Book Reviews (217)
Thursday, 01 September 2011 14:53
James W. Douglass, JFK and the Unspeakable
Written by James DiEugenio A rich, rewarding, and reverberating book which both illuminates and empowers the reader, the best book in the field since Breach of Trust, writes Jim DiEugenio.
Published in John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Wednesday, 15 June 2011 15:06
Joseph Farrell, LBJ and the Conspiracy to Kill Kennedy
Written by Seamus Coogan Farrell was ordered by his editor to write a book on the case based on often archaic, and probably Angleton influenced material on one hand, and people like Dick Hoagland (Mr. UFO), on the other. Working from such parameters, does Farrell honestly think that he has the ability to advance these structures of conspiracy and the different levels and layers? Or indeed does he think he is the first to try? If he does, he’s deluding himself, writes Seamus Coogan.
Published in John Fitzgerald Kennedy
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Tuesday, 17 May 2011 15:49
David Halberstam, The Best and the Brightest, Part 2
Written by James DiEugenio Jim DiEugenio continues his re-examination of Halberstam, emphasizing the near total antithesis between LBJ and JFK in terms of Vietnam (and foreign policy in general) which the book all but erased.
Published in John Fitzgerald Kennedy
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Tuesday, 17 May 2011 15:38
David Halberstam, The Best and the Brightest, Part 1
Written by James DiEugenio In the first of a two part study, Jim DiEugenio reexamines, in the light of what we now know, the book which perhaps more than any other epitomized the accepted wisdom on JFK's role in US involvement in Vietnam.
Published in John Fitzgerald Kennedy
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Although very well written, along with some nice photographs, as well, The Kennedy Detail is really a thinly veiled attempt to rewrite history ... and absolve the agents of their collective survivor's guilt .... In the eyes of those from the Kennedy detail, the assassination was the act of TWO "lone men": Oswald, who pulled the trigger, and JFK, who set himself up as the target, writes Vince Palamara.
Published in John Fitzgerald Kennedy
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Although [Bundy] thought [Halberstam's The Best and the Brightest] was an entertaining and informative read, he concluded that the central thesis was just wrong. It was not the advisers—the best and brightest—who did the staff work who got us into the Vietnam War. It was the difference in the men who occupied the Oval Office. It was the difference between Kennedy and Johnson, writes Jim DiEugenio.
Published in John Fitzgerald Kennedy
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The book is well worth buying. In my view, it closes the chapter on a debate that has been going on since 1992. As shown here, it's a debate that should have never started, concludes Jim DiEugenio.
Published in John Fitzgerald Kennedy
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I stand in awe of the scope, detail, and profound insights that Horne has achieved, especially in the medical evidence – to say nothing of his Olympian effort. ... The bottom line is that I feel a deep debt of gratitude to Horne for further disentangling this nearly half-century old Gordian knot. By contrast, I should emphasize that I never experienced that sensation with Bugliosi, writes David Mantik.
Published in John Fitzgerald Kennedy
There is much of value [in this book], if you are willing to spend a lot of time sifting through five volumes. If it had been half as long, it might have been twice as good, writes Jim DiEugenio.
Published in John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Wednesday, 08 September 2010 18:00
David C. Heymann, Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story
Written by Lisa Pease While I dislike intensely what [Heymann has] written, I can imagine the situation from his point of view. In his mind, he's a crafty guy who figured out a way to make a great living, while breaking, to my knowledge, no enforceable laws to do so. That he broke all laws of decency and historical faithfulness, if you put yourself in his shoes, is beside the point, writes Lisa Pease.
Published in Robert Francis Kennedy
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Wednesday, 01 September 2010 22:45
Donald Byron Thomas, Hear No Evil: Social Constructivism and the Forensic Evidence In the Kennedy Assassination
Written by David Mantik David Mantik’s extensive review of Don Thomas’s book has been overhauled and revised; it now appears on his own website. We have removed the now superseded version which first appeared on the CTKA site. Final Version at TheMantikView
Published in John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Sunday, 15 August 2010 22:30
Donald Byron Thomas, Hear No Evil: Social Constructivism and the Forensic Evidence In the Kennedy Assassination – Two Reviews (1)
Written by Martin Hay Thomas shows how people like Luis Alverez, John Lattimer and Larry Sturdivan all constructed dubious theories “for the purpose of explaining away the obvious reason for the head snap, and all suffer, not only from implausibility, but from a failure to fit the evidence.” This is the true strength of the book and the reason why I believe it will be such a valuable contribution to the literature, writes Martin Hay.
