A Thousand DaysA Thousand Days
Score Classic
What it's about
Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a historian who served as a special assistant to President Kennedy, tells the story of Kennedy's years in the White House: the Bay of Pigs disaster, the Cuban missile crisis, the space race, civil rights, Berlin and the beginnings of Vietnam, until the assassination in Dallas.
Why it's worth reading
It won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and spent weeks at #1 on the New York Times list.
You'll love it if you liked
An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy 1917-1963
Robert Kennedy and His Times
The Best and the BrightestGood to know
It's long and admiring of Kennedy, written soon after his death.
By the numbers
- Readers76 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics86 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller30 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
On our reserve shelf: it doesn't have enough readers yet for us to rank it alongside the Must-Read 50 pool. We check again every month, and it can still turn up in your 50 once you've read most of our ranked books.
Why it made the list
Reads as
True story
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Quick answers
Is A Thousand Days worth reading?
It won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and spent weeks at #1 on the New York Times list. Its Must-Read Score is 83.7 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is A Thousand Days about?
Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a historian who served as a special assistant to President Kennedy, tells the story of Kennedy's years in the White House: the Bay of Pigs disaster, the Cuban missile crisis, the space race, civil rights, Berlin and the beginnings of Vietnam, until the assassination in Dallas.
How long does it take to read A Thousand Days?
About 23 hours (918 pages), or about 7 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What awards has A Thousand Days won?
Pulitzer Prize (Biography) winner (1966); National Book Award (Nonfiction) winner (1966).
What should I read after A Thousand Days?
If you liked it, try An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy 1917-1963 by Robert Dallek, Robert Kennedy and His Times by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. or The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam.