities in this incredibly complicated man. The book examines his life ranging from Chappaquiddick; his marriages, his increasing prestige within the Senate all the way up to his niece, Caroline’s, almost run for the New York Senate. The author deals pretty sympathetically with Kennedy and doesn’t get mired down in so much early history that has been written on ad nauseum. He shows Kennedy as an American patriot whose real devotion was to serve his country. Chappaquiddick has always overshadowed every accomplishment of Ted Kennedy’s forever after but Klein is insistent that what he did after that disaster should weigh just as much and be seen just as clearly. With Kennedy being the last remaining brother and knowing that his health is very fragile, it would seem that we are coming up on the closing of a family history that has intrigued people for so long.
Lastly, Matthew Algeo has written a new book called, Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure. It chronicles the road trip that Truman and his wife, Bess, took right after he finished his term as president. He decided to load up his Chrysler New Yorker and with only Bess along for the ride did what no other president, before or since, has ever done. They drove across America! There were no Secret Service along and their plan was to visit old friends, see a Broadway play, celebrate their wedding anniversary and blow a bit of the money he had just received to write his memoirs. Algeo meticulously recreates their route and has wonderful stories and antidotes that he uncovered along the way. We are selling quite a few of these and it looks like so much fun. Way to go Trumans for doing something novel and exciting as well as believing that they could somehow get away with resuming a normal life.
Comments are closed.