True Compass by Edward M Kennedy

I am not a huge fan of autobiographies. While even a historian usually ends up with a slant to his writing as he develops an appreciation or in some cases dislike for his subject an autobiography rarely gets one as clear a picture.

This book was a gift and as I have read a few Ted Kennedy bios this was a book I wanted to read.

There are no great reveals in this book. Most of these stories we know and have heard many times. Told from Kennedy's point of view we are given not much more than we know.

All items are dealt with briefly. Chappequidick he is forthright in accepting blame and acknowledging that whatever he felt the family felt ten fold in the loss of their daughter. The seemingly countless tragedies he has experienced in his family are spoken of each in their own turn.

His relationships with Presidents Nixon, Reagan, Bush and of course Carter are enlightening. This book would really serve only as an index of what information you might want to look up more extensively were you truly interested in Ted Kennedy.

For example even the 1980 bid for the Presidency while addressed is given short shrift.

To be clear I embrace Ted Kennedy and his and his families legacy. For the most part I think they have been a strong force of good and to this day Bobby remains one of my heroes. But this book is not a good resource. To hear Ted's thoughts it is worthwhile and to pay homage to the man certainly.

But for one wanting a clearer picture there are better books out there such as a book published by the Boston Globe recently and a book published a few years ago called The Shadow President.