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For over forty years the truth about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy has been obscured. This book releases us from a crippling distortion of American history.
This extraordinary and historic book required twenty years to research and write. The oft-challenged findings of the Warren Commission—Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, shot and killed President John F. Kennedy—are here confirmed beyond all doubt. But Reclaiming History does much more than that. In addition to providing a powerful and unprecedented narrative of events and a biography of the assassin, it confronts and destroys every one of the conspiracy theories that have grown up since the assassination, exposing their selective use of evidence, flawed logic, and outright deceptions. So thoroughly documented, so compellingly lucid in its conclusions, Reclaiming History is, in a sense, the investigation that completes the work of the Warren Commission. In it, Vincent Bugliosi, the nation's foremost prosecutor, takes on the most important murder in American history.
At 1:00 p.m. on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead, the victim of a sniper attack during his motorcade through Dallas. That may be the only fact generally agreed upon in the vast literature spawned by the assassination. National polls reveal that an overwhelming majority of Americans (75%) believe that there was a high-level conspiracy behind Lee Harvey Oswald. Many even believe that Oswald was entirely innocent. In this continuously absorbing, powerful, ground-breaking book, Vincent Bugliosi shows how we have come to believe such lies about an event that changed the course of history.
The brilliant prosecutor of Charles Manson and the man who forged an iron-clad case of circumstantial guilt around O. J. Simpson in his best-selling Outrage Bugliosi is perhaps the only man in America capable of writing the definitive book on the Kennedy assassination. This is an achievement that has for years seemed beyond reach. No one imagined that such a book would ever be written: a single volume that once and for all resolves, beyond any reasonable doubt, every lingering question as to what happened in Dallas and who was responsible.
There have been hundreds of books about the assassination, but there has never been a book that covers the entire case, including addressing each and every conspiracy theory and the facts, or alleged facts, on which they are based. In this monumental work, the author has raised scholarship on the assassination to a new and final level, one that far surpasses all other books on the subject. It adds resonance, depth, and closure to the admirable work of the Warren Commission.
Reclaiming History is a narrative compendium of fact, forensic evidence, reexamination of key witnesses, and common sense. Every detail and nuance is accounted for, every conspiracy theory revealed as a fraud on the American public. Bugliosi's irresistible logic, command of the evidence, and ability to draw startling inferences shed fresh light on this American nightmare. At last it all makes sense.
Bugliosi, best known as Charles Manson's prosecutor, spent more than 20 years writing this defense of the Warren Commission's conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the slaying of President Kennedy, but his obsession has produced a massive tome that's likely to overwhelm most readers. At times, the author seems determined to present every detail his researches revealed, even if it doesn't add to the overall picture (like a footnote on Elvis sightings). Further, while Bugliosi says even serious conspiracy theorists don't claim the FBI or Secret Service were involved, he devotes chapters to each. The book's structure—it's organized by subject, such as theories about the role of the FBI, the KGB or anti-Castro Cubans—leads to needless repetition, and, for an author who excoriates conspiracy theorists, charging them with carelessness and making wild accusations, Bugliosi is not always temperate in his language; for example, twice he makes the nonsensical claim that some Warren Commission critics "were screaming the word conspiracy before the fatal bullet had come to rest." His decision to devote twice as many pages to critiquing Oliver Stone's movie JFK as to his chapter on organized crime (identified by the chief counsel of the House Select Committee on Assassination as the likely conspirators) is a curious one, as is the choice to open the book with a dramatic re-creation of events surrounding the assassination rather than a straightforward chronology of the relevant facts. Moreover, Bugliosi does not always probe whether individuals who are the sole source for certain facts (for example, Oswald's widow, Marina) had any motive to lie. Bugliosi's voluminous endnotes areon an accompanying CD. Gerald Posner's 1993 Case Closed made most of the same points in a much more concise way. 32 pages of illus. (May)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationAnonymous
Posted June 8, 2007
Oh brother! After that last review one can only sigh. I was an expert marksman in the Marines. I stood in the 6th floor window next to where Oswald fired. The range was less than 100 yards, which is practically point blank for a trained marksman. Oswald was a Marine Sharpshooter which means: well qualified. Plus it was established that he practiced with his Carcano rifle often. Conspiracy theorists will never let themselves be confused by facts. Bugliosi, one of our country's foremost prosecutors, lays out and summarizes the case exhaustively. One can come to only one conclusion - Oswald acted alone in firing three shots from the 6th floor of the schoolbook depository on that fateful day in Dallas which killed the president and wounded Governor Connolly. No conspiracy, no coverup. A lone nut with means and opportunity. We will never know his motive. He may not even have known himself why he was doing it. If he wanted to elevate his miserable and worthless existence to mythological status then he certainly succeeded. The evidence is overwhelming and the Warren Commission findings conclusive. As to Bugliosi's penchant for using ordinary everyday language to describe how ludicrous and absurd most of these consiracy theories are, well, how else do you say it? Some of these people are just plain nuts. And the rest are just opportunists cashing in on the conspiracy legacy, often taking the smallest shred of doubt about some piece of evidence or event 'or just nothing at all' and blowing it up into a 300 page book that proves nothing. Mere fiction with the Kennedy assassination as an excuse. If you want a definitive reference of the Kennedy assassination and a thorough debunking of the major consiracy theories then I highly recommend this book.
