The Kennedy Brothers

The Rise and Fall of Jack and Bobby

De: Richard D. Mahoney

Narrado por: Peter Altschuler

Books about the Kennedys are legion. Yet missing until now has been the exploration of the bond between Jack and Bobby, and the part that it played in their rise and fall. Eight years apart in age, they were wildly different in temperament and sensibility. Jack was the born leader—charismatic, ironic, capable of extraordinary growth and reach, yet also pathologically reckless. Bobby was the fearless, hardworking Boy Scout—unafraid of dirty work and ruthless about protecting his brother and destroying their enemies. Jack, it was said, was the first Irish Brahman, Bobby the last Irish Puritan.

As Mahoney demonstrates with brilliant clarity in this impeccably documented, magisterial book, the Kennedys lived their days of power in dangerous, trackless territory. The revolution in Cuba had created a poisonous cauldron of pro- and anti-Castro forces, the CIA, J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI, and the Mafia. Mahoney gives us Jack and Bobby in all their hubris and humanity, youthfulness and fatalism. Here is American history as it unfolds. The Kennedy Brothers is a fresh and masterful account of the men whose legacy continues to hold the American imagination. (Originally published under the title Sons and Brothers.)

Richard D. Mahoney is Kennedy Scholar Emeritus of the University of Massachusetts. He is an expert on international economics and foreign policy. He is the author of two histories of the Kennedy administration, and was the Democratic secretary of state and acting governor of Arizona. He lives in Phoenix.

©1999, 2011 Richard D. Mahoney (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Wow, this was such a thorough review - excellent!

This was my fourth book on the Kennedys and I can’t believe that Audible currently has this title for free. Wow - what a deal! I’ve been working my way through each of the US Presidents from Washington now through the Kennedys, and the Kennedys are so fascinating that I decided to read more than one book. I highly recommend you add this to your list if you are interested to understand about the political climate in the early 60s, the Kennedy family, to learn a little bit more about Robert Kennedy, or just the history of presidency in general.

Quote/Unquote

When the narrator used “quote & unquote”, it was bordering ridiculous! Surely much of that would have just been a given, implied or assumed. I don’t see how it was necessary to constantly identify every single quote. It was incredibly annoying - so much so that it was all I could do to keep listening. I don’t understand how anyone could have approved this performance.

I Remember It Happening All Around Me

Finally, a a real outline and full discussion of so many of the factors camouflaged, then withheld, for so many decades. We'll never know them, but at least we can retrieve some parts our ourselves we invested and lost in that bloody era.

An interesting read about the famous Kennedy brothers

A compelling yet gripping look at one of America’s most famous families. The reader will enjoy this book…

Very informative, but

I've read a lot of books on the Kennedys and so far, this one goes into the most detail about Bobby's and Jack's political careers. There's a lot of information on the enemies they made and mob connections. I have the Kindle version as well so I can tell you that there are places where the text differs enough to change the meaning of a sentence. Since the printed book came first, I'm guessing the changes to the Audible version are the result of intentional editing.

Like at least one other listener, I started grinding my teeth with all the times the narrator used "quote, unquote." Sometimes it's necessary for clarification; other times it's just too annoying. It reminds me of my high school speech class where the teacher would have us count how many times another student said "you know" and "like" when they were giving a speech. It really detracted from the flow of the book and sometimes my understanding of what was actually being said. Good thing I had the print copy.