Question: How Many Books On The JFK Assassination Have YOU Read ???

[WillyT]

Me... not as much as I should, but...

After watching Oliver Stone's 'JFK'... I marched down to the local bookstore and bought:



And...



Because I couldn't believe what the movie was suggesting. But since these were the two books it was based on... I figured it was my responsibility to read them.

Have since changed my mind. As have many.

And I'm truly curious to find out how may people with opinions here, have read ANY of the books... pro, or con.

[RagAss]

1. I read "Oswald" by Norman Mailer.

It's where I first learned Oswald lived in the Bronx.

[libdem4life]

2. None. It makes me too sad. Glad they are out there though. Bobby, too. The last of the great

Liberals.

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

3. I have read too many to recall...

...over the past decades. I was viewing a couple of programs Friday evening that I had DVRed. My wife, born in 1965 in Eastern Europe, came in the room and said, "Not another Kennedy program!!?? You know, nothing is going to change, he's still dead in the end." She succinctly summed up our national trauma. I looked over at her and she continued, "It's true you know, you don't look convinced." To think that my emotion is still so raw and showing on my face after nearly fifty years. I was nine, almost ten, and recall it like it was yesterday.

[Spider Jerusalem]

4. I started with those and Livingstone and Groden's "High Treason".

And then later on...I read the Warren Report. And Bugliosi's "Reclaiming History", and Posner's "Case Closed", and have reassessed my belief in conspiracy in light of the evidence (evidence which is usually not even mentioned in conspiracy-oriented books, or is misrepresented, if it is).

[stopbush]

9. Sounds like my reading as well, and in the same order.

Hard to give any of the CT books an ounce of cred once one has read the WCR and Bugliosi.

I like evidence-based books on the subject, not fantasies.

[sabrina 1]

5. Just one. The second one you posted. I grew up assuming it was a 'lone wolf' right wing lunatic

who killed Kennedy and never questioned it until I read Garrison's book. There I learned that Oswald was NOT a lone wolf at all, and more incredible, he was supposedly a Leftie, not a Right Wingnut.

Then I wondered why a Commie would want to kill a Commie President. Aren't all Dems 'commies'?

Then I learned he was a former Marine who at the height of the anti-Communist period in the US defected to the Soviet Union and that this was news at the time.

That made me wonder how it was that a US Marine effectively betrayed his country by renouncing it and worse, publicly defecting to the Enemy.

That led me to try to find out how come he was back in the US and not in some jail somewhere on suspicion of being of a spy.

I'm still wondering about that. I also found out he was married, had two children, lots of friends and 'associates', was an active 'Commie', had a mother who thought he was 'working for the government' when he defected etc etc.

Regardless of JFK, this guy was an amazing story even without that.

So then I wondered why he was protrayed as someone who came out of nowhere, a 'loner' when nothing could have been further from the truth.

I'm still wondering how he, not only got back into the country with virtually no problems, but was allowed to bring his 'enemy' wife here.

At the height of Communist paranoia!

I haven't been able to figure all that out.

And that is all without the assassination itself.

So many lies, so many questions, so few answers.

[Fumesucker]

24. Oswald's tale is definitely an interesting and highly unsual one

I'd forgotten some of that stuff, thanks for reminding me.

[Logical]

6. How many book have you read on 9/11, ESP, UFOs, Roswell? Same Difference. nt

[PETRUS]

7. "I marched down to the local bookstore"

(not what your thread's about, I know, but thanks for shopping local)

[Archae]

8. I read "Chariots Of The Gods" by Eric Von Daniken 40 years ago.

Same level of credibilty in the two books of the OP.

[meanit]

10. I guess everybody on this thread is nuts

except you.

[WillyT]

11. So You Read Them, Huh ???

[defacto7]

12. I have not read one single book on Kennedy's assassination.

and I read quite a lot. But having been in the book depository and sighted out that window and having seen the infamous weapon, I have come to my own feeble conclusion that the likelihood of any one shot getting those hits on the president are extremely unlikely. I don't care what the "experts and analysts" have stated; they are too easily bought. That's probably why I have not read any books on the subject either. I'll just wait till 2038 when all the unopened files sealed by President Johnson are released.