8 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 26, 2007
Everyone owes Mr. Bugliosi a tremendous depth of gratitude that we will no longer have to suffer another major work after this that supports the insupportable gov't propaganda that Oswald was just an unstable nut, who just happened to be in the neighborhood in Dealey Plaza, and got lucky with three Hail Mary shots, and then was conveniently shot by another unstable but lucky nut, Jack Ruby. Nevertheless, this book gave it a good shot. Thank God no one will be able to outdo this turkey of an effort - an effort that refuses to seriously question the SEVEN wounds in Kennedy and Connelly by a bullet that looks like it was shot into nothing harder than cotton, and just happened to be conveniently found on a stretcher at Parkland Hospital. The invincible Mr. Bugliosi won a case against Charles Manson with such 'logic'? I'm surprised Manson didn't walk. It's time to stop undermining the intelligence of the American public with such a one-sided look one of the most important historical events of the last century, with reverberations of political corruption continuing into the new millennium. This book brings nothing new to the table and is truly a disgrace of investigative vigor and personal slander of all those witnesses who say the conclusions of the Warren Commission were dead wrong. Try reading David Talbot if you care about Kennedy's legacies and wish to understand the enemies who wished him dead and, unfortunately for all of us, did something about it. What a mess our gov't has become, and we have top lawyers incapable of critical thinking.
3 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 19, 2007
No matter what your opinion of the assassination, 'lone nut' or 'conspiracy', this will be the most detailed, engrossing, minute-by-minute account that you have ever read! For many years, I believed that Oswald acted entirely alone. I didn't change my mind on this until I read Barr McClellan's book, Blood, Money & Power - How LBJ Killed JFK. I was really disturbed after reading that book. I must say, that after reading the entire first third of Bugliosi's book, you will probably be convinced, beyond any doubt whatsoever, that Oswald killed J.D. Tippit. You will likely be convinced as well that Oswald alone fired the shots at Kennedy. You will also be convinced that it is absolutely preposterous to think that the Warren Commission intentionally deceived the American people. This cover-up would be exponentially harder to pull off or even contrive than the assassination itself. I am amazed at the number of people who will readily condemn members of the commission in preference to one little Marxist nobody. With that said, however, I must point out that I was curious when I received this book to see what Bugliosi had to say about Barr McClellan and his book. Mind you, Barr McClellan isn't just some assassination buff. He was one of Lyndon Johnson's personal attorneys, and believes strongly that the Clark law firm representing Johnson's interests was behind the assassination. In his book, McClellan tells of numerous seedy incidents involving Johnson and the firm. When I read Bugliosi's scathing comments regarding McClellan, I believed Bugliosi's inquest into the issues and was incensed, nearly enraged against McClellan that he would take readers on such an erroneous joyride in his book. I decided to look into this matter a little more, by looking at online sources of the Warren Commission's findings. There are many sites, many of them universities, that host the true materials themselves, not conspiracy buff garbage, but the entire published proceedings of the Warren Commission. I found one of these sites, looked into this issue, and want to point out the following: McClellan's main assertion is that Malcolm Wallace was present on the sixth floor of the depository at some time, and in being there at all, it implicates the law firm in the assassination. His main 'proof' is in a fingerprint that has been matched to Wallace by three sources, Nathan Darby, Interpol, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. 'DPS examiner recanted his match after learning its significance - perhaps afraid of losing his job? This by itself is possibly an indication of Johnson's supporters' ongoing influence in Austin.'Bugliosi only speaks of the 'match' made by Darby. Bugliosi says, on p. 922: 'On November 20, 2001, I spoke over the telephone with Darby. Eighty-seven at the time,... I told him that I had trouble with his finding a 'match' between prints found at the sniper's nest on the sixth floor and the fingerprint exemplar card of Malcolm Wallace. 'Why?' he asked. 'Because,' I pointed out, 'the unidentified latent print found on the sixth floor was a palm print, not a fingerprint, and unless you've come up with something new, I've never heard of anyone matching a palm print with a fingerprint.' Darby, sensing he had been taken, told me that he had been given 'two fingerprints, one from a card, the other a latent...Of course, you can't compare a palm print with a fingerprint.' Bugliosi then says, 'So much for Malcolm Wallace at the window and another desperate attempt by the conspiracy community to implicate anyone other than Lee Harvey Oswald for Kennedy's murder.' This is a real injustice to McClellan 'and Nathan Darby - in this reader's mind, the implied assessment being: 'poor old fool'' and is totally without merit. Bugliosi seems to imply that since there was only one unknown print, a palm print, that McClellan must have fabricated a hoax on Darby, having him compare, in effect, the exemplar print to
