Why England Slept.

KENNEDY, John F.

Why England Slept.

“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on": Why England Slept; Signed by Jack Kennedy

New York: Wilfred Funk, Inc, 1940.

$9,800.00

In Stock

Item Number: 122533

* Custom Clamshell Boxes are hand made by the Harcourt Bindery upon request and take approximately 90 days to complete
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First edition, early printing of John F. Kennedy’s first book. Octavo, original red cloth. Boldly signed in a contemporary hand “Jack Kennedy” on the front free endpaper. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.

Published the year Kennedy graduated from Harvard, Why England Slept was an expansion of his senior thesis. The title is a variation on the title of Winston Churchill’s work, While England Slept, published about two years before Kennedy’s. It was dedicated to John's parents, Rose and Joe Kennedy. In this work he attempts to explain why England was so poorly prepared for World War II and why England’s leaders settled upon the disastrous policies of appeasement. The book served as a warning to those in our country who felt that appeasing Hitler and staying out of the war was a viable option. It became a bestseller in the United States and went through several printings in its first year. (Newcomb, 10)

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