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Sign up todayRobert Kennedy
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Learn moreTraditionally, Robert F. Kennedy has been viewed as either the “Good Bobby,” who saw wrong and tried to right it, or the “Bad Bobby” of countless conspiracy theories, the ruthless and manipulative bully who plotted with the Mafia to kill Castro and lusted after Marilyn Monroe. Evan Thomas’ achievement is to realize RFK as a human being, to bring to life an extraordinarily complex man who was at once kind and cruel, devious and honest, fearful and brave.
The portrait that emerges is unvarnished but sympathetic, packed with new details about Kennedy’s early life and his behind-the-scenes machinations: his involvement in a cheating incident in prep school, his first attempt at romance, and his many back-channel political operations—with new revelations about the 1960 and 1968 presidential campaigns, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and his long struggles with J. Edgar Hoover and Lyndon Johnson, both of whom were subtly and not-so-subtly trying to blackmail the Kennedys. In a clear and fast-paced narrative, Thomas cuts through the mythology to reveal a character who, though he died young just as he was reaching for ultimate power, remains one of the century’s most fascinating men.
Evan Thomas is the author of several bestselling works of history and biography, including The War Lovers and Sea of Thunder. He was a writer and editor at Time and Newsweek for more than thirty years, and he is frequently a commentator on television and radio. He teaches at Princeton University and lives in Washington, DC.
Ray Porter is an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator and fifteen-year veteran of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has appeared in numerous films and television shows, including Almost Famous, ER, and Frasier.
Reviews
“This judicious and thorough book is likely to be the most comprehensive and balanced study of the life and career of Robert F. Kennedy for a long time to come.”
“An assured, gripping new biography…Thomas’ book is exemplary.”
“Thomas’ book sheds new light on a man—and an era and a family—about whom Americans will probably never know the whole truth.”
“Ray Porter’s authoritative voice is well suited to Thomas’ meticulously researched biography…In sync with Thomas’ text, Porter’s narration is simultaneously matter-of-fact and reverent. For Kennedy fans and political history buffs, this biography delivers.”
“Gracefully written, thoroughly researched, and accessible…Vividly reveals a very human Kennedy…Highly recommended.”
“Friends and foes have spun enough myths about RFK to bewilder the casual reader; Thomas sets out to examine the evidence…A solid, judicious life of a politician whose tragic death inspired a generation of what-if history.”
“Thomas’ large, comprehensive biography of this complicated man is refreshingly unbiased. RFK is presented as a person, not an icon…Ray Porter reads with the precision that comes from his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival…Highly recommended.”
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