|
True Compass: A Memoir |  | Author: Edward M. Kennedy
Publisher: Twelve
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
Buy New: $16.88
as of 11/27/2009 11:42 CST details
You Save: $18.12 (52%)
New (60) Used (15) Collectible (6) from $14.00
Seller: treebeardbooks
Rating:  187 reviews
Sales Rank: 12
Format: Deckle Edge
Media: Hardcover
Edition: First Edition, First Printing
Pages: 532
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.9
ISBN: 0446539252
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.92092
EAN: 9780446539258
ASIN: 0446539252
Publication Date: September 14, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Product Description
In this landmark autobiography, five years in the making, Senator Edward M. Kennedy tells his extraordinary personal story--of his legendary family, politics, and fifty years at the center of national events.
TRUE COMPASS
The youngest of nine children born to Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, he came of age among siblings from whom much was expected. As a young man, he played a key role in the presidential campaign of his brother John F. Kennedy, recounted here in loving detail. In 1962 he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he began a fascinating political education and became a legislator.
In this historic memoir, Ted Kennedy takes us inside his family, re-creating life with his parents and brothers and explaining their profound impact on him. For the first time, he describes his heartbreak and years of struggle in the wake of their deaths. Through it all, he describes his work in the Senate on the major issues of our time--civil rights, Vietnam, Watergate, the quest for peace in Northern Ireland--and the cause of his life: improved health care for all Americans, a fight influenced by his own experiences in hospitals.
His life has been marked by tragedy and perseverance, a love of family, and an abiding faith. There have been controversies, too, and Kennedy addresses them with unprecedented candor. At midlife, embattled and uncertain if he would ever fall in love again, he met the woman who changed his life, Victoria Reggie Kennedy. Facing a tough reelection campaign against an aggressive challenger named Mitt Romney, Kennedy found a new voice and began one of the great third acts in American politics, sponsoring major legislation, standing up for liberal principles, and making the pivotal endorsement of Barack Obama for president.
Hundreds of books have been written about the Kennedys. TRUE COMPASS will endure as the definitive account from a member of America's most heralded family, an inspiring legacy to readers and to history, and a deeply moving story of a life like no other.
A Look at Edward M. Kennedy Through the Years
(Click on each image below to see a larger view)
Ted Kennedy with Bobby Kennedy at the opening of the Royal Children’s Zoo (June 9, 1938) | 
John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Edward M. Kennedy | | 
Ted Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in South Boston | 
Ted and Vicki Kennedy (Photo by Ken Regan) |
Product Description
Edward M. Kennedy is widely regarded as one of the great Senators in the nation's history. He is also the patriarch of America's most heralded family. In this landmark autobiography, five years in the making, Senator Kennedy speaks with unprecedented candor about his extraordinary life.
The youngest of nine children born to Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, he came of age among siblings from whom much was expected. As a young man, he played a key role in the presidential campaign of his brother, John F. Kennedy. In 1962, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he learned how to become an effective legislator.
His life has been marked by tragedy and perseverance, a love for family and an abiding faith. He writes movingly of his brothers and their influence on him; his years of struggle in the wake of their deaths; his marriage to the woman who changed his life, Victoria Reggie Kennedy; his role in the major events of our time (from the civil rights movement to the election of Barack Obama); and how his recent diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor has given even greater urgency to his long crusade for improved health care for all Americans.
Written with warmth, wit, and grace, True Compass is Edward M. Kennedy's inspiring legacy to readers and to history.
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 187
 a Pulitzer Prize for this one November 27, 2009
John W. Davis (Sn Francisco, Ca)
This book deserves the Pulitzer Prize. Senator Kennedy gave way more than just an accounting of his life....he was highly reflective, thoughtful, honest,revealing and entertaining. When an autobiography does these things it reaches a special level...... a superb book. In these ways the book reminds me of Katherine Graham's, Personal History.
True Compass by Edward Kennedy November 25, 2009
JoAnn S. Evans (Corning NY)
This is one of the finest books I have ever read. I do not ordinarily choose such a lengthy book but this one kept my interest to the very end. I discovered Edward Kennedy to be an outstanding person, one whom I never really knew much about. Every family would benefit from having a person like him in their lives. And our country has been blessed by having him serve as a senator. I also learned much about politics that I found hard to follow in the past but he made everything easy to understand. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in biography.
Fascinating November 24, 2009
H. Hooks
Needless to say Ted Kennedy's life is full of mistakes as well as tragic events that no one should have to endure. His explanation of those mistakes, while somewhat evasive, is certainly explained from a perspective not read or heard before, and I must say, understandable. The personal losses he and his family incurred and endured throughout his life are beyond comprehension. Bottom line, whether you agree with his politics or not, his service in the Senate and his achievements for his causes are very, very impressive. I recommend this book to any open minded readed willing to accept "the other side of the story".
True to Himself November 22, 2009
Jeffrey T. Hammill (Claremont, CA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Ted Kennedy is not a man I would have ever voted for. He viewed government as the answer to all problems and many of the Great Society programs he championed have not served to solve any of those problems.
That said, this book reminds us why Ted Kennedy is one of the giants of the Senate and American history. He was always a bleeding heart liberal. He never wavered or tried to tack to the center to get elected or re-elected. America, and his state, always knew where he stood on any issue. Even if you disagreed with him, you had to admire the consistency, a consistency all too often lacking in our current leadership.
The book also reminds us that, while born into great privilege, he endured tremendous personal tragedies, yet soldiered on. The deaths of his siblings, the cancer of his children: All things that would cause many of us to pack it in and head out to the safety of home and hearth, but he fought on.
He does dance around the Chappaquidick issue, almost seeming to suggest a bump on the head caused him to act the way he acted, but so much has been written and said about that night, that there is not much more to say. There is some flicker of taking responmsibility in these pages, but still a fair amount of denial.
I am glad Ted Kennedy was never President. I am also glad that he served as long as he did in the United States Senate. He stood as a reminder of the day when politicians stood by their ideals, worked with the other side and genuinely tried to make America a better place. For all of his flaws, this book stands as a monument to that lost tradition.
An Affecting Book November 22, 2009
D. Strauss (Maine USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was an honest and affecting book and I felt like I got to know Mr. Kennedy very well. As a public figure, I admired him as being true to himself and in writing this book he comes across that same way. Loved many of the anecdotes. The most affecting parts of the book were where he tells stories about his grandfather Honey Fitz, his father, mother and brothers Joe, John and Bobby both about his relationship with them and their own lives. There were times I wanted more detail about events like his run for President in 1980 and Bobby's run for President in 1968, but I guess that's for the historians to write about.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 187
|
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME.
| |