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 24, 2007
It may come as a shock to some, but former CIA agents E. Howard Hunt and David Morales have admitted to their participation or knowledge of the plot to kill Kennedy, and they obviously hated the man. Such revelations render Bugliosi's tome already out of date. When the subject of the Kennedys came up in a late-night session with friends in 1973, Morales launched into a tirade that finished: 'I was in Dallas when we got the son of a bitch and I was in Los Angeles when we got the little bastard.' Notice the collective, conspiratorial 'we.' Hunt points the finger at former President Johnson being involved, and Johnson is the same man the unfairly maligned Jim Garrison pointed the finger at way back in 1967. Who has the last laugh now?¿. Now, the confessions of Hunt and Morales mean that Oswald could have hardly orchestrated the whole thing alone, doesn't it? - that is, if he orchestrated anything at all and was framed instead. Are we to believe that the members of the Warren Commission had no idea that Hunt and Morales were CIA with former CIA head Allen Dulles sitting fraudulently on the Commission? ¿.Preface - On the April 28th, 2007 edition of Coast to Coast AM hosted by Ian Punnett, an audio tape sent to St. John Hunt contained his father's January 2004 recounting of the persons who were involved in the Kennedy Assassination. In the tape, Hunt named Cord Meyer, Frank Sturgis, David Sanchez Morales, David Atlee Phillips as participants in the assassination with Vice-President Lyndon Johnson apparently approving the assassination for political gain.... E. Howard Hunt [quote:] 'I heard from Frank [Sturgis] that LBJ had designated Cord Meyer, Jr. to undertake a larger organization while keeping it totally secret.... 'Sturgis and Morales and people of that ilk stayed in apartment houses during preparations for the big [assassination] event. Their addresses were very subject to change, so that where a fellow like Morales had been one day, you'd not necessarily associated [sic] with that address the following day. In short, it was a very mobile experience.... 'I think it's essential to refocus on what this information that I've been providing you... What is important in the story is that we've backtracked the chain of command up through Cord Meyer and laying [sic] the doings at the doorstep of LBJ. He, in my opinion, had an almost maniacal urge to become President. He regarded JFK, as he was in fact, an obstacle to achieving that. He could have waited for JFK to finish out his term and then undoubtedly a second term. So that would have put LBJ at the head of a long list of people who were waiting for some change in the executive branch.' [end quote.]¿. Concerned citizens will continue to speak out for as long as necessary until our elected officials finally understand that we will not take the lies about the Kennedy assassination any longer, nor accept the misguided public apologists who continue support these people to the detriment of our country's survival and welfare. This investigation remains *open* and the public outrage continues.... In the meantime, Bugliosi's book is already embarrassingly *obsolete.*
2 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 4, 2007
Bugliosi is disappointing. Read 'Best Evidence' to pin down the factual opinions of the 10 or so highly trained Parklane Hospital emergency doctors in Dallas who saw the President's body within 30 minutes after the shooting and whom ALL saw without question an entry bullet wound in the front of the President's throat. The bullet hole was used as the tracheotomy ingress point in the frantic effort to save his life. This single fact alone categorically eliminates the possibility that anyone shooting from behind the President could have been a lone gunman and wipes out his whole book in one fell swoop. Not only that, any rational human being looking at the Zapruder footage can see that the last shot was front to back, exploding the rear of the skull outward, as evidenced by the gaping hole and everted skull bone fragments seen by all of the Parklane doctors. Every single Parklane doctor saw a large everted rear exit wound of the skull. That makes two shots from the front and only one from the rear that hit Kennedy. Even after severe efforts to force them all to 'change their minds', only one doctor, in a panic over the fact the government might have him killed, recanted. But what did these doctors know, after all, they were just big city doctors used to seeing bullet wounds in the emergency room every week of their lives. Why, they couldn't possibly know the difference between an entry wound 'small'and an