Journals 1952-2000 - Hardcover

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.

4.15

303 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1843549786 ISBN 13: 9781843549789

Publisher: Atlantic Books, 2008

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Light wear to dust jacket, some marking to top edge of page block. Shipped from the U.K. All orders received before 3pm sent that weekday.

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About the Author:

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., is a renowned American historian and social critic and the prolific author of numerous books, including, most recently, War and the American Presidency. He has twice won both the Pulitzer Prize, for The Age of Jackson and A Thousand Days, and the National Book Award, also for A Thousand Days as well as for Robert Kennedy and His Times. In 1998 he was awarded the prestigious National Humanities Medal.

From Publishers Weekly:

Starred Review. The beloved cultural and political commentator Schlesinger (1917-2007) formed his left-leaning worldview during FDR's New Deal; a liberal scholar and historian, Schlesinger produced more than 25 books (his last was 2005's War and the American Presidency), won two Pulitzers and became a powerful force in shaping liberal political thought. Taking readers through Schlesinger's diaries year by year, the book begins with Schlesinger's first encounters with presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson, for whose (unsuccessful) campaign he would become a speech-writer; fortunately, off-years pass by quickly (1953-1959 take up fewer than 30 pages), picking up again in 1960, when Schlesinger became special advisor to President Kennedy. With characteristic candor, Schlesinger weighs in on both: of Stevenson, "probably even more conservative than I had thought"; of JFK, "he has most of FDR's lesser qualities. Whether he has FDR's greater qualities is the problem for the future." Subsequent years bring the expected: Vietnam and LBJ, the assassination of Robert Kennedy, Nixon and Watergate, the rise of Reagan and the fall of the Soviets, the first Gulf War and the second George Bush, all viewed through Schlesinger's singular perspective. Interspersed between an endless, engrossing parade of lunches with luminaries such as Henry Kissenger and Jackie Onassis, Schlesinger discusses his own work and a few personal details ("Another year; another house... spent most of the month getting settled at 118 East 82nd Street with my beloved Alexandra"). Most of the memoir, however, is a pleasingly understated whirlwind of big names and bigger issues. Rich in insight and cagily observed history, Schlesinger's weighty memoirs will mesmerize political junkies; even lay-readers will be charmed and fascinated by Schlesinger's take on the 20th century's last half.
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