.jpg) First edition | |
| Author | John F. Kennedy |
|---|---|
| Subject | Buildup of Nazi German power andappeasement of Nazi Germany by the United Kingdom |
| Genre | Thesis |
| Publisher | Wilfred Funk |
Publication date | 1940 |
| Followed by | Profiles in Courage |
Why England Slept (1940) is the published version of athesis written byJohn F. Kennedy in his senior year atHarvard College. Its title alludes toWinston Churchill's 1938 bookArms and the Covenant, published in the United States asWhile England Slept, which also examined the buildup of German power.[1] Kennedy's book examines the failures of theBritish government to take steps to preventWorld War II and its initial lack of response toAdolf Hitler's threats of war.
Rather than castigating the popularappeasement policy that the British government then pursued, it is notable for taking the uncommon stance that if Great Britain had confrontedNazi Germany earlier it would have been far more disastrous for her than the delay caused by the appeasement policies of Chamberlain and other British leaders.
The book was originally intended to be no more than a college thesis. It was ratedmagna cum laude by professor Henry A. Yeomans andcum laude plus by professorCarl J. Friedrich.[2] However, Kennedy's father,Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., keen to elevate his son's reputation, encouraged Kennedy to convert the thesis into book form and publish it. He then enlisted the highly influential publishing magnateHenry Luce to write the foreword,[3] and his friendArthur Krock, former bureau chief ofThe New York Times, to assist in redrafting the thesis, which had originally been titled "Appeasement At Munich."[4]
The historianGarry Wills claimed that the assistance amounted to rewriting and retitling the manuscript and finding an agent for its publication.[5] AsUnited States ambassador to the United Kingdom, Kennedy Sr. supported British Prime MinisterNeville Chamberlain's policy of appeasement during the late 1930s. His stance furthering appeasement would eventually cause Kennedy Sr.'s removal as ambassador to the United Kingdom, and prove disastrous for his future political aspirations. By contrast, John F. Kennedy broke with his father's support for appeasement, and was moved when he witnessed firsthand theLuftwaffe's bombings of Britain.
After it was published in 1940, the book sold 80,000 copies in the United Kingdom and the United States and collected $40,000 in royalties for Kennedy. Income from the British sales were donated toPlymouth, a British city that had recently beenbombed by the Luftwaffe. Kennedy bought aBuickconvertible with the income from the book'sNorth American sales.[3]
The book addressed Kennedy's belief in the need for objective and detached calculation in foreign policy decisions. Kennedy historian and foreign relations professorFredrik Logevall believed the book demonstratesJFK's "commitment to an unsentimental realism in international affairs". Kennedy is telling future policy makers that "foreign threats cannot be dealt with by ignoring them or wishing them away ... they must be confronted by clearheaded and informed calculation".[6]
