PT 109 : John F. Kennedy in World War II - Softcover

Robert J. Donovan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0071408681 ISBN 13: 9780071408684

Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press, 2002

Synopsis

NOW IN PAPERBACK

A timeless tale of heroism now available to a new generation of readers

"To me, PT 109 has always been one of the great war stories of all time.­­Senator Edward M. Kennedy

"In PT 109 we see a man assailed by hunger, heat, cold, discouragement, and danger rising, without dramatics or posturing, to greatness."­­New York Times Book Review

"This salutary book brings back the days when men heard an undeniable call to service in something bigger than themselves, and answered in kind."­­Daniel Schorr

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"To me, it has always been one of the great war stories of all time."--Senator Edward M. Kennedy

In the early morning darkness of August 2, 1943, in the waters of Blackett Strait in the Solomon Islands, the Japanese destroyer Amagiri sliced an American PT boat in two, leaving its crew for dead in a flaming sea. Over the next three days, the boat's skipper, a boyish lieutenant from Boston named John Fitzgerald Kennedy, repeatedly risked his life in an effort to summon help until he finally secured his crew's rescue.

First published to wide critical acclaim in 1961, Robert Donovan's timeless classic tells the complete, harrowing story of PT 109 and her crew. This 40th anniversary edition includes a foreword from Daniel Schorr, a preface by the author recounting the circumstances of the book's creation, and an afterword by World War II naval historian Duane Hove portraying the broader context for PT boat operations in the South Pacific. Here for a new generation of readers is a compelling glimpse of the values of service and duty that characterized America during the war years, as fresh and timely now as when it was published forty years ago.

"In PT 109 we see a man assailed by hunger, heat, cold, discouragement and danger rising, without dramatics or posturing, to greatness."--New York Times Book Review

"A tense, tough and intelligent story of wartime adventure and heroism."--San Francisco Chronicle

About the Author:

Robert J. Donovan's long and varied career as a journalist began in 1932. While writing PT 109 in 1961, he worked for the New York Herald Tribune as Chief of the Washington Bureau, a position he later held for the Los Angeles Times. He has written numerous books, including Eisenhower: The Inside Story, Nemesis: Truman and Johnson in the Coils of War in Southeast Asia, and Boxing the Kangaroo: A Reporter's Memoir.

About this edition

• Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0071408681
• ISBN 13: 9780071408684
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256