The Kennedys: America's Emerald Kings: A Five-Generation History of the Ultimate Irish-Catholic Family

(Paperback)

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For 150 years, the story of the Kennedy family has been inextricably linked to their heritage as Irish-Catholic immigrantsfrom Patrick Kennedys 1848 arrival in Brahmin Boston from Country Wexford Ireland, to Joseph Kennedys Vatican ties and Jackies thoughts on faith and sorrow, to Kennedy-confidante Father McSorleys religious counsel following the assassination of JFK. Through groundbreaking interviews with Senator Edward Kennedy and other Kennedy family and friends, acclaimed journalist Thomas Maier casts the Kennedy saga in an entirely new light, showing how their Irish catholic heritage influenced their public and private decisions. Released to coincide with a documentary adapted from the book, this edition features a new preface, in which Maier explores the dynamics of the three brothers, Ted Kennedys legacy, and the 2008 presidential elections that have been touched in so many ways by the Kennedy family.

Reviews

A colossal work...The Kennedys is a pleasure to read and a legitimate page-turner.--BookReporter.com
A hefty, well documented, glowing account of the Kennedys as a prime example of Irish Catholic experience in America. He paints a vivid picture of the anti-Irish, anti-Catholic sentiment that faced immigrants with brogues.--Kirkus Reviews
The door is open and the time is right for another serious, multigenerational history of America's most fabled clan. Newsday reporter Maier answers the need quite well with this fascinating account.--Publishers Weekly
There is a fascinating, five-generation story to tell here, and Maier does it well...this book reads like a metaphor for the Irish immigrant experience itself.--Providence Journal
This extremely readable biography not only examines one particular immigrant family but also sheds light on the larger story of Irish Americans from the early twentieth century onward.--Booklist
You can't understand the Kennedys unless you look at their Irish Catholic roots. Thomas Maier has gone far beyond earlier Kennedy biographers and historians to reveal ties that shaped the Kennedys long after they left Ireland. And he's done it in a lively, readable way.--Evan Thomas, author of Robert Kennedy: His Life

Author Bio

Thomas Maier is a special writer at New York Newsday. He is the author of the critically acclaimed biography Dr. Spock, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and one of the Boston Globe's top ten nonfiction titles of 1998, and Newhouse, which won the Frank Luther Mott Award for Best Media Book. He lives on Long Island, New York.