[WillyT]

13. Check Out Jim Marrs' Crossfire... Even In The Preface He Tells You Not To Trust The Book...

He lays out all the people that might have wanted Kennedy dead, lays out all of the evidence, and possible scenarios... and lets you decide for yourself.

[defacto7]

15. Thanks WillyT...

It's hard for me to turn down a book recommendation. Maybe..

[Blue_In_AK]

21. In 2038 I will be 92.

I hope I live that long. I want to know.

[defacto7]

30. I know what you mean.

I hope I live that long and I'm still sane. I also want to know.

[Gravitycollapse]

36. A shot of less than 100 yards on a slow moving target is not only likely...

It is EASILY possible for an experienced marksmen like Oswald.

[exboyfil]

14. Posner's Case Closed

in my late 20s. I have 50 now and my opinion has not changed (Oswald was a lone nut who took advantage of circumstances to become famous). Also read Mortal Error where it was speculated that the head shot was an accidental discharge by a Secret Service agent.

What is chilling is watching the Secret Service agents reactions at the airport when they were told not to take up their normal positions on the running boards. Stuff like that makes you wonder. Also the gross incompetence of the Dallas police following the shooting. Also watch the heads of the Oswald's escorts prior to Ruby shooting him. They were looking away and acting like they expected something to happen.

http://whowhatwhy.com/2013/06/09/must-watch-video-jfk-motorcade-and-odd-secret-service-behavior/

[nyquil_man]

16. I still have that paperback edition of On The Trail of the Assassins somewhere.

I wore the spine out years ago.

Also read High Treason, Lifton's Best Evidence, Mailer's Oswald's Tale, McMillan's Marina and Lee. Then there's Posner's Case Closed and Bugliosi's Reclaiming History. There are other books I've thumbed through (Marrs's is one) but I wouldn't claim to have read them.

My real fascination with the case, though, began with the series The Men Who Killed Kennedy, which I found utterly convincing back in the day. I could never look at the movie JFK as anything but a John Grisham novel grafted onto history, though. Good filmmaking, but not much else.

I guess I went in the opposite direction. I used to be convinced that conspiracy was the only credible possibility. I'm not anymore.

[krawhitham]

17. Does Stephen King's 11/22/63 count?

[MinM]

38. Bizarre that Stephen King used plagiarist Gerald Posner and Edward Epstein

a James Angleton protégé as source material...

I realize it's a work of fiction .. but

[grasswire]

18. one that influenced me was "Richard Case Nagell: The Man Who Knew Too Much"

absolutely riveting.

Author is Dick Russell. Many notes at his web site.

Here's a blurb about Nagell from google search:

On September 20, 1963, Richard Case Nagell walked into a bank in El Paso, Texas. He fired two shots into the wall near the ceiling, walked back out to his car, and waited to be arrested. Subsequently, Nagell would claim he was a double (or triple) agent of U.S. and the KGB, that he knew Lee Harvey Oswald and was monitoring the JFK assassination plot which involved Cuban exiles, and that he had been ordered to kill Oswald to prevent the plot from being carried out. He also maintained that he had sent a registered letter to FBI Director Hoover, warning him of the plot.

Author Dick Russell interviewed Nagell and corresponded with him, and eventually wrote a book, largely about Nagell, entitled The Man Who Knew Too Much. Nagell was very guarded about what he knew, and some of his correspondence uses humorous pseudonyms for the various persons and organizations.

Who was Richard Case Nagell? A decorated Korean War veteran, Nagell was in a plane crash in 1954 which left him in a coma for weeks. Despite this, he was subsequently granted a Top Secret clearance and served for several years in CounterIntelligence in the Army. Was Nagell's later strange behavior a sign of brain damage or psychological difficulties, or was he "sheep dipped" for a role in undercover work?

The Nagell story is truly one of the weirdest in the JFK assassination literature, and critics of it point to Nagell's many inconsistencies, his failure to ever come up with the hidden-away evidence he claimed he had, and his tendency to "let out" information just at a time where he might have acquired it through public channels. But some of his knowledge remains unexplained. The FBI inquired of the CIA about seven names found in a notebook in Nagell's possession at the time of his arrest. A review determined that all of them were involved in intelligence, and the CIA wrote back to the FBI asking "how the above names came into the possession of Nagell." The question was never answered.

