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Rating: 
Summary: "There was a God in the Irish heaven after all."
Review:
What a surprise when I found this book.To think that after 40 years a refreshing new book on President Kennedy could still be published.All the photos were taken by Jacques Lowe,who was essentially the Kennedy family photographer.His photos show the personal and human side of Kennedy and the Kennedy family as well as the people who were close to the family.
Once JFK became President, things changed drastically,and we no longer saw the same kind of photos Lowe gave us.It is a shame that Lowe did not continue on as the family photographer and hence continue with the personal glimpses he gave us.This book also has many photos which were not previously published,which show the real emotions of the people involved.Also surprising is how good the text is that accompanies the photos.
Of the many Kennedy books I own or have seen,none is better or more personal and character revealing ,than this one.
One can only imagine what a treasure trove went up in smoke when all of Lowe's negatives were lost in the World Trade Towers destruction on 9/11.
This is a large,heavy,well printed and bound book using top quality paper;a little expensive,but worth every penny.
Rating:
Summary: very intimate photographs of the whole kennedy clan
Review: A real treasure of intimate photographs of the entire kennedy clan by the photographers who was granted access to them before jfk became president. this book is a treasure.
Rating:
Summary: A Heartfelt Tribute to a Great Kennedy
Review: The "intimate and unseen photographs of the Kennedys" taken by the family's entrusted photographer Jacques Lowe starts off as just another photo album dedicated to a great president whose charismatic glow is still alive today. But as one intimate sequence of photographs builds up on another, and through a series of brief but perceptive chapter commentaries provided by Hugh Sidey, the veteran journalist who covered the Kennedy presidency like perhaps no one else did, we are pulled into an emotional time-warp which makes us privy to many crucial moments in JFK's life and career. We become privileged witnesses to many public and private moments in a world leader's life. At the end of the book one can't help but wonder if it was indeed some sort of divine providence that saved Lowe's contact sheets from the ravages of the Sept 11 attack that destroyed the original negatives kept at a safe inside the World Trade Center. These photographs reproduced after Lowe's death in May 2001 by his daughter from those contact sheets are a wistful testimony to a time when everything looked possible under the energetic leadership of the 45-year-old JFK. There are two aspects of this album that I really loved. 1) Besides the individual single B&W frames of JFK, RFK and many other family members in never-before-seen settings, the album also provides the original contact sheets from which the individual frames were selected. These sheets, besides carrying the artist's original red markings and thus providing us with a visual commentary on Lowe's uncompromising aesthetic standards, also do present us a fascinating sequence of snapshots, each showing JFK or another Kennedy with a slightly different facial gesture, with an immediately related but different interaction in the same setting, thus providing us with an unedited kaleidoscopic feel for a moment long vanished in time. Those series of unpublished and "discarded" frames make the viewer the proverbial fly-on-the-wall who can judge the true context of the situation for him/herself. They take us one step beyond the polished and well-balanced press photos and enter the back-stage of many unforgettable moments from American political history.
2) We all remember JFK for his spectacular rise to power, his election as the youngest President in U.S. history, his memorable words and vision, and the great tragedy of November 22, 1963. But how many of us remember "Jack" early in his career, when perhaps he also had his own doubts about whether he could pursue the path that he and his family set for himself? Those early campaign trail photos that depict a lonely JFK, sometimes lost in his thoughts, sometimes braving his predicament with his trademark thousand-watt smile, were my favorites in the whole album. For example: JFK visiting Ona, West Virginia (p.111), talking to miners on a mid-night shift change (p.107), welcomed in Portland, Oregon by only three supporters in 1959 (p.85), eating breakfast unnoticed at a diner in Oregon with Mrs. Kennedy and brother-in-law Steve Smith (p.79), and staring into the water in Coos Bay, Oregon (p.75) are some of my favorite "private JFK" photos. In my judgment, they alone are worth the cover price of this unique historic compilation. Makes a perfect gift for any history buff at any time of the year.
