Don't Let It Be Forgot

At a point in history when Camelot seems not only further away then ever, perhaps even unattainable, Robert Dallek's latest biography seems especially timely—An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963. Dallek, a professor of history at Boston University and recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, is the author of the classic two-volume biography of Lyndon B. Johnson, Lone Star Rising and Flawed Giant, both of which were New York Times Notable Books of the Year. Little, Brown's campaign for the Kennedy work (copies in print: 250,000) kicked off with a two-part first serial in the Atlantic Monthly, the first of which was the magazine's December 2002 cover story. The ensuing media blitz has included Dateline NBC, Today, The Early Show, Good Morning America, NPR's Fresh Air, national news weeklies, a 25-city TV satellite tour and more. Dallek's tour commenced on the book's May 13 pub date; it concludes, fittingly, in Washington, D.C. The publisher notes that a second phase of the tour will pick up in August and continue through the 40th anniversary of JFK's assassination, in November.

With reporting by Dick Donahue