September 30, 2004

• Why England Slept

  Why England Slept by John F. Kennedy

  Editorial Reviews Book Description Written by John F. Kennedy in 1940 when he was still in college and reprinted in 1961 when he was president, this book is an appraisal of the tragic events of the thirties that led to World War II. It is an account of England's unpreparedness for war and a study of the shortcomings of democracy when confronted by the menace of totalitarianism. Customer Review: by Brian Brockmeyer This is a solid effort by a young JFK to look into the dynamics at play during the pre-war years. He does an good job of showing how pacifistic sentiment and proponents of unilateral disarmament were to blame for Britain confronting the German problem so belatedly. He also explores the misguided faith of the British in the French military to contain Germany if war broke out on the continent. I read where a previous reviewer said that Kennedy didn't write this book and that is a complete fallacy. While he is correct in saying that Joe Kennedy had a lot to do with the book's success by buying over 30,000 copies, the authenticity of this work has never been questioned. Why England Slept, as most probably know, grew out of JFK's senior thesis(of the same name) while at Harvard. Perhaps this reviewer had this book confused with Kennedy's other famous work, "Profiles in Courage", which a lot of evidence suggests was actually ghost-written by JFK's eventual speechwriter, Teddy Sorensen. Whether you agree with Kennedy's conclusions or not, Why England Slept is a very thoughtful analysis into why it took Europe so long to recognize the German threat. It also provides excellent insight into the young future President and how he viewed the world. I highly reccomend it. Customer Review by Tony Sanchez The book is drably written and without many of the lively anecdotes typical of current nonfiction. The book, though, in analyzing England & Europe's political and economic condition provides a perspective to the often asked question of "Why didn't the world act to stop Hitler before he opened hostilities?" Kennedy nearly prophesizes the later U.S. involvement in the war. Unfortunately, the post war perspective of whether earlier action against Hitler should have been initiated is colored by historians' accepting of Churchill's later self serving reviews of the pre-war years. Kennedy's book gives some perspective to Churchill's role of those pre-war years (e.g., Churchill at first argued to increase armament to keep up with the French, not Germany), and the likelihood of whether more serious action would have been possible at the time (not likely by any single nation). There were things in this book that I had not earlier encountered in my numerous readings of WWII.

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