Question on JFK Books

[Drew Williams]

What are some good books I should purchase to get some good information on the assassination. I own Crossfire by Marrs and Barr Mcclean (sp?) How LBJ Killed JFK.

Any opinions are welcome.

[James Richards]

What are some good books I should purchase to get some good information on the assassination.  I own Crossfire by Marrs and Barr Mcclean (sp?) How LBJ Killed JFK. 

Any opinions are welcome.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Drew,

In case you haven't already done so, check out the link below which will take you to some detailed discussions regarding assassination related publications.

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showforum=204

James

[Shanet Clark]

Just off the top of my head I would recommend:

MARK LANE

PLAUSIBLE DENIAL

EDWARD EPSTEIN

LEGEND<LEE HARVEY OSWALD

[Norman T. Field]

Mafia Kingfish by (I think) Davis.

Sins of the Father.

I Heard You Paint Houses.

On the Trail of the Assasins by Mark Lane.

The History Channel Series, The Men Who Killed Kennedy.

[Mark Knight]

Good reading material would include:

A Matter Of Reasonable Doubt, LIFE Magazine, November 1966;

The Assassination Chronicles, Epstein;

High Treason, Groden and Livingstone;

JFK: Conspiracy of Silence, Crenshaw;

Murder In Dealy Plaza, Fetzer;

The Day Kennedy Was Shot, Bishop;

Four Days In November, NYTimes/Semple;

The Dark Side Of Camelot, Hersh;

The Kennedy Tapes, May/Zelikow;

Thirteen Days, Kennedy;

President Kennedy Has Been Shot, Newseum/Trost/Bennett;

The Kennedy Men, Leamer;

An Unfinished Life, Dallek;

The Torch Is Passed, Associated Press.

These are merely the ones I have immediately accessible in my own library.

I would also recommend--if you can access it--a copy of the RadioOne specials on the assassination, including the real-time broadcast from KLIF in Dallas, and the WBAP-Ft. Worth broadcast--with commentary--from 11/22/63.

And, of course, The Warren Commission Report, if for nothing else other than some background on who some of the major witnesses are/were.

[Drew Williams]

Thanks for the help guys.

[Pat Speer]

Thanks for the help guys.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Crossfire is good as an over-view, as is The Killing of The President, or High Treason by Robert Groden. While I disagree with many of the conclusions therein, these will all bring you into the loop on certain elements. I think from there you should go on to read Not in Your Lifetime by Anthony Summers and The Last Investigation, by Gaeton Fonzi. Once all that info has been processed, I would suggest reading Larry Hancock's Someone Would Have Talked, which would bring you pretty up to date. At some point it may also be worthwhile to read Case Closed by Gerald Posner, just to see how the lone-nutters think.

[Tim Gratz]

Now why does it not surprise me that no one mentioned "Live By the Sword" by Gus Russo, that details facts not in most of the other books?

It becomes easy to support one's pet theory if one ignores all facts contrary to it.

If it had been me, I would have mentioned the books supporting views contrary to my own as well as Russo's. Highest on my list would be Larry Hancock's "Someone Would Have Talked" and Gaeton Fonzi's "The Last Investigation".

[Pat Speer]

Now why does it not surprise me that no one mentioned "Live By the Sword" by Gus Russo, that details facts not in most of the other books?

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While I respect Russo's work with Frontline on the "Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald" program, I'm confused by his change of heart. Somewhere online is a presentation he made in the mid-nineties, as I remember, where he was all gung ho about CIA involvement. A few years passed, he met Sy Hersh, who taught him to hate the Kennedys, and suddenly, the whole thing was Bobby's fault. There are some who suspect he merely saw where the bread was buttered and was hoping to be media darling Posner II. I suspect he believes his scenario and has merely blinded himself to its weaknesses.

[Tim Gratz]

Pat, I know, of course, that you have read his book. That is my point.

And there are facts in his book not available in other books that do not share Russo's POV. One need not subscribe to allow of his theses to learn from his research.

I think a "balanced" reading of the literature should include Posner, Russo, as well as the books that adhere to the more popular theories.

[Pat Speer]

Pat, I know, of course, that you have read his book.  That is my point.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Tim, as I remember it, Russo says Castro did it without mob help. Is that right? or does he say Trafficante helped Castro in exchange for favors?

Anyhow, I was looking through a book by Russo from 2001 on the Chicago mob. In this book, The Outfit, Russo argues that the mob DOES assassinate political leaders, while using false lone-nuts to hide their involvement!!! (So why discount that this is what happened in Dealey???) Even more amazing, he states matter-of-factly that the man who orchestrated the assassination of Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak in 1932 and picked out Zangara as the lone-nut was none other than Jack Ruby's old buddy Dave Yaras!!! OH MY THAT IS A COINCIDENCE!! Like I said, there's just something weird about Russo's reasoning. It feels almost like his life was threatened or something.

Edited May 25, 2005 by Pat Speer

[Tim Gratz]

Pat, "Live By the Sword" is guarded in its conclusions about Cuban involvement. It supports the SBT and says LHO shot JFK by himself (obviously I disagree with those conclusions). It says LHO was pro-Castro and probably shot JFK because of JFK's policies toward Castro. It does discuss Policarpo Lopez being in Dallas but does not draw a conclusion re his involvement in the assassination. It says Oswald could have been encouraged to kill Kennedy by pro-Castro Cubans, and perhaps even had assistance. But it never finally concludes that "Castro did it"; it leaves the possibility open.

But because it covers facts not discussed in other books, it merits reading, at least in my opinion.

[Tim Gratz]

We should surely not omit "Sons and Brothers" by Richard Mahoney. I would rank it not at, but near, the top.

And Scott's "Deep Politics" as well.

Edited May 26, 2005 by Tim Gratz

[Guest Eugene B. Connolly]

Good reading material would include:

A Matter Of Reasonable Doubt, LIFE Magazine, November 1966;

The Assassination Chronicles, Epstein;

High Treason, Groden and Livingstone;

JFK: Conspiracy of Silence, Crenshaw;

Murder In Dealy Plaza, Fetzer;

The Day Kennedy Was Shot, Bishop;

Four Days In November, NYTimes/Semple;

The Dark Side Of Camelot, Hersh;

The Kennedy Tapes, May/Zelikow;

Thirteen Days, Kennedy;

President Kennedy Has Been Shot, Newseum/Trost/Bennett;

The Kennedy Men, Leamer;

An Unfinished Life, Dallek;

The Torch Is Passed, Associated Press.

Conspiracy Anthony Summers

Death of a President Manchester

Great list Mark. I have added 2 more. .....hope you don't mind.

Are all the books you listed availbale to buy in bookshops?

Edited May 26, 2005 by Eugene B. Connolly

[Mark Knight]

The addition of both Manchester and Summers is a good call. I've read both, but if they are in my collection, they're not readily accessible.

I've accumulated these books over a number of years. the LIFE Magazine I found on eBay, as well as The Torch Is Passed. Whether the other books are still in print and available in bookstores is a matter of chance, but I'd wager that most are.

Oddly enough, my copy of Bishop--as well as a Warren Commission report summary in hardcover, credited to the Associated Press and copyrighted 1964--were found used at the local Goodwill Industries store, where items are donated for resale to benefit handicapped persons [i know "handicapped" is not a politically correct term, but not all the folks they help are "disabled," either...of course, I grew up in an era when there were still "crippled children," so it's the terms that are changing, rather than the problems], so I'm assuming that someone was disposing of "leftover" property from an estate and had no desire to keep such bothersome things as books.

"One man's trash is another man's treasure," goes the old saying...