Finalist for the Ottawa Book Award
Longlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize
“This book is a page-turner.”
—Library Journal
“A stellar book on the Kennedy presidency.”
—Globe and Mail
“An historical thriller . . . exhaustively and painstakingly researched.”
—The Gazette (Montreal)
“A riveting, moment-by-moment account. Cohen’s weaving together of the essential and the mundane makes this a compelling book, startling in detail and profound in its analysis.”
—Jury Citation, Ottawa Book Award
“With Two Days in June, Cohen has masterfully accomplished the task of discovering a damn good story worthy of telling. His use of rare source material . . . allows for candid insights from Kennedy intimates, while his authorial skill results in a narrative which is both urgent and engaging.”
—Hartford Books Examiner
“Cohen has produced a book that offers that wonderful thing—something new.”
—Ottawa Citizen
“An excellent portrait of America in the 1960s, thanks to the wealth of details Cohen provides. . . . This book is not only a wonderful character study of a president, it is also a fascinating look at a pivotal point in American history.”
—Quill & Quire
“Meticulously researched and engagingly written. . . . The two speeches ultimately changed the course of history. In this important book, Cohen brings it all alive and makes us feel that we are there behind the scenes to see history in the making.”
—Book Page
“Cohen’s own lyrical account of these days provides an intimate,
moving, and revelatory portrait of Kennedy that is superbly detailed
and thrillingly narrated.”
—Thurston Clarke, author of JFK’s Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President
“Do we need another book on John F. Kennedy? The answer turns out to be a resounding yes, given this highly readable tale of two days. . . . A story Cohen relays with novelistic pacing.”
—The McGill News
“A masterful volume . . . riveting in detail . . . meticulous historical research.”
—The Prairie Messenger
“This is excellent historical writing in the manner of Barbara Tuchman and Margaret Macmillan.” —Diplomat Magazine
“Two Days in June is an important book . . . a great work.”
—Bulletin: The Magazine of Choate Rosemary Hall
"He may have served for a thousand days but it was two days that made John F. Kennedy's presidency. No one before Andrew Cohen has recognized that, and because of his signal achievement in Two Days in June, no one will be able to write about—no one will be able to think about—John Kennedy ever again in quite the same way. Channeling Theodore White and William Manchester, Andrew Cohen has changed the way we regard JFK in Two Days as much as JFK changed the presidency and the world in those two days."
—David M. Shribman, former editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, winner of the Pulitzer Prize
"Andrew Cohen calls the two days during which President John F. Kennedy delivered ground-breaking speeches addressing the great post-war threats to America—racial inequality and nuclear war—'his lyrical journey to peace and freedom.' Cohen's own lyrical account of these days provides an intimate, moving, and revelatory portrait of Kennedy that is superbly detailed and thrillingly narrated."
—Thurston Clarke, author of JFK's Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President
"Using a literary zoom lens, Andrew Cohen zeroes in on forty-eight dramatic hours in John F. Kennedy's presidency to superbly illuminate his leadership in a compelling and original way. It is Kennedy up close and personal, making history with two of his most important speeches—one carefully planned, the other a brilliant improvisation. Two Days in June nimbly juggles fast-moving presidential challenges at home and abroad, with fascinating new details of the drama unfolding behind the scenes on Air Force One, in the Oval Office, in the private quarters of the White House, and in the most exclusive salon in Georgetown. . . . Cohen's analysis of the two speeches and their impact, and his assessment of their measure in JFK's presidency is astute and constitutes an entirely original perspective. His research has been prodigious. Even Kennedy devotees and experts will find new tidbits throughout, judiciously placed in the author's seamless and riveting narrative, which is beautifully written and weaves together the consequential and the quotidian, with verve and authority."
—Sally Bedell Smith, author of Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House
