Swift’s subject of Joseph Kennedy’s ambassadorship to the UK intersects with the author’s previous interest in British monarchs (The Roosevelts and the Royals, 2004). Indeed, the social-register aspect of the Kennedy family’s navigation of elite London society during their three-year stay, involving debutante presentations for the daughters, political grooming for the sons, and celebrity status for all, receives the author’s extensive narrative attention. Readers familiar with the Kennedy story will see portents of the future in Swift’s detailing of the activities of Joe Jr., Kathleen, and Jack, especially, while learning why their father’s diplomatic tenure became notorious. Joe Kennedy forgot an ambassador’s role, which is to represent the president’s views to the host government; instead, he pressed his own pessimistic predictions of Britain’s chances against Germany. Amid his chronicles of Kennedy’s diplomatic indiscretions, Swift strains to be sympathetic, citing FDR’s hostility toward Kennedy, but ultimately doesn’t challenge history’s verdict that as ambassador, Joe failed. Nevertheless, 1938–40 is a crucial period in the Kennedy epic that Swift covers well for fans of the clan’s history. --Gilbert Taylor
Review
“An admirably balanced assessment of an enormously complicated man who, wrongly but not ignobly, stood athwart history.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred)
“Elegantly written, delicately nuanced, this compelling account brings Joe Kennedy and his family to life.” (Bob Self, author of Neville Chamberlain: A Biography)
“A thoroughly revisionist but remarkably persuasive history of Joseph P. Kennedy’s years in London” (David Nasaw , author of Pulitzer Prize–nominee Andrew Carnegie)
“By wisely presenting pre-war London as a crucible in the [Kennedy] family history, [Swift] exposes the origin of many of the political, social, personal triumphs and tragedies that have cast the family―the father in particular―as a modern-day Lear.” (Lynne McTaggart , author of Kathleen Kennedy: Her Life and Times, The Field and The Intention Experiment)
“Swift’s chronicle gives an impressive insight into the mechanics of government on both sides of the Atlantic.” (Anne De Courcy, author of 1939: The Last Season of Peace Anne De Courcy, author of 1939: The Last Season of Peace Anne De Courcy, author of 1939: The Last Season of Peace Anne De Courcy, author of 1939: The Last Season of Peace)
“Dr. Swift’s psychological insight into the Kennedy family members and their dynamics makes a major contribution to the Kennedy literature.” (Jane Vieth, professor of history, Michigan State University)
About the Author
Will Swift, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist, who has been writing about American leaders and British royalty of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries for more than twenty years. He is the author of The Roosevelts and the Royals, which Blanche Wiesen Cook called "a splendid addition to our understanding of the extraordinary Anglo-American partnership," and which Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., called "an excellent book." Will Swift lives in New York City and at the Nathan Wild House in Valatie, New York.
