Not in Your Lifetime: The Defining Book on the J.F.K. Assassination

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The book could have been more powerful if it presented itself more as a case study of human nature. It could have been comparable to Eichmann In Jerusalem if it did that, with some catchy subtitle like “the venality of power.” Our Man In Mexico: Winston Scott and the Hidden History of the CIA by Jefferson Morley. Though not about the JFK assassination per se this book is unrivaled in how it pursues and presents Lee Harvey Oswald’s undeniably peculiar relationship with intelligence agencies. After reading it I could not help but conclude that James Jesus Angleton - chief of the CIA's counterintelligence staff from 1954 to 1975 – was running an operation in which Oswald was involved and one most likely concerning the President of the United States. What makes Morley’s writing so impressive is how skillfully he avoids speculation, like that which I just expressed (smile). To his credit he has attempted to bring a more rational approach to those within the JFK assassination study community with his ‘JFK Facts’ portaland his efforts to get remaining documents declassified are nothing short of heroic. As for substantiating Colonel Prouty – Mr. Morley told me in 2010, “Fletcher Prouty is eminently credible.” Though I wonder over Talbot’s omission of Col. Prouty, I whole-heartedly share the respect he expresses for Jefferson Morley (“ We need the facts – as Jefferson Morley, one of the few journalists to devote serious effort to the Kennedy case, has demonstrated. Morley has been pursuing a lengthy Freedom of Information battle with the CIA to pry loose more than 1,500 documents that the agency is still concealing in defiance of the 1992 JFK Records Act.”) And we are not alone – Morley’s journalistic career and authorship is widely lauded. John F. Kennedy was born to a wealthy family that was very familiar with the political world. His studies include Harvard University and immediately joining the U.S. Naval Reserve shortly after graduation. Let’s stop with the spoilers and uncover 10 of the best books on JFK’s assassination. Jim Marrs is a seasoned Texas journalist, and his wealth of experience and ability to create presentable and understandable stories is what made his book – Crossfire one of the best books on Kennedy’s assassination in existence.

The book asserts the idea that a government can never investigate itself in a crime of this magnitude. Was the convicted Sirhan Sirhan a willing participant? Or was he a mind-controlled assassin? It has fallen to independent researchers like Pease to lay out the evidence in a clear and concise manner, allowing readers to form their theories about this event. I would give Summers top marks, however, for writing a top-shelf book from the other side of the aisle. While I generally did not agree with many of his conclusions in the 1998 edition, I did at least find the book far less ludicrous than some other works out there.Who Really Killed Kennedy? (2013), by Dr Jerome R Corsi, also finds the mafia guilty, although with a little help from Richard Nixon and the French. Another work published to mark the 50th anniversary of JFK’s death, The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ, by Roger Stone, a Trump associate, implicates President Lyndon Baines Johnson, in close association with mobsters and US intelligence.

This unique photographic analysis of the events proved crucial in uncovering the truth of what actually happened, and turned many non-believers into believers that there was indeed something shady going on within the government. Published in 1993, this book is unique in that it shows all the photographic evidence that one can find on the JFK assassination. It covers topics we already talked about, from Jim Garrison’s investigation to the invalidity of the Warren Commission’s claims. From the hundreds of books written on the topic, this is the only one that is created in this style, which makes it one of the best JFK assassination books out there, simply because it gives you a different perspective of the event – a perspective that makes you feel like you were there witnessing it all. Analyzing Photographic Evidence This book is great because it can be a compelling read for anyone whether they are already familiar or completely new to the subject. It lists most of, if not everything that was uncovered over the past 50 years about the assassination, and it could turn any skeptic into a believer that there was definitely something shady going on. With passages on freedom, democracy, civil rights, education, justice, tragedy, and peace, Make Gentle the Life of This World speaks powerfully to America’s unstoppable drive for a better world. Complemented by poignant photographs of Robert Kennedy, this is an extraordinary tribute to an extraordinary hero, whose dream for America has never been extinguished. Once Kennedy started to waver on those Cold Warrior beliefs, the book claims he was marked for death by the military intelligence agencies that held (and still hold) huge influence over every level of government in the U.S. These forces, which Douglass call “the Unspeakable” (after Thomas Meryton), tagged Kennedy as a dangerous traitor, plotted his assassination, and orchestrated the subsequent killing and cover-up in Dallas in 1963.In The Revolution of Robert Kennedy, journalist John R. Bohrer focuses in intimate and revealing detail on Bobby Kennedy’s life during the three years following JFK’s assassination. Torn between mourning the past and plotting his future, Bobby was placed in a sudden competition with his political enemy, Lyndon Johnson, for control of the Democratic Party. Among the strip mines, one-room schoolhouses, and dilapidated homes, however, Kennedy encountered a strong mistrust and intense resentment of establishment politicians. With new research, interviews, and an intimate sense of Kennedy, Thurston Clarke provides an absorbing historical narrative that goes right to the heart of America’s deepest despairs – and most fiercely held dreams – and tells us more than we had understood before about this complicated man and the heightened personal, racial, political, and national dramas of his times. Make Gentle the Life of this World; Edited by Maxwell Taylor Kennedy The main reason why this is another one of the top Kennedy assassination books out there is that it gives the reader an inside look at the investigations about the shooting, from the perspective of someone who was involved in the investigation – Jim Garrison, who was the New Orleans District Attorney at the time.

I went through all the books mentioned in this post. Summers is a real classic (and might even become still better with it’s updates), Bugliosi left me unimpressed despite its volume, Waldron contains some very good research but suffers with a very implausible plot-theory, James Douglass’s “JFK & The Unspeakable” I’ld highly recommend not only for beginners but also for advanced JFK-scholars, his “spiritual” angle is imho no disadavantage at all. It also covers a few other topics, such as the US steel industry problem in 1962, when the Kennedy administration intervened after the top US steel companies decided to raise prices to control inflation. If you are looking for a detailed book that covers every aspect of JFK’s time as president and the events that led to his death, this is one of the best books about Kennedy assassination conspiracy. Dr. Moore has received overwhelming praise for his work on this book, and if you are interested in the topic of President Kennedy’s death, then this book is as good of a read as all of the other ones on this list.

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The virtues of Summers’s historical journalism is evident when you compare his approach to Bugliosi and Waldron’s. Prouty talks about details such as all members of JFK’s cabinet being on vacation at the time of the incident, which he considers to be too perfect to be just a coincidence. Prouty also discusses his own beliefs about the elite powers that are the true rulers of America, and how JFK’s disobedience to them eventually led to his death. I don't like conspiracy theories because they require a machine with thousands of moving parts to operate flawlessly in total secrecy. A successful conspiracy, therefore, requires less than a handful of people to control the primary source of evidence. This is Lifton's premise regarding the Kennedy assassination.