JFK and Jackie is a truly extraordinary book, one that documents through photographs the lives and careers of US President John Kennedy and his wife Jackie Bouvier Kennedy (later Onassis). It contains more than 400 (gray – scale) photographs, many of which take up a full, large-format page or parts of a two-page spread. The book is organized into eight chapters, as follows:

1) Dynastic Roots: 1850-1945;
2) Formidable Candidate and Flawed Husband: 1945-1959;
3) President Elect: 1960;
4) The New Frontier: 1961;
5) Crisis and Separation: 1962;
6) Moral Maturity: 1963;
7) Dallas: 22 December 1963;
8) Jackie: 1963-1994.

Each chapter is introduced by 4-5 pages of text that recount biographical and historical details of the period under discussion. A paragraph of text also accompanies each of the photographs (often recapitulating information in the chapter introductions). Having a fairly good knowledge of the lives of the principals, I noticed no significant factual errors. However, room exists for disagreement over the book’s characterizations of certain political issues.

The photographs are what make this book unusual. They show Jack and Jackie separately and together, posed and unposed, in a wide variety of settings. Most of the photographs I have never seen before, and are likely to be new to most readers.

The book is not without flaws. One is its preoccupation with JFK’s private affairs with women; they are mentioned frequently throughout the book to such a degree that one might wonder how the man found time to govern. A second flaw is the peculiar juxtaposition of photographs with text. A photo of Jack and a radiant Jackie in their car is entitled “Hoover Applies Pressure”. The headline “Ransom for Bay of Pigs Hostages” bizarrely accompanies photos of the couple with their young children. “Drugs at the White House” accompanies a photo of JFK greeting Ecuador’s head of state. (The accompanying text explains that JFK was “experimenting with various drugs” -- novacaine, cortisone, and amphetamines-- prescribed by his physician to combat his pain). A good editor should have recognized the jarring effect of juxtaposing such headlines with unrelated photographs.

A reader who can overlook these potential flaws will find in this book a wealth of excellent photographs of Jack and Jacqueline Kennedy from throughout their lives and careers. ( )