Why England Slept Why England Slept Why England Slept is the published version of a thesis written by John F. Kennedy while in his senior year at Harvard College. Its title is an allusion to Winston Churchill's 1938 book "While England Slept," which also examined the buildup of German power. Published in 1940, Kennedy's book examines the failures of the British government to take steps to prevent World War II, and its initial lack of response to Adolf Hitler's threats of war. It is notable for its uncommon stance of suggesting instead that an earlier confrontation between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany
While Europe Slept critic trained as a scholar, and a pity, for startling facts require careful verification". "While Europe Slept" was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award in the 2006 "Criticism" category, a choice condemned in some quarters. The board's president, John Freeman, wrote that he had "never been more embarrassed by a choice than I have been with Bruce Bawer’s "While Europe Slept"", adding that in his opinion, Bawer's "hyperventilated rhetoric tips from actual critique into Islamophobia". A former winner of the Award, Eliot Weinberger, labelled the book "racism as criticism". A member of the Critics Circle committee, J. Peder