exit wound 'large, everted'. What we the people got, however, was a seriously compromised autopsy at Walter Reed by an intimidated Naval medical officer who was in way over his head. This is the same officer who later burned the autopsy notes 'just having minor historical significance, you see' in the fireplace of his house. If someone wants to write the next serious assassination work in future,perhaps one could dig a little deeper and find out why the Parklane MDs were intimidated and ultimately silenced before they blew the Warren Commission's findings to bits. But, it seems some in authority at that time really did not want the truth to prevail. Those attempting to frame a designated 'patsy' must omit key details, never call key witnesses, ignore certain realities, and basically ram a foregone conclusion down everyone's throat. For the good of the nation. The real problem is that far too many people have a deep psychological need to feel that the government in their splendor could in fact solve the crime of the century. Allen Dulles, the fired former head of the CIA, who 'loved' the Kennedy brothers, was on the Warren Commission for good reason. Forty+ years after the assassination, modern authors are still cobbling together fiascos that still try to ram the same rubbish down the public's throats. Read instead David Talbot's new book, a well-researched masterpiece, where he divulges that when an aide asked Nixon many years after the fact what really happened to Kennedy? Nixon did not say 'lone gunman', he said 'you don't want to know'. This wry aside implied that he DID know! How could he know anything at all? But his remark is most telling. Why did he not take that opportunity to say he believed in the findings of the Warren Commission Report. Probably because he didn't. Why were public records sealed for so long? Why were there so many anomalies and inconsistencies of examination and so many conclusions lept upon prematurely by the Warren Commission. Read 'On the Trail of the Assassins' by Jim Garrison. This much maligned man, brilliant and courageous as he was, was not off track when he more fully explored the highly substantiated New Orleans connection between Lee Harvey Oswald, David Ferrie and Guy Bannister. With some footage actually documented on local televison, this Oswald connection to people at the fringe of the intelligence community was one that the government could have easily expanded upon had they chosen to. It was glossed over in the Warren Commission report. And what treatme
1 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 31, 2007
The government continues to churn out books with monotonous regularity to deflect suspicion away from them, and towards the patsy du jour. In fact two official congressional 'investigations' came to different conclusions about who murdered our most courageous President - John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. The Warren Commission cover story was that lone nut Lee Oswald did it 'ignoring the fact that he was a CIA puppet', while the HSCA concluded that it was a conspiracy. But the gov't is not concerned with inconsistency and illogic their objective is to confuse the public with so much disinformation that it's difficult to know what's real. That's where Bugliosi comes in. Pound for pound he serves up more disinformation and specious logic than any other propagandist before him. So the next time you're tempted to complain about lazy unproductive government employees, just remember Bugliosi, who gave his government sponsors more bang for the buck than any other mouthpiece ever--at least in terms of sheer tonnage. Another contribution Bugliosi makes to the always flourishing business of denying that the murder of President Kennedy was a coup, is his vocal contempt for anyone who thinks for themselves. His non-stop name-calling and insults serve notice that his faction will aggressively attack anyone not parroting the party line. His attempts to intimidate critics and real historians are actually mildly amusing, especially given the fact that he wouldn't need to resort to such juvenile tactics if he could prove his case with methods typically favored by attorneys, such as describing evidence. But those familiar with this murder know that it's not possible to depend on evidence because within days of the assassination all evidence was so corrupted that it would have been thrown out of any legitimate court in the country. It was stolen, planted, altered, fabricated the chain of possession was broken multiple times. It was and is worthless. This case never would have gone to trial even if the patsy hadn't been conveniently murdered to shut him up. Bugliosi can try to hide that fact with thousands of pages and discs and trash talk and bravado, but he can't obscure the truth there is no reliable evidence tying the patsy to this crime. Furthermore, the crime and cover-up are so through and enduring that only the government was and is capable of it. There are good books out there on this subject. This is not one of them. There's no reason to pay Vince Bugliosi to insult your intelligence. The US government already did that.
