Homework

[Larry Hancock]

I know that lots of new folks have joined the forum to monitor or participate in the discussions. Given that there may not be a lot of "old timers" around, I would offer the following as homework that should be done in preparing to evaluate what you read here. You will have to search for some of it, much is available on line, other through JFK book sellers such as Andy W. and much shows up on the book tables at the annual Lancer conference.

1. Penn Jones book series and his newsletter collection

2. Jerry Rose's Fourth and Fifth Decade newsletters - on line at the Mary Ferrell Foundation

3. The Assassination Chronicles - some still available from JFK Lancer

........those will give you a solid idea of how JFK research developed and evolved over the years

4. The Mary Ferrell Foundation materials and documents, if you have not mastered all the content there and become experienced with searching its

resources you really should do that...

5. The NARA online search tool....while not up to date it at least gives you a start and getting the bigger picture of available documents

6. The JFK Lancer archives - on line and Rex Bradford's History Matters web site

..................

As far as books go:

Ian Griggs No Case to Answer gives you considerable insight into the DPD and issues with its initial investigation

William Law's book on the FBI agents at the Bethesda autopsy is critical for factual information

Jerry McKnight's book on the Warren Commission is critical to understanding its sources of information and what it did and did not do

Trask's Pictures of the Pain and his follow on book present the history and origins of many of the photos and films - start there before you

delve into alteration and manipulation

Those are the basics, I know others will list their own favorites and I have others as well but before you really start to go "all conspiracy"

and get too deeply into the debates, point counterpoint, and theories, the small list above will help provide context and balance. I honestly

don't recommend reading conspiracy books (including mine) without that sort of baseline.

-- Larry

[James R Gordon]

Larry,

I absolutely agree with your choice ... Jerry Mcknight's book and William Law's book. I believe there is second edition of William Laws book coming soon. In addition can I suggest Sylvia Meager's work and David Lifton. You do not need to agree with David Lifton's conclusions however his research well worth the read.

David Wrone's book on the zapruder film has a great essay on photographic alteration.

For the Prayer man thread, the documentary " the lost bullet" has the best versions of the films including the 2000+ enhanced versions. That film is on YouTube. With good computer equipment and software you might get a better image.

James

[Steven Gaal]

The Top Ten JFK Assassination Books By James DiEugenio

Revised and re-posted, November 2013

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{

=

Rush to Judgment, by Mark Lane (1966)

Accessories After the Fact, by Sylvia Meagher (1967)

Who Was Jack Ruby?, by Seth Kantor (1978)

In the Eye of History, by William Law (2004)

Oswald and the CIA, by John Newman (2008 Edition)

The Last Investigation, by Gaeton Fonzi (1993)

Let Justice Be Done, by Bill Davy (1999)

Breach of Trust, by Gerald McKnight (2005)

JFK and the Unspeakable, by James W. Douglass (2008)

Destiny Betrayed, Second

===============================

Probe Back Issues (link)

Edited March 28, 2015 by Steven Gaal

[Larry Hancock]

I would certainly agree with you on Meager's book as well as David's; I think in terms of timing they might be follow on simply since they are each deep studies. But both do also help set a baseline

in understanding the evolution of the research. The next step from there would probably be Fonzi's book as it gives great insight into issues with the operation of the HSCA and also provides

a reality check on how one can get diverted once you get drawn into the world of the Cuban exiles.

[Larry Hancock]

Kantor's book is a good factual study of Ruby and his environment, my concern with too many assassination conspiracy books though is that they take you off on the author's

preferred track and without a good baseline its easy to get carried away with a particular premise, especially if it fits a world view you already hold. Get a firm

grip on the reality of the data first. Reach your own view on what sources are credible or questionable before you dive into an authors take on them...

[Paul Brancato]

Larry - I was floored by the fact that among all the books I have read, and all the articles, that I have not read any of the books on your initial list. Guess I have some catching up to do.

[Larry Hancock]

Well I have to admit that much of it is very "old school" but its amazing how many of the subjects discussed today were explored in considerable depth back in the first years.....of course lots of things looked mysterious then that have sorted themselves out but there was also a lot of early research in the journals that never became "institutionalized" in the books. Penn Jone's newsletters are fascinating as are Jerry Rose's journals. Over the year's what was initially "research", published as articles began to be incorporated in books and books were more easy to pick up than following a journal over many years. When I started you could still order Jerry Rose's back issues and I came across a full collection of Penn Jone's journals at a conference. Many of the researchers that have faded away or now really don't participate....William Weston would be an example...routinely were found in print then. And some of the books, such as Ian's and Bill's, just never made it into general discussion, which is sort of sad. As a career police investigator, Ian has a real feel for what to look for in regard to evidence and police procedures, his research on the line ups is an example of that.

Of course this may prove that I've just been following this for way too long....grin. I'll be interested if you or anyone else begins to dig into some of those sources and finds interesting things there. And of course these days much of that historical information including notes and correspondence is at the Baylor archives and is going online from there as they are able. For those obsessed, a trip to Baylor would no doubt make a fine "assassination vacation"....as strange as that sounds.

[Brian Schmidt]

I echo Larry's sentiments but would even like to expand it to research/books by forum members. Lately I have seen various members make bold blanket-statements that I'm not sure they would even make if they were familiar with the work off fellow members on this very site.... fellow members they have been in correspondence with for several years at least. Yesterday I asked David Von Pein if he ever even read Larry's books. Paul Trejo, in light of your posts from a few moments ago, have you ever read Pat Speer's stuff? I know this sounds overly optimistic given the broad range of viewpoints of these members, but if we're serious about actually educating ourselves, we should at least check out other members' research. I would suggest using the JFK Book Discussion to facilitate this and to create debate about specific topics.

Thoughts?

[Glenn Nall]

One of the first books I read on this is Carl Oglesby's Yankee and Cowboy War - reading it again now, in fact (found a copy at the VA hospital, in fact! the damn thing fetches $65+ online!). I was too young to really get it then, but I'm still impressed by his writing skills and his insights. I realize that it, too, is old-school stuff, but it seems to me there's some real merit to some things he says, about the early spy networks post WWII, etc.

As some of you offer what seems to be terrific foundational reading, what are some opinions on Mr Oglesby's books, esp. the Yankee Cowboy War...?

[Glenn Nall]

and Larry, thanks for this post - i've been out of the loop for a couple of years, nice to see a good list of books i can use to catch up with.

[Larry Hancock]

Thanks Glenn, and for some of the more contemporary material I would recommend William Laws book on his Bethesda interviews, Ian Grigg's No Case to Answer, Bill Simpich's State Secrets

if you really want to dig into Mexico City. John Newman has the first in a series out now dealing with Cuba and ultimately the assassination - as usual with John they are deeply researched

with lots of names and connections. And if you want a much broader view of covert operations and warfare there is Shadow Warfare, out from me last year.