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An Unfinished Love Story

By: Doris Kearns Goodwin
Narrated by: Doris Kearns Goodwin, Bryan Cranston
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Publisher's summary

Narrated by Doris Kearns Goodwin with the star of Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston! The audio edition also includes archival recordings of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Robert F. Kennedy.

The #1 New York Times bestseller from “America’s historian-in-chief” (New York magazine)

An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin, one of America’s most beloved historians, artfully weaves together biography, memoir, and history. She takes you along on the emotional journey she and her husband, Richard (Dick) Goodwin embarked upon in the last years of his life.

Dick and Doris Goodwin were married for forty-two years and married to American history even longer. In his twenties, Dick was one of the brilliant young men of John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier. In his thirties he both named and helped design Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society and was a speechwriter and close advisor to Robert Kennedy. Doris Kearns was a twenty-four-year-old graduate student when selected as a White House Fellow. She worked directly for Lyndon Johnson and later assisted on his memoir.

Over the years, with humor, anger, frustration, and in the end, a growing understanding, Dick and Doris had argued over the achievements and failings of the leaders they served and observed, debating the progress and unfinished promises of the country they both loved.

The Goodwins’ last great adventure involved finally opening the more than three hundred boxes of letters, diaries, documents, and memorabilia that Dick had saved for more than fifty years. They soon realized they had before them an unparalleled personal time capsule of the 1960s, illuminating public and private moments of a decade when individuals were powered by the conviction they could make a difference; a time, like today, marked by struggles for racial and economic justice, a time when lines were drawn and loyalties tested.

Their expedition gave Dick’s last years renewed purpose and determination. It gave Doris the opportunity to connect and reconnect with participants and witnesses of pivotal moments of the 1960s. And it gave them both an opportunity to make fresh assessments of the central figures of the time—John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, and especially Lyndon Johnson, who greatly impacted both their lives. The voyage of remembrance brought unexpected discoveries, forgiveness, and the renewal of old dreams, reviving the hope that the youth of today will carry forward this unfinished love story with America.

©2024 Doris Kearns Goodwin (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio
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Interview: "An Unfinished Love Story" is Doris Kearns Goodwin’s most personal history yet

'But more importantly, I really began to realize that all my life as an historian, it's to keep people alive...'
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  • An Unfinished Love Story
  • 'But more importantly, I really began to realize that all my life as an historian, it's to keep people alive...'

Editorial Review

Doris Kearns Goodwin like we’ve never seen before
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin is always an immediate add-to-Library, and An Unfinished Love Story is by far her most personal work to date. Simultaneously a reflection of the final years spent with her late husband, Richard, and a look back at the history of the 1960s, Goodwin’s latest offers an intimate take on the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Based on more than 300 boxes of personal documents and memorabilia, it’s also incredible in audio—with a performance led by Goodwin herself, intertwined with passages from actor Bryan Cranston and archival audio excerpts. It’s the perfect blend of history, biography, and memoir, and offers a totally new side to Goodwin that I am so grateful she’s chosen to share with her listeners. —Michael C., Audible Editor

What listeners say about An Unfinished Love Story

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A Great Listen

One of the best I’ve ever listened to, full of history and an endearing love story.

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7 people found this helpful

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Audio Better than Print

The audio of JFK , LBJ, and RFK enhance the audio over the print edition. Highly recommended!

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A terrific study of the ‘60s and much more…

A terrific study of the 60s through the eyes and work of an admirable power couple. The Kearns-Goodwin marriage was a match made in heaven.

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The love of her country, her husband and her work in that order.

Well written and spoken. Her insight into some of the most interesting men in history was absolutely beautiful.

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Reliving my life

Loved it all... Especially the way Doris Goodman brings insider knowledge to the events of JFK, LBJ and MLK to life

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excellent history

excellent read! big fan of Doris from way back. looking forward to her next book .

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Brilliant telling, exceptional lives!

It felt like I was on the inside, even more than a fly on the wall, for all the pivotal, emotional, and deeply interesting moments of the dynamic 60s. Thank you Ms. Goodwin!

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Beautiful Story

Having been born in 1956, this book brought back all of the turmoil of the 60s in way that I could understand as an adult. I didn’t want it to end.

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A reminder of the events and the people

I liked everything about it - difficult times,and significant people’s stories told with honesty and caring

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I love first person history

I saw the author on a talk show. I loved the entire story. The how & why. & the first person accounts of some of the most historical moments of the 1960’s

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