1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 10, 2007
Bugliosi sets its straight. The book is large, but you can read sections out of order as to your curiosity's dictates. This is great for those who know a good amount about the case. It will show you that anyone who would recomend the Oliver Stone movie, JFK as a historical source is unreliable. Stone should be ashamed of his ignorant mischief. The study and its conclusions are convincing.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 19, 2007
This is a review 'below' from his 'Vincent Bugliosi' JFK book, I thought that Vincent said if you start from a false premise then the entire version is incorrect. 'There have been hundreds of books about the assassination, but there has never been a book that covers the entire case, including addressing each and every conspiracy theory and the facts, or alleged facts, on which they are based. In this monumental work, the author has raised scholarship on the assassination to a new and final level, one that far surpasses all other books on the subject. It adds resonance, depth, and closure to the admirable work of the Warren Commission.' Lets read what it said: [Released November 30, 1963. Dated November 29, 1963] PURSUANT to the authority vested in me as President of the United States, I hereby appoint a Commission to ascertain, evaluate, and report upon the facts relating to the assassination of the late President John F. Kennedy and the subsequent violent death of the man charged with the assassination. The Commission shall consist of-- The Chief Justice of the United States, Chairman Senator Richard B. Russell .......................'Under investigation by JFK' Senator John Sherman Cooper Congressman Hale Boggs Congressman Gerald R. Ford The Honorable Alien W. Dulles ...............'Under investigation by JFK' The Honorable John J. McCloy................'Under investigation by JFK' The purposes of the Commission are to examine the evidence developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and any additional evidence that may hereafter come to light or be uncovered by Federal or State authorities to make such further investigation as the Commission finds desirable to evaluate all the facts and circumstances surrounding such assassination, including the subsequent violent death of the man charged with the assassination, and to report to me its findings and conclusions. The Commission is empowered to prescribe its own procedures and to employ such assistants as it deems necessary. Necessary expenses of the Commission may be paid from the 'Emergency Fund for the President.' All Executive departments and agencies are directed to furnish the Commission with such facilities, services, and cooperation as it may request from time to time. LYNDON B. JOHNSON ...........................'Under investigation by JFK' THE WHITE HOUSE November 29, 1963 On December 3, 1963, the UPI wire carried a story ... under the following lead: 'An exhaustive FBI report now nearly ready for the White House will indicate that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone and unaided assassin of President Kennedy, Government sources said today.' When he was informed of these news articles. Director Hoover wrote, 'I thought no one knew this outside the FBI.' According to 'Assistant FBI Director' William Sullivan, Hoover himself ordered the report 'leaked' to the press, in an attempt to 'blunt the drive for an independent investigation of the assassination.' So how can you have an investigation with the FBI in charge of the investigation and the director of the FBI has already concluded it was Oswald before the investigation even starts? I would say that is the definition of a false premise. Think about it.
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 1, 2007
This is the work of a true genius. How did he do this, when he is a mere human? He has left no stone unturned, including Oliver Stone. 'Reclaiming History' is an epic book, and as long as people are interested in the J.F.K. case, even if it is centuries from now, they will look to this masterpiece as the definitive book on the Kennedy assassination. Fortunately for the historical record, Bugliosi, this nation's foremost prosecutor, has successfully taken on the most important murder case in American history. He has proven Oswald's guilt and the absence of a conspiracy beyond all doubt. This is definitely Nobel and Pulitzer Prize material. In setting the record straight, 'Reclaiming History' couldn't be a more perfect title for this book. No home library should be without this work of literature.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 5, 2012
Please read Lamaar Waldron and ThomHartman's book onthe subject. Once again former LA prosector, Bugliosi is trying ti make fast buck on something he is mostly speculating about. He sgould have stopped after Helter Skelter, which is a fine book that he did know much about.
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Posted January 14, 2011
Here's what scary to me, those who think that JFK wasn't shot by a single person, who was trained to use a rifle, at close range, in military terms and hit the target two out of three times.
