Why England Slept
by John F. Kennedy 
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"England made many mistakes; she is paying heavily for them now. In studying the reasons why England slept, let us try to profit by them and save ourselves her anguish." - John F. Kennedy In 1938, British statesman and soon-to-be Prime Minister Winston Churchill published his book Arms and the Covenant. It was published three months later in the United States under the title While England Slept; A Survey of World Affairs, 1932-1938. In While England Slept, Churchill emphasized the United show more Kingdom's lack of military preparation to face the threat of Nazi Germany's Anschluss and expansion, and argued against the appeasement policies of the British government, led by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who said "Peace for our time." The book spurred many English citizens to oppose the dovish philosophy of the Munich Agreement, and in doing so, Churchill singlehandedly changed the course of history. In 1940, future President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, who was a senior at Harvard University, wrote his dissertation, criticizing Churchill's harsh blame of England's leaders, even drawing comparisons between England and the United States for its own similar lack of preparedness against the totalitarian Nazi regime. Responding to Churchill's title, Kennedy named his book, Why England Slept. Discover all of this and more in this deluxe original classic 1940 edition of the work that includes the original foreword by Henry R. Luce. "To say that all the blame must rest on the shoulders of Neville Chamberlain or of Stanley Baldwin, is to overlook the obvious. As the leaders, they are, of course, gravely and seriously responsible. But, given the conditions of democratic government… it is unreasonable to blame the entire situation on one man or group." - JFK. show lessTags
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Pretty interesting historical document of a young JFK sizing things up before Pearl Harbor. Of course, considering what we now know about Cuba and Vietnam, you have to think about the old saying about
people in glass houses.
people in glass houses.
Pretty interesting historical document of a young JFK sizing things up before Pearl Harbor. Of course, considering what we now know about Cuba and Vietnam, you have to think about the old saying about
people in glass houses.
people in glass houses.
4356. Why England Slept, by John F. Kennedy (read 28 Aug 2007) This is a perceptive analysis of what determined England's behavior from 1931 to 1939 in regard to national defense and war. Since we know the author was born in May of 1917 and this book came out in June of 1940, we also know the author was barely 23 at the time the book was published. I find the book has well stood the test of the events since it was published. Its reading today is well worth the time spent in doing so.
JFK wrote this while in collage and pubished in mid 1940, partly in response to Churchills' 1938 book "while England Slept".
In his introduction he answers churchill this way ""... it appears extremely shortsighted to dismiss superficially England's present position as the result of one man or one group of men's blindness...But,given the conditions of democratic goverment...it is unreasonable to blame the entire situation on one man or group".
Of the US he states "The investigations of the last month in America have shown that we are in no position to criticize blindly. It was a great shock to America to wake up one morning...and find that her supposeedly invulnerable position between two large oceans was invulnerable no longer."
a little show more further on he continues "...if Hitler suceeds in winning the present war, the position of America will remarkably similar of that of England during the last decade."
This is a must read for any serious WW2 reader. show less
In his introduction he answers churchill this way ""... it appears extremely shortsighted to dismiss superficially England's present position as the result of one man or one group of men's blindness...But,given the conditions of democratic goverment...it is unreasonable to blame the entire situation on one man or group".
Of the US he states "The investigations of the last month in America have shown that we are in no position to criticize blindly. It was a great shock to America to wake up one morning...and find that her supposeedly invulnerable position between two large oceans was invulnerable no longer."
a little show more further on he continues "...if Hitler suceeds in winning the present war, the position of America will remarkably similar of that of England during the last decade."
This is a must read for any serious WW2 reader. show less
John Kennedy's account of the period before World War II explaining the policy of appeasement --a bit odd since his father as US ambassador to Britain did not really support the war.
important book. paperback in near new condition.
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John F. Kennedy has a Legacy Library. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by LibraryThing members from the Legacy Libraries group.
Some Editions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Doubleday Dolphin (C379)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Why England Slept
- Original publication date
- 1940
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 941.083 — History & geography History of Europe British Isles Historical periods of British Isles 1837- Period of Victoria and House of Windsor 1910-1936 George V
- LCC
- DA578 .K4 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania Great Britain History of Great Britain England History By period Modern, 1485- 20th century
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 170
- Popularity
- 193,431
- Reviews
- 6
- Rating
- (3.92)
- Languages
- Danish, English, Italian
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 16
