2 AUGUST 1968, Page 22

Robert Kennedy Margaret Laing (Macdonald 42s). `He was a loving

man, and he could be a sharp man. He cared about caring, often angrily.' In this necrophilous book, Miss Laing records his famous generosity, his im- petuousness, occasions of impressive rudeness, petulance and emotionalism, and concludes, along with the mass of obsessive Kennedy- watchers, that one either loved or hated him. Miss Laing's line in punchy little paragraphs, flashes of intuition and revealing anecdotes drive one reluctantly into the latter camp.