Published in John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Saturday, 10 July 2010 18:13
Hampton Sides, Hellhound On His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin
Written by Joseph E. Green If we are to be serious about historical revisionism, we need to have explanations built on the best facts available. If we ignore basic facts and instead present the facts as we would prefer, we are creating a work of fiction – which this book resembles a great deal, writes Joseph Green.
Published in Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Saturday, 01 May 2010 15:10
Dean T. Hartwell, Dead Men Talking: Consequences of Government Lies
Written by James DiEugenio James DiEugenio reviews Dean T. Hartwell's book on forty years of government cover-ups.
Published in General
Saturday, 01 May 2010 13:55
Jesse Ventura & Dick Russell, American Conspiracies: A Textbook for Alternative History
Written by Joseph E. Green "First of all, let's talk about what you won't find in this book. It's not about how extraterrestrials are abducting human beings, or the Apollo moon landing being a colossal hoax perpetrated by NASA, or that Barack Obama somehow is not a natural-born American citizen. I leave these speculations to others, not that I take them seriously." [from the opening chapter]
Published in General
This is a valuable book to have. Between its covers it proves by a preponderance of the evidence – and maybe more than that – how Ray was set up, and then how King was actually killed. It also shows why the media avoided the trial, and why Ray was not allowed to have his criminal case reopened, writes Jim DiEugenio.
Published in Martin Luther King, Jr.
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What Baker does with the JFK and Watergate episodes is symptomatic of the rest of the book. He wants to somehow implicate the Bushes in crimes for which there is next to no evidence, while not reporting on the ones for which there is plenty of evidence, writes Jim DiEugenio.
Published in General
An account of its author's attempts to correspond with, and perhaps understand, several prominent lone nut supporters, reviewed by Jim DiEugenio.
Published in John Fitzgerald Kennedy
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If the author had truly been serious about writing an overview of conspiracies, he might have left behind the large package of straw men gathered in this book ... [and] instead chosen from any number of real historical events, such as the 1846 invasion of Mexico led by Zachary Taylor, the 1898 bombing of the Maine leading to the Spanish-American War, Operation Paperclip, Operation Gladio, the Manhattan Project, the coup of Salvador Allende, the Gulf of Tonkin incident, Iran Contra ... there are endless examples, of which these are but a few, writes Joseph Green.
Published in John Fitzgerald Kennedy
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Thursday, 28 January 2010 22:45
Cass R. Sunstein & Adrian Vermeule, Conspiracy Theories: A Decidedly Negative Review
Written by David Mantik S&V bemoan the "crippled epistemology" of conspiracy believers. Ironically, they themselves suffer from a profound, even mortal, wound in their own epistemology – i.e., they persistently ignore the difference between lies and truth, writes David Mantik.
Published in General
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Sunday, 29 November 2009 19:27
Lamar Waldron, with Thom Hartmann, Legacy of Secrecy
Written by William Davy There is an almost pathological use of conditionals; may have, perhaps, could have, if, etc. Conversely, there is an overabundance of hackneyed declaratives where conditionals should have been used, as well as an over-reliance on unnamed sources. And yet this dogged pursuit and elucidation of the documentary record is supposed to be the sine qua non of these two books, writes Bill Davy.
Published in John Fitzgerald Kennedy
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Tuesday, 25 August 2009 22:50
Joan Mellen, Jim Garrison: His Life and Times, The Early Years
Written by James DiEugenio This book brings you closer to the real Jim Garrison. Not the deliberately and grossly distorted caricature that the MSM made him out to be. The real Jim Garrison was nothing like that, writes Jim DiEugenio.
Published in General
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