There have been dozens of TV shows (from 1968 CBS special that recreated the shooting to Discovery Channel specials) that have shown literally that the single bullet theory holds up, that one person can hit the target and do the damage it did, in the time span that was recorded. But what is more amazing is that Discovery showed (11/13/2008, JFK, Inside the Target Car) that a single round, shot from the same weapon that Lee used from the grassy knoll would have exploded the head right off the body, especially at that close of a range and just not taken a piece of the head off.
VB has walked through the whole time line, minute by minute, detailing it with facts, not shadowy assumptions or half truths or distractions or even invalid statements by third party sources.
I have actually read the WCR when I was in high school; the local library had a copy of it. It took me my four years in high school (1972-1976) to go through it, but one fact became clear as I was going through it. To have covered it all up, everyone would had to be very quiet about it and as VB has stated in the beginning of his book, the only secret that stays that way, especially if three people know about it, is if two of them are dead.
Ockham's razor comes to mind as I was reading the book. "Lex Parsimoniae", the simplest explanation is more likely the correct one. As Joe Friday said many times stated, "Just the facts, Ma'am" and that's what those who don't believe the WCR are missing, hard cold facts, which can be backup with real hard core evidence.
Thank Vincent for doing this World a true service, but shows that the light of truth will make the dark cockroaches of lies, run back into the shadows again.
Like the WCR, if you haven't read it (or this VB's book), don't review it, because you can't judge it, because you are lacking the information and are therefore ignorant.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 7, 2010
This book should once and for all eliminate any serious consideration of the Kennedy Assassination as conspiracy. Bugliosi truly leaves no stone unturned in analyzing all aspects of the Kennedy case. His descriptions of events and interpretation of evidence is astounding. In addition to this, his commentary on the various theories of conspiracy, Oliver Stone's JFK and other issues is incredibly enlightening.
About the only thing I can say critical of this version of the book is the absence of the entire endnote section and lack of visuals which were included in the print edition. While most people cruise by the footnotes, in this case they provide even more insight into events and interpretations.
Of course, it's a long read. But if you really want to know how it went down, this is the book to get.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 27, 2008
On Monday November 25, 1963 the world watched in sadness as our beloved 35th President was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. Since that terrible, fateful day, Friday November 22, 1963 our country and it's citizenry has been bantered, beleaguered and haunted by one central question: was there a conspiracy that brought about Kennedy's death? This book brilliantly provides the answer to that question...NO! Indeed, the truth has been before our very eyes from the very moment that Oswald fired off his first shot at the Kennedy limousine from the southeast window of the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository in Dealey Plaza, but for some strange reason, a great majority of the American public has not embraced that fact. Maybe now, after 45 years of lingering doubts, we will. In this way it can be truly said that 'truth is stranger than fiction'. That Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy, and that he acted ALONE, should be as clear as a crystal sea. But I guess it took all this time for someone with real courage to take the time 'more than 20 years' and investigate ALL THE FACTS, AND REACH A FINAL CONCLUSION BASED only ON THOSE FACTS. In this exhaustive and compelling masterpiece, 'Reclaiming History', Vincent Bugliosi has in essence debunked nearly every conspiracy that has lingered for nearly a generation. That is much too long for the American public to not have final closure on this matter. There is an ancient scripture that says, 'Nothing is hidden that shall not be [eventually] revealed...' Yes, it may sometimes take a generation for the truth to surface, but lurking somewhere in the dark shadows of time lies the answer to each nagging question. Just as we laid JFK to rest on November 25, 1963, Mr. Bugliosi has once and far all laid to rest every plaguing question about who really murdered President Kennedy. It was Oswald all along!
