Rating: 
Summary: A Gem
Review: "Reckless Youth" is a remarkable achievement. It combines breezy, fast-paced narrative backed up by exhaustive research. The book is never dull. Indeed, Kennedy's "reckless" "youth" would have made an interesting reading, yet without Hamilton's dogged research and exemplary narrative skills, "Reckless Youth" could have ended up a run-of-the-mill biography. Hamilton should be congratulated for his exceptionally fine work. I am eagerly awaiting the next installment. I do realize, however, that I may have to wait awhile.
Rating:
Summary: Masterly written, deeply revealing of JFK's charatcer.
Review: All would-be biographers should read and study Hamilton's attention to detail and superb ability to analyze and conclude. JFK's early years in his father's shadow and the aloofness shown by his mother, shaped his personality and leadership skills.
Rating:
Summary: Why we love John Kennedy
Review: Anyone who truly loves John Kennedy (as I do) owes it to themselves to delve deeper into the formation of the character of this fabulously flawed human being. Nigel Hamilton's minutely-detailed "JFK: Reckless Youth," which recounts Kennedy's early through his first run for Congress, is one helluva place to start.
The myth of Camelot has suffered death by a thousand cuts -- shredded by the disclosure of presidential affairs, murder plots and political machinations. But while other celebrities have generated renewed interest and sympathy by openly airing dirt and scandal, the Kennedys have endlessly recycled the Camelot myth of the heroic young president slain before his time. Hamilton's book is the antidote to this pious tripe, serving up a John Kennedy fighting against (and sometimes embracing) forces that should have destroyed him. Young John Kennedy suffered from a mystery ailment that landed him in the hospital countless times. He courted disaster and scandal with a string of amours. He chose to fight the Japanese on a "plywood coffin" known as a PT boat rather than sit out the war in a safer place. He was saddled with a father whose pre-WWII appeasement policies undercut the national interest. Kennedy, from a young age, was one familiar with the knife's edge between life and death, learning to skate the blade with grace and aplomb. Hamilton exhaustively chronicles these episodes using interview material and an extraordinary trove of personal letters to and from Kennedy himself.
It's a shame that the Kennedy family blocked Hamilton's access to additional JFK material. The next volumes would no doubt have shown the moral excesses and almost suicidal risk-taking increasing as JFK grew older. While this material might have threatened the maudlin serenity of Camelot, I would have welcomed the change. Paradoxically, my love and admiration for John Kennedy did not wane as I read the incredible details of his life. Instead, I was amazed that such an extraordinary, compassionate and visionary man arose from the chaos of a life lived as a constant roll of the dice.
Rating: 
Summary: Where can i find the TV movie
Review: Excellent book showing both JFK's weaknesses as any human has, and his strengths which few of us have. I enjoyed the book and i would love to know where to see the TV movie version. I wasn't alive when JFK was , my parents barely remember and as i am English we haven't done much in school ,but i found this book was a balanced account and interesting with out senstionalising because there is no need to sensationalise Jack Kennedy's life at all!
Rating:
Summary: REVEALING SOBERING TREATMENT OF THIS "HERO"
Review: FOR ALL THOSE WHO STILL HAVE JFK'S PICTURE ON THE MANTLE NEXT TO THE POPE, THIS IS A MUST
Rating:
Summary: Best book I ever read - Where is volume No. 2 ?
Review: I bought this book 10 years ago and I have read it ever and ever again. It has only one disadvantage: where is volume No 2 ?
It covers JFK's youth only. ...Hamilton promised to write a second volume, which would cover Kennedys years as a sentor and president too, about 10 years ago. I have been waiting for volume 2 for 10 years. I am mad at the author, that he keeps me waiting.
What has happened to Hamilton ? Is he dead ?
The first volume was a bestseller. Has he retired with the millions he made from volume one ?
Rating:
Summary: Great read!
Review: I found this to be an excellent account of the early life of JFK, one that was very hard to put down. It portrays Kennedy as one would have envisioned him- very intelligent, yet continually reckless. I am truly looking forward to the next book in this biography to see how Kennedy's personality developed as he matured. All in all, the best book I've read on JFK yet.
Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING!
Review: I loved this book. And, while I never had President Kennedy's picture on the mantle beside the Pope's, I always admired him. This thoughtful book did nothing to diminish my admiration. It only explained some of the dichotomies and enigmas or this endlessly fascinating man. My only regret is that a sequel covering Kennedy's Presidency isn't forthcoming.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: I started out reading this book for a book report. Then i realized how great the book really was. It is very hard to put down. I didn't get through the whole book by the time the book report was due(being it was over 700 pages and i had many other classes to do work for), so during the break I finished it. I loved it. Nigel Hamilton is a great writer.
Rating:
Summary: The best book written on JFK
Review: I was 11 when JFK was killed, and I'd never read a Kennedy biography before this book, except one published by a friend soon after his assassination, which was so treacly with hero-worship that I vowed never again to try. Then I spent my young adulthood hearing more and more about the women, the Mob connections, the flaws of this truly extraordinary man. Nigel Hamilton - in spite of what must have been vociferous pressure from the Kennedy family, fully detailed in his "Afterward," - has done an incredible job of presenting, clay feet and all, a fully dimensional description of who the young John Kennedy was, and how he came to be that way. He writes with passion and insight, fully annotating those reckless aspects of JFK which defy belief (like, his being unfaithful to Jackie with an actress on the very night of his Inauguration), together with a genuine respect and admiration for so many of JFK's talents and finer qualities. What emerges is an unforgettable man. It's the very mixture which all earlier biographies miss. Yes, I DID read several after Hamilton's book, and found them all black-and-white, adore Kennedy, or detest him. Good and bad, flawed and courageous, witty and ruthless, inconsiderate and idealistic, it's all here in the early young man (the book ends with Kennedy's win for his first Congressional seat in 1946). I would like to think that JFK, of all people, would have appreciated the paradoxes and intricate ironies Hamilton so thoroughly details. One comes away from this book saddened that the book - and the life - ended so soon. After years of fearing that Kennedy pressure had ended Hamilton's multi-volume history after only the first installment, I'm thrilled to see that Amazon.com is offering Hamilton's second volume, "JFK," beginning in December, 2000. I've already placed my order! On a related subject, a surprisingly excellent adaptation of "JFK: Reckless Youth" was made for TV and is available on videotape, with Patrick Dempsey's superb performance as young John Kennedy; also highly recommended if the book intrigues you.
|
