Assignment: Oswald [Hardcover]

James Hosty (Author), Thomas Hosty (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 22, 1995

Straight from the FBI counter-intelligence agent assigned to Lee Harvey Oswald prior to the assassination of President Kennedy - and the lead investigator in the FBI's post-assassination investigation of Oswald - Assignment: Oswald is the first authoritative insider's account of our century's most traumatic event. Combining his own unique, intimate knowledge of the case with previously unavailable government documents, including top secret CIA files just released from the National Archives, James Hosty tells the true story behind the assassination and the government's response to it, including the suppression of a documented Oswald-Soviet-Castro connection. Special Agent Hosty began to investigate Lee Harvey Oswald in October 1963, a full month before the JFK assassination. From November 22 on, Hosty watched as everyone from the Dallas police, the FBI, the CIA, Naval Intelligence, and the State Department up through the Warren Commission to J. Edgar Hoover, Robert Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson reacted to and manipulated the facts of the president's assassination - until Hosty himself became their scapegoat. Now, after seeing his name appear in three inconclusive federal investigations and countless fact-twisting conspiracy theories (including Oliver Stone's motion picture), Hosty has decided to tell his own story. Hosty's testimony has been universally acknowledged as vital to any complete understanding of the Kennedy assassination. As a witness to and a participant in every stage of the assassination investigation, Hosty brings to this story an exclusive insider's knowledge of the mechanisms, the power structures, and the rivalries in and among the various intelligence and lawenforcement agencies and why they have determined who knows what about the assassination. Here, at last, is an unmistakably expert and responsible account of the murder of President Kennedy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hosty, as Kennedy assassination buffs know, was the Dallas FBI agent delegated to investigate Lee Harvey Oswald before Nov. 22, 1963, and who later became the center of a firestorm over whether Oswald should have been under surveillance as a likely assassin. He is also the man who, following instructions from his supervisor, destroyed a note from Oswald warning him to lay off Oswald's wife, Marina (whom Hosty had interviewed in early November about Lee), thus giving rise to all sorts of dire conjectures among conspiracy theorists. Hosty, a sturdy, no-nonsense type who is finally telling his own story with the help of his lawyer son, has no truck with them. He remains convinced that Oswald was the sole shooter, though he also feels there was tacit approval of his action in certain Cuban and Soviet quarters, and that Oswald, who expected to get away, probably acted to bolster his position with his foreign handlers. Hosty's book is interesting more for its facts, however, than for his theorizing. He was present during Oswald's interrogation, conducted early post-assassination interviews with Marina (who he suspects was a Soviet agent) and is full of intriguing details about the pecking order at Hoover's FBI, the frantic efforts to shift blame, the jealous guarding of their own turf by police, FBI, Secret Service and CIA with the result that no one ever had a clear, complete picture of events before or after the killing. Hosty's book is therefore a valuable addition to the assassination bookshelf-as well as the self-portrait of a likable family man whose first thought after the shots were fired was for the safety of his wife, who was in the vicinity. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“A valuable addition to the assassination bookshelf.” (Publishers Weekly )

“One of the best books ever written on the day-to-day events after the JFK assassination . . . . An absolute must-read.” (Real Crime Book Digest ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing; 1st edition (November 22, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559703113
• ISBN-13: 978-1559703116
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,774,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A revealing work, December 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Assignment: Oswald (Hardcover)

This book reveals more, perhaps, than the author intended, about the atmosphere in the Dallas FBI during 1963. Hosty had been assigned to investigate Oswald but had lost track of him when he left Dallas for New Orleans. He eventually found out that Oswald had returned to Dallas and interviewed Oswald's wife, Maria, at her residence. This angered Oswald, who later left a threatening note at the Dallas FBI for Hosty. After Oswald's arrest, Hosty was sent to the office where Oswald was being interrogated because he knew the most about him. This caused a confrontation between Oswald and Hosty. Instead of gaining any good information about Oswald, Hosty made it look like the FBI had propelled him into action by their overbearing intrusions. No wonder J. Edgar Hoover later disciplined Hosty for his work on this case. Hosty, however, needed to justify himself in every step he took, so, he resorts to pleading that he was overworked during 1963. The rest of the books deals with Hosty in later years, analyzing this case in his own way, suspecting Maria of being a Russian KGB police plant. You can easily understand why Hosty did not meet his career goals and ended up being bitter about the whole thing.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down, April 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Assignment: Oswald (Hardcover)

I found Hosty's account of the events surrounding the JFK assasination to be very intesting, and highly accurate in comparison to actual film footage from that time period. This account will put to rest all of the illogical and unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that have been circulating. And, it will focus light on the one conspiracy theory that hasn't gotten enough attention, and that is the one involving the Soviet and Cuban governments. Hosty has alleged that every commission and report to date has purposely down-played or ommitted evidence pointing to a Soviet/Cuba/Oswald link. His argument is well supported with facts and analysis. He also gives a perfectly plausible reason why Oswald could certainly have fired all three shots. I highly recommend this book for students of the JFK assasination.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An interesting read, November 14, 2000

By 

"bjorn_raven" (Warsaw Poland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Assignment: Oswald (Paperback)

Like I said in the title, it is an interesting read. Hosty deals with the assasination as he perceived it (and it was he who investigated Oswald). He also tries to brush off any conspiracy theories pertaining to the shooting, in particular Stone's "JFK". I must say he does a pretty good job at it, with his claims being solidly motivated. However, I still stubbornly choose to believe in the conspiracy.