A perhaps fitting if tragic denouement to the story occurred when the Assassination Records Review Board decided to contact Nagell. The ARRB sent a registered letter on October 31, 1995. One day after the letter was mailed, Nagell was found dead in his apartment, victim of an apparent heart attack.

[WillyT]

19. Thank You For That !!!

Will check it out.

[MinM]

44. Alex Cox with a nice Richard Case Nagell summary (video)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021904646#post35

BTW Alex Cox is an interesting character in his own right...

the 1987 movie, Walker - earned Cox spot on US blacklist

Walker is a 1987 Acid Western film directed by Alex Cox. The film based on the life story of William Walker (played by Ed Harris), the American filibuster who invaded Mexico in the 1850s and made himself President of Nicaragua shortly thereafter. It was written by Rudy Wurlitzer and scored by Joe Strummer, who also plays a small role as a member of Walker's army. The film, released in 1987 and which by the end is intentionally full of anachronisms such as helicopters, Zippo lighters, automatic rifles, and a car passing a horse carriage, was made in Nicaragua during the American-sponsored Contra War.

< ... >

Director Alex Cox was never employed again by a major Hollywood studio, and his subsequent films have received only limited distribution in the United States. In a 2008 interview with The A.V. Club, Cox said, "Distribution is controlled by the studios, and I've been on the blacklist of the studios for the last 20 years... The last movie I was asked to direct was The Running Man… which was actually quite a good film, I thought. I would have liked to have done The Running Man. It was just that Walker happened at the same time."

http://www.rigorousintuition.ca/board2/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=30321

[MinM]

45. A couple more good books in my bookcase are..

Reasonable Doubt by Henry Hurt

Plausible Denial by Mark Lane

[TreasonousBastard]

20. Many years ago I picked up four or five...

that were popular at the time. Damned if I can remember the titles or authors.

None of them pretended to know the "truth" but did try to punch holes in the going story with such stuff as the grassy knoll, missing Zapruder frames, and the one that got me-- the FBI tested Oswald's rifle and their sharpshooters couldn't hit a barn wall with it.

My father brought one of those pieces of junk home from the war and that one we played with as kids had the front sight slightly askew and the bolt didn't seem to work right. The word was that they were all made that way so it's impossible to imagine Oswald, or anyone else, killing anything with that piece of crap.

Those were extraordinary times with fascinating people who learned their trades the hard way in a real shooting war and then a cold war; both of which could have meant the end the of the world as we know it, unlike the "practice" wars we have now. I doubt we'll ever know the truth of what happened.

[WillyT]

23. Yeah... I Heard That Gun Was Generally Considered A Piece Of Shit...

[Spider Jerusalem]

31. Except the rifle was found to be quite accurate when test-fired.

This is yet another case of conspiracy authors just making things up.

TESTIMONY OF RONALD SIMMONS beginning at 3H441...

Mr. EISENBERG. Our next witness will be Mr. Simmons.
(snip)
Mr. EISENBERG. Can you give us your position, Mr. Simmons?
Mr. SIMMONS. I am the Chief of the Infantry Weapons Evaluation Branch of the Ballistics Research Laboratory of the Department of the Army.
(snip)
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Simmons, did you conduct a test from a machine rest, a test of round-to- round dispersion of this weapon, or have such tests conducted?
Mr. SIMMONS. May I check the serial number?
Mr. EISENBERG. I should ask first if you are familiar with this weapon.
I have handed the witness Commission Exhibit 139.
Mr. SIMMONS. Yes. We fired this weapon from a machine rest for round-to-round dispersion. We fired exactly 20 rounds in this test, and the dispersion which we measured is of conventional magnitude, about the same that we get with our present military rifles, and the standard deviation of dispersion is .29 mil.
Mr. EISENBERG. That is a fraction of a degree?
Mr. SIMMONS. A mil is an angular measurement. There are 17.7 mils to a degree.
Mr. EISENBERG. Do I understand your testimony to be that this rifle is as accurate as the current American military rifles?
Mr. SIMMONS. Yes. As far as we can determine from bench-rest firing.
Mr. EISENBERG. Would you consider that to be a high degree of accuracy?
Mr. SIMMONS. Yes, the weapon is quite accurate. For most small arms, we discover that the round- to-round dispersion is of the order of three-tenths of a mil. We have run into some unusual ones, however, which give us higher values, but very few which give us smaller values, except in selected lots of ammunition.
Mr. McCLOY. You are talking about the present military rifle--will you designate it?
Mr. SIMMONS. The M-14.
Mr. McCLOY. Is it as accurate as the Springfield 1906 ammunition?
Mr. SIMMONS. I am not familiar with the difference between the M-14 in its accuracy and the 1906 Springfield. These are very similar in their dispersion.
Mr. McCLOY. At a hundred yards, what does that amount to? What is the dispersion?
Mr. SIMMONS. Well, at a hundred yards, one mil is 3.6 inches, and 0.3 of that is a little more than an inch.

