"80,000 COPIES ARE SOLD!"

JFK'S FIRST BOOK, 'WHY ENGLAND SLEPT' IS PUBLISHED

New York City (JFK+50) On August 1, 1940, John F. Kennedy's "Why England Slept," adapted from the author's senior thesis at Harvard, was published by Funk, Inc. here in New York City.

The book is an analysis of Great Britain's delay in building up its military in the face of rearmament by Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler.

Henry R. Luce of Time Magazine writes in the introduction...

"If John Kennedy is characteristic of the younger generation, many of us would be happy to have the destiny of the Republic handed over..."

JFK+50 NOTE

The title of JFK's book, which sold 80,000 copies, was a play on the title of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's 'While England Slept.'  

SOURCE

"Why England Slept Is Published," JFK+50, August 1, 2011, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/

 

 

Why England Slept

by John F. Kennedy

1940

"ARTICULATE WITH FLASHES OF FUTURE BRILLIANCE"

JFK'S "WHY ENGLAND SLEPT" PUBLISHED

New York City (JFK+50) On August 1, 1940, "Why England Slept", a book written by 23 year old John F. Kennedy and adapted from his Harvard senior thesis, was published by Funk, Inc. here in New York.

The work is an analysis of Great Britain's delay in building up its military in the face of German rearmament under Hitler.  The book's title is based on Winston Churchill's 1938 "While England Slept."

The introduction by Time Magazine's Henry R. Luce* includes these words...

"If John F. Kennedy is characteristic of the younger generation, many of us would be happy to have the destiny of the Republic turned over to his generation."

*Henry Robinson Luce (1898-1967) was born in China & graduated from Yale University.  HRL founded Time, Life, Fortune & Sports Illustrated magazines.  He has been called "the most influential private citizen in the America of his day."

JFK+50 NOTE

The First Edition of WES sold for $2 a copy ($42.33 today) & 80,000 copies were printed. 

In his January 1941 review of the book, Robert Gale Woolbert says that WES "seeks to show that the responsibility for the policies which have led Britain to its present parlous state--appeasement, pacifism, undue optimism and general muddleheadedness--rest on the British people as a whole..."

 A 2005 book review describes JFK's style as "articulate...with flashes of future brilliance." 

SOURCES

"Why England Slept," by John F. Kennedy, Funk Incorporated, New York, 1940

"Why England Slept," Foreign Affairs, by Robert Gale Woolbert, January 1941, www.foreignaffairs.com/