Why England Slept by John F. Kennedy

It was a gift and he loves history. Said the book is great.

It is great to be able to get this book. It was printed over 70 years ago. I love Amazon for this reason.

The best part of this book is the voice of the writer which is alive and exerts power! Although the subject matter is complex it is clear that the writer fully understands what he is conveying. Also the intimacy in he's s speech pattern draws you into the actual moment of his writing it and you are magically transported into a time warp where you find yourself pondering over the same scenario in your late night college dorm.

I always had a desire to read JFK’s first book , but it was illusive to me during my life. This recent reprint (fifth), if only a paperback, provides an interesting read on a topic of interest in today’s current events. This is a sample of the young future president’s writing ability and understanding of world events, governments, and economies during this time period of the 1930s.I was under the impression Winston Churchill was “persona non grata” after Gallipoli in English politics up until his election to Prime Minister in May of 1940. The book reveals an aggressive Churchill attacking the government to rearm over five years prior to that time. In fact Kennedy has made a great deal of room on his pages for Churchill, probably an indication a fondness for the figure even though he was a conservative.The bottom line to the thesis is the British people procrastinated to the threat and elected politicians who used appeasement due to unpreparedness instead of rearming, then when the country realized Germany was ahead in an arms race, it was to late for a democracy to match a dictatorship. Additionally, an underlining theme of comparison between a democracy vs. dictatorship is discussed. Present USA government should take heed to his arguments on this subject regarding the world today.The book is a short, well written, read in three parts with a table of contents, a bibliography, and no index. There are no photographs or figures but contains an interesting appendix. This appendix appears to be copies of three Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain speeches from 1938. The print to this book is of poor quality on a lower grade paper. So is there a message by the publisher as the book receives both titles: Kennedy's on the cover and Churchill's on the spine?

Read this and gain hope for our democracy. A note to the binder/producer of the paperback reprint of the hardcover: In your description and on the spine you call the title While England Slept - same Churchill's book. The actual title, as on the cover, is Why England Slept.

JFK wrote this with access to a lot of information talking about England’s reservations about entering WWII. Heavy on troop build up numbers by Germany as they were defying the Treaty of Versailles from WWI.

This is a sloppy product, for $25.95. I've always admired JFK (despite his mistakes), and thought this would be fun to read as his 100th birthday has rolled around. Unfortunately this was the only version I could find. It really has some rather funny and quirky things about it:1. The title of the book, shown on the cover, is "Why England Slept." On the other hand, on the spine of the book, which would show on a bookshelf, the title is shown as "While England Slept." Now that may seem a small difference, but Kennedy was criticized for using his "Why . . " title because it so closely resembled Churchill's "While England Slept" title which is actually the book JFK was analyzing. So the book, as received has both titles: Kennedy's on the cover and Churchill's on the spine.2. There is kind of a bizarre "Introduction" by one Sam Sloan. He seems to be intent on addressing the legitimate issue that the book might be ghost written for JFK, but then goes way beyond that with bits about Thomas Jefferson and his relationship with Sally Hemings, Kennedy Sr's. Hollywood foibles, and a theory about JFK's assassination, etc. Might be interesting to some, but surely not what I paid $25.95 for.3. Somewhat blurry "scanned" printing. Yes, it is readable, but hardly what one would expect for such a significant book.So, if this is the only way you can find to obtain this book, then go to it like I did. If you would like something more valuable for your library, then this isn't it.If none of this matters, then the content itself is an interesting view of the pre-WWII time, whether or not JFK wrote it himself.

JFK's college thesis does not point a blame, but does show cause and affect, in what my view of good ideologue intentions and ill preparedness leads too. JFK makes his case using historical facts in what lead to England's ill preparedness forcing Chamberlain to cut a deal with Germany in order too buy time against the rise of Hitler's war machine.