Kennedy by Theodore C. Sorensen

Kennedy is Theodore C. Sorensen’s celebrated insider account of John F. Kennedy, from his years in the Senate through the 1960 campaign and his presidency. Sorensen served as special counsel to the president and was his principal speechwriter, and the book is one of the most important first-hand records of the Kennedy years. This copy is the 1965 British edition, published by Hodder and Stoughton in London and printed in Great Britain by Hazell Watson and Viney Limited of Aylesbury.

The British edition includes a foreword by Lord Harlech, formerly UK Ambassador in Washington and a personal friend of the president. A frontispiece portrait of the family faces the title page. The book is bound in red cloth, with the title gilt-stamped on a black spine label and the publisher’s device at the foot of the spine.

Written in the months after the assassination, Kennedy follows the man Sorensen worked beside for over a decade: his political rise, his working methods and his decisions in office, including the Cuban Missile Crisis, civil rights and the Cold War. It remains a key source for historians and one of the most widely read books on the Kennedy presidency.

This copy will appeal to readers of American political history, collectors of Kennedy material and anyone interested in the Cold War era and the workings of the White House.

Condition – Very Good

Hardcover in the publisher’s red cloth, without dust jacket. The cloth shows shelf wear to the head of the spine and along the board edges. Remnants of the original dust jacket have adhered to the rear board, probably from past damp exposure. The spine lettering remains bright and legible. The text block edges are discoloured, with general page toning and a little foxing. The binding is sound. A solid copy of Kennedy.