Rating: 
Summary: Worthwhile But Nothing New
Review: The cover of this latest Jacques Lowe collection trumpets that it contains "intimate and previously unseen photographs of the Kennedys". This is not entirely true. The vast bulk of the images were previously published in one or more best-selling Lowe books that include Portrait: The Emergence of John F. Kennedy (1961); The Kennedy Years (1964); Kennedy: A Time Remembered (1983); The Kennedy Legacy; A Generation Later (1988). So, while Remembering Jack is a treasure trove of photographs, only a rare few are in fact previously unpublished, and the majority of these are rejects from proofs of particular events that produced famously memorable portraits: JFK's reaction to the news of Patrice Lumumba's death, meeting the Khrushchevs in Vienna, and dinner at Versailles. Indeed, while the thematic selection of photographs is to be commended, there is some sloppiness apparent in the editing process. The chapter titled "Testing the Waters" features a photograph of a supposedly sleeping JFK with the description: "Jack stretches out on his bed on the Caroline." There is a good reason why this particular photograph was previously unpublished: the sleeping man in the photo is not Kennedy: his hair parted on the wrong side and he is wearing a wedding ring. The editors only had to look at the full-page photograph of Kennedy on the opposite page to have spotted the obvious differences. With these qualms in mind Remembering Jack is nevertheless a worthwhile and relatively inexpensive addition to one's library. It will be particularly useful to readers who have not had the benefit of viewing Lowe's work previously.
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Summary: What Jack and Jackie taught us...
Review: The terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 may have destroyed Jacques Lowe's negatives of the Kennedy family, but not the photographs or the brilliance evident in the camera capturing this shining light that once was Camelot. On the fortieth anniversary of the assassination, which is astutely, not for the first time, linked with September 11, 2001 as a turning point and a loss of innocence in our country's history, the magic of the Kennedys portrayed through Jacques Lowe's wise, perceptive lens makes us mourn for all we've lost.
Modern pundits and social critics might decry our fascination with the Kennedys, but their influence is felt strongly, especially now in Maria Shriver and hubby Ah-nold, a fierce Republican but a believer in the service to God and country that JFK practiced. You can't ignore Jack and Jackie keeping company with Premier Nikita Khrushchev, or Kennedy shaking hands with coal miners. Lowe's close-ups of the miners illuminate the dignity and strength of these men.
The Kennedys romp through a time of change in social, personal and political home movies. Particularly striking are the unguarded JFK moments, such as the photo of JFK thinking with a cigar (no Clinton jokes, please), or the sequence and closeup illustrating Kennedy's distress over hearing of Prime minister of Congo Patrice Lumumba's murder. We see the Kennedys, and they are us, with the added weight of John-John's salute. The intimacy lends more depth of history to this important, moving book.
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Summary: A Wonderful Tribute
Review: This volume is first rate not only for enthusiasts of President Kennedy but also for those interested in photo journalism and the period from the late 1950's through to the early 1960's. Despite a review stating that there is not much new here, I did not find that the case. As stated on the jacket, there are indeed over 300 unseen photographs. Of course, many of the photos are from a sequence of photos taken, with most of us being familiar with the image that Jacques Lowe chose for publication and general release.
However, It is very revealing to see the sequence of photos from which, for example, the photo used on the cover of Richard Reeves 1993 book was chosen. The many moods of John Kennedy are captured and it is as if for a brief moment he is once again with us. Hugh Sidey provides a first rate narrative and the books production values are exquisite. Given the recent death of Jacques Lowe, the book is also a final (unfortunately) rememberence of this special relationship between 2 men which produced perhaps the most intimate photographed record of a President that we are ever likely to see in our lifetime.
It is at times as if you are sitting in the Oval office with President Kennedy on any given day. I cannot recall any other President being this comfortable in his own skin and allowing such access. For the many admirers of the late President, this book will fill your eyes with tears and your heart with hope.
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Summary: one of the best book i ever seen!!
Review: to all kennedy fans, buy it!
there are a lot of pictures that are very rare, we can see the all family particularly rfk jfk and jackie kennedy.
I loved the pictures of rfk and kids, there are very touching, and we can how much he loved his children.
there is a good introduction too.
soif you want a great tirbute of the late president kennnedy buy it!
Rating:
Summary: great photos
Review: very interesting photos that I had never seen before. too many books on this family are filled with all the same photos. Nice to see some new ones.
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