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 28, 2008
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have read many books about the assassination, but this is the final piece, the final say about the event and everything having to do with it. Bugliosi again proves, as did the Warren Report, that President Kennedy was killed by a single gunman, Lee Oswald, acting along. In the first place, Bugliosi puts this historical event in proper perspective it deserves. It was a very important event that personally affected millions of people. And he acknowledges that for many reasons, not the least of which was Ruby killing Oswald, conspiracy theories immediately rang out, which echo to this day. First Bugliosi relates, minute by minute the events of that weekend. Then he recounts all the known official evidence, and proves that even the most questioned part of the official version, the Single Bullet theory, is correct and butressed with layers of evidence, including atomic analysis of bullet fragments. He focuses on the evidence. He focuses on Oswald, his every known movement. The multi-layered approach is used throughout, especially as to whether Oswald fired the only shots that day and as to whether he acted alone. He proves everything conclusively many times over. As per pure evidence, this is his strong suit, proving things in layers. But he is only getting warmed up. Next he methodically dismantles each and every conspiracy theory, from 'Ruby was in the mob' to the 'Zapruder film was a fake' and every thing in between. Everthing. He saves his biggest wrecking ball for the O. Stone movie, proving it a complete farse. So, yes it took 1500 pages to do all this. But suprisingly, the writing style is pleasing and never forced, and it reads easily. Some parts of the book, such as how he exposes the more Martian conspiracy theories, are downright funny. But there's nothing funny about his theme overall. This is serious business. Our president was murdered and he never loses sight of that basic fact. Highly recommended.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 3, 2008
As someone who read the main JFK conspiracy books in the 90s when interest in the case went up as Stone was doing his movie, and who was very skeptical of the 'official' version from the time I watched as a 9 year old with my mother, Jack Ruby kill Lee Oswald, I can say with confidence that Vince Bugliosi has indeed looked at the entire case, not just parts, and has cleared the air. The telling of the story is just superb. The research has seemingly been enormous, and his judgment as a prosecutor combined no doubt with skill developed from being around police and detectives solving all sorts of crimes, all this results in a book that should be required reading to undo the brainwash the conspiracy community aided by the crank Oliver Stone has put over on the American people. It is a page turner in spite of its size! Thanks VINCE!!! You have done a great service to the US.
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Posted August 19, 2007
Oswald was a nut, a loner, and an idiot! For all these wacky conspriracy 'theorists' I can only say get a life! It has been almost 44 years!! Oswald was a left wing liberal train wreck of a miscreant. He dropped out of high school, was dishonorably discharged from the Marine reserves, was abusive to his wife and emigrated to the Soviet Union at the height of the cold war. Why would the CIA, the Mafia, KGB, Military Industrial Complex etc. want someone like him. Furthermore, all of these stupid 'theories' of who killed JFK have not been able to name a single other person in 44 years. You never get the full truth from the conspriracy lobby and you never will. They are out for money. Plain and simple as that. They do not want the truth because if they ever find it -- and it was found at the Texas Theatre on November 22, 1963 -- they will be out of a job. Furthermore, the only thing that these 'theorists' have proven in 44 years is that a frighten number of people did an awful large quantity of drugs in the 1960's. Thank You Vincent! Maybe now Jack Kennedy can rest in peace.
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Posted July 3, 2007
One of the best researched books I have ever read...and very readable too. Nothing will ever convince the hardcore conspiracy buffs, but for the averaage person who is willing to think objectively Bugliosi makes a convincing case.
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Posted May 29, 2007
Acidic, vitriolic, curt & arrogant are a few accurate adjectives for this distinguished author's tome. 'And WHY?' The scale and heft promise near-scholarly analysis yet each entry could have been written by a different college student -each with degrees of sarcasm & disdain, and seemingly just annoyed with the burden of exercising careful, explicated, rational, empirical analysis of evidence. I was appalled that the publisher and editor would sanction such dismissive, overbearing 'drive-by 'shootings.''
0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 12, 2007
To those of you still obsessed with conspiracy theories: Turn off the Art Bell show and think for yourself for a change! Open your mind to history, you may feel a whole lot better!!!
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 9, 2007
In the latest poll, something like 80% of americans still believe that oswald had help- on a related note, 80% of all americans have read 5 or less books since leaving school. Open your mind and read this book, then read case closed by gerald posner. Then read the conspiracy nut books, just for a laugh. Lh oswald did it alone-jfk had enemies, sure-but there were no cubans or mafia or cia helping oswald that day.
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Overview
For over forty years the truth about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy has been obscured. This book releases us from a crippling distortion of American history.
This extraordinary and historic book required twenty years to research and write. The oft-challenged findings of the Warren Commission—Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, shot and killed President John F. Kennedy—are here confirmed beyond all doubt. But Reclaiming History does much more than that. In addition to providing a powerful and unprecedented narrative of events and a biography of the assassin, it confronts and destroys every one of the conspiracy theories that have grown up ...