http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/simmons.htm

[TreasonousBastard]

32. Keep reading-- the bolt problem is still there...

Still problematic for a so-so shooter to make that pattern in that time.

[Spider Jerusalem]

34. Not really, no.

here is no "bolt problem". The time between the first and last shot? 8.3 seconds (estimated based on the known average framerate of Abraham Zapruder's 8mm Bell & Howell camera. One miss, two hits. On a target less than a hundred yards away, moving at a speed of about 12 mph. The "approximately six seconds" (or 5.6, if you prefer) so often cited is the elapsed time between the two shots that hit. Not all three total. It's not only quite achievable, it's been replicated. (Not the precise, exact shots, but multiple hits, same distance, moving target.) Asserting that it's "problematic" is making a claim directly contradicted by physical evidence and empirical testing.

[Iggo]

22. Wow. I can't believe I'm actually putting "JFK" on my trashed word list.

But enough's enough.

[WillyT]

25. Bye...

[Iggo]

26. Take it easy...

[Marrah_G]

27. None

Not my type of read

[Samantha]

28. I read a number of them decades ago but the best one I ever read was

Blood, Money & Power by Barr McClellan. If you remember Scott McClellan, you know that he was a press secretary for George W. Bush*. The author of this book is his father.

The History Channel featured material in his book, and it was that broadcast that infuriated the Johnson family. Perhaps you remember that.

Some of the tidbits in the two recent books I have heard advertised contain material that was originally published by Barr McClellan. Especially prominent is/was the name of the sharpshooter McClellan thinks really assassinated the President.

I wrote a review of this book and posted it here. I will find it and post a link later. But McClellan was an attorney in a Texas law firm, and the partner he worked with was Johnson's lawyer from the time Johnson first became a Congressman. He remained his attorney for decades.

McClellan has a list in the book of people Johnson was responsible for murdering, and one name on the list was Johnson own sister. She was a hooker and drank a lot. Johnson feared she would ruin his political career by revealing everything she knew about him. So he eliminated her.

McClellan has respectable credentials and impressive documents of evidence are presented in the book. I think his book is most credible, and I highly recommend it.

Sam

PS Here is the link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=3120010&mesg_id=3121565

[gopiscrap]

29. I have read over 75 books, read the complete Warren Commission report

and in 1979 took a graduate history class on the Kennedy Assassination at Washington State University

[ZombieHorde]

33. I probably shouldn't post this, but I will anyway.

It doesn't matter who killed Kennedy, or why he was killed. Knowing and accepting the truth will do nothing other than scratching the itch of curiosity.

I am not saying people shouldn't talk about it. If talking about it brings you entertainment, then discuss it. I'm just saying it's irrelevant.

[oswaldactedalone]

35. Haven't read any

I simply applied common sense and logic to the situation, learned more about the "deluded waif" known as Oswald, and put the conspiracy issue to rest. Oswald acted alone and I didn't come to that conclusion until the mid-2000s.

[HooptieWagon]

37. None. I won't put money in CTs pockets.

Garrison's case (outlined in JFK) was particularly weak. Jury returned a NG verdict in an hour.

[Orrex]

39. I saw that episode of The X-Files with the Cigarette Smoking Man. Does that count?

[MinM]

40. Top 10 by Lisa Pease

A few days ago Lisa Pease listed her top 10 books on the case...

