If one knows nothing about the subject, this is a good and concise introduction to the topic, published in a book form from a student thesis at a not too high level, most likely - most of us however do know almost everything this book has to offer, still, it does give some information to most readers who are not completely well versed in the subject.
Some of the deeply painful parts are, of necessity, glossed over, whether due to need of concise form or restrictions imposed by needs of privacy, or much more likely, because the author just couldn't spend that much time and effort on the book. Of those, much is written and published and more about the more famous persona of the clan, but two stand out as being less known about.
One of course is the very pathetic elder daughter Rosemary Kennedy, who was subjected to terrible and terribly unfair treatment - the parents had a lobotomy performed and then had her live in seclusion in Wisconsin far away from not only the limelight the clan lived in, but also very rarely visited by most of family, including her mother Rose Kennedy who didn't visit her for decades. All this, because she was "rebellious", and a hint of some escapades that the catholic mother did not approve of and the father couldn't allow the scandals obstruct his plans for careers for his sons and himself - and the young woman was reduced to a vegetable, living life of an orphan.
The other, Kathleen Kennedy, did a little better but not much - she had to fight terrible battles only because her mother saw it as a sin when Kathleen wished to marry an Englishman, never mind he was an aristocrat and well off, William Cavendish, Lord Hartington who was eventually to be Duke of Devonshire. Joe Kennedy, the eldest brother, stood up for her and with her at the wedding where others present were the Devonshire family of the groom, and in a short span of less than a year thereafter both Joe and the newly married groom died in the war. Kathleen didn't give up on life and love, and was all set to marry another British aristocrat, but both died in an air crash before they could wed.
The author takes a stock of the various misfortunes that the clan dealt with, including the rape charges against one in the nineties, but stops short of the sensational murder charge against a close relative, a nephew, that might have been after all unfairly brought against the boy only because he was related to the Kennedy family.
All in all, worth a look.
