Includes bibliographical references (p. [512]-514) and index.

The torch -- Family. Safe harbor ; No crying in this house ; Wartime London ; Boarding school boy ; The Harvard screwup -- Brotherhood. Kennedy for President ; Becoming a politician ; The New Frontier ; Drinks with the Senator ; 1963 ; Falling to earth ; Thunder ; Bobby -- On my own. the shock of silence ; The hospital ; Nixonian radicals ; Backlash in Boston ; Sailing against the wind ; The Reagan years ; The family business -- Renewal. the woman who changed my life ; Campaigning for political survival ; The Clinton years ; The living Rose ; Senator ; Perseverance.

In this landmark autobiography, five years in the making, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, elected to the Senate in 1962 tells his extraordinary personal story--of his legendary family, politics, and fifty years at the center of national events. He discusses his distinguished career, his relationships with his brothers John and Robert Kennedy, and the tragedies that have befallen his family over the many years.