Lisa Pease ‏@lisapease: 6 Nov My list of the top 10 books on the JFK assassination. #10. The Assassinations, by Pease and DiEugenio et al. http://www.amazon.com/Assassinations-Probe-Magazine-JFK-Malcolm-ebook/dp/B005CI168U/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1383799602&tag=realhistoryarchi@camp=0&creative=0 …

Lisa Pease ‏@lisapease: My list of the top 10 books on the JFK assassination. #9 Brothers, by David Talbot http://www.amazon.com/Brothers-Hidden-History-Kennedy-Years-ebook/dp/B000QRIH9S/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383799525&sr=1-1&tag=realhistoryarchi@camp=0&creative=0 …

Lisa Pease ‏@lisapease: My list of the top 10 books on the JFK case. #8 Reclaiming Parkland, by Jim DiEugenio. Refutes Hanks-Bugliosi. http://www.amazon.com/Reclaiming-Parkland-Bugliosi-Assassination-Hollywood-ebook/dp/B00EBO248M/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383799410&sr=1-1&tag=realhistoryarchi@camp=0&creative=0 …

Lisa Pease ‏@lisapease: Read this one right after #6. They fit perfectly. #7. Oswald and the CIA, by John Newman. http://www.amazon.com/Oswald-CIA-John-Newman-ebook/dp/B004UMRYAI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383799260&sr=1-1&tag=realhistoryarchi@camp=0&creative=0 …

Lisa Pease ‏@lisapease: My list of the top 10 books on the JFK assassination. #6 Cold Warrior, by Tom Mangold. About the conspirators. http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Warrior-Angleton-Master-Hunter/dp/0671778803/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383799184&sr=1-1&tag=realhistoryarchi@camp=0&creative=0 …

Lisa Pease ‏@lisapease: My list of the top 10 books on the JFK assassination. #5 The Last Investigation, by Gaeton Fonzi http://www.amazon.com/Last-Investigation-Federal-Investigator-Conspiracy/dp/1560250526/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383799078&sr=1-1&tag=realhistoryarchi@camp=0&creative=0 …

Lisa Pease ‏@lisapease: My list of the top 10 books on the JFK assassination. #4: Breach of Trust, by Gerald McKnight. http://www.amazon.com/Breach-Trust-Warren-Commission-Failed/dp/0700619399/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1383798905&sr=1-1-catcorr&tag=realhistoryarchi@camp=0&creative=0 …

Lisa Pease ‏@lisapease: My list of the top 10 books on the JFK assassination. #3 Destiny Betrayed, by Jim DiEugenio. http://www.amazon.com/Destiny-Betrayed-Cuba-Garrison-Case-ebook/dp/B00AB1NLEU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1383797895&sr=1-1&&tag=realhistoryarchi@camp=0&creative=0 …

Lisa Pease ‏@lisapease: My list of the top 10 books on the JFK assassination. #2 On the Trail of the Assassins, by Jim Garrison. http://www.amazon.com/Trail-Assassins-President-Kennedy-ebook/dp/B0096PTU6A/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1383797763&sr=1-1&tag=realhistoryarchi@camp=0&creative=0 …

Lisa Pease ‏@lisapease: My list of the top 10 books on the JFK assassination. #1: JFK and the Unspeakable, by Jim Douglass. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005Q07DKY/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=realhistoryarchi&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B005Q07DKY&adid=198C1KPNZNASCHTJC7YX& …

https://twitter.com/lisapease

[mulsh]

41. None. I worked with a couple of pathologists who worked on JFK when it happened

these guys maintained given the evidence presented JFK was killed by bullets fired from a single gun.

I remember starting to hear conspiracy theories about the assassination two weeks after it at recess when I was in the second grade.

[Coyotl]

42. One less than the number of opinions I have on the subject.

[rock]

43. JFK was assassinated!?

Why didn't somebody tell me! Maybe I should read more. (It's a joke. Forgive my bad taste.)

[ScreamingMeemie]

46. One. Four Days: The Historical Record of the Death of President Kennedy

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31idKijDAJL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

My parents had a copy that my father bought from his work (The Milwaukee Journal). I believe all the major newspapers distributed the book.

Besides that, Stephen King's fictional account: November 22, 1963, which is an amazing read.