Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years [Paperback]

David Talbot (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 3, 2008

From acclaimed journalist David Talbot comes a groundbreaking narrative account of one of the most tumultuous periods in our history: the Kennedy Administration and its dramatic aftermath.

Though countless books have been written about the Kennedy men and their brief, tumultuous time in the White House, few have offered as many explosive revelations as this one. David Talbot describes a JFK administration more besieged by domestic enemies than has been previously realized, from within the Pentagon, the CIA, the FBI, and the mob. It is against this dark backdrop that he charts the emotionally charged journey of Robert Kennedy, whose soul-scouring quest to find the origins of his brother’s murder led him, to his horror, back to the dark corners of American power that had been part of his portfolio: U.S. intelligence, Cuba, and organized crime.

From the Kennedy “band of brothers” to RFK’s hope of using executive power to solve Jack’s death once and for all, this probing work of history draws on more than 150 exclusive interviews to produce a bold look at power and vengeance. A topic of perennial interest, Brothers is a multilayered, complex tale of gut-wrenching history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Those looking for new insight into John F. Kennedy's presidency will want to read this meticulously researched chronicle. Talbot, the journalist-founder of online newsmagazine Salon, sticks to the facts, starting with a timeline of then-attorney general Bobby Kennedy's actions on Nov. 22, 1963, the day his brother, the president, was killed. Immediately suspicious of the CIA, the Mafia and the Cuban exiles they're involved with, Bobby made it his mission to expose this "shadowy nexus"; much of the book concerns the Kennedy brothers' relationships with members of those factions as they dig for the truth. Talbot profiles friends and enemies, taking readers into JFK's strained work with Pentagon officials who famously pressured him to take a chance on the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion. Later chapters deal with the aftermath of JFK's, and then RFK's, assassinations, and the final chapter contains Talbot's incisive conclusions on those momentous years. Talbot's only weakness is in covering too much-with more than 150 original interviews, Talbot is forced to move too quickly from event to event, making his numerous characters hard to keep straight. Still, it's an admirable feat of reporting, and one that will spark conversation among conspiracy theorists, historians and others who lived through the Kennedy era.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Although the literature about the assassination of John F. Kennedy could fill a decent-sized library, Talbot, founder of salon.com, proves there's always more to say. His book purports to reveal new information (based on interviews with more than 150 insiders and experts) about the Kennedy presidency, but its real appeal is its casting of Bobby Kennedy as "America's first assassination conspiracy theorist." According to Talbot, from the moment he heard about his brother's murder, Bobby believed it was the culmination of an elaborate plot involving Cuban exiles, organized crime, and elements of the CIA, and he never stopped trying to expose the plotters. By focusing on Bobby's quest for justice, Talbot avoids most of the pitfalls of the who-killed-Kennedy books. Rather than asking us to believe a conspiracy theory, he simply asks us to understand what Bobby believed and why he believed it. The book also explores Bobby's own political career and makes a good case that he was murdered by the same people who killed JFK. A persuasively written, substantive addition to the Kennedy collection. Pitt, David --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; Reprint edition (June 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743269195
• ISBN-13: 978-0743269193
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (99 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,499 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #66 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Presidents & Heads of State
  • #93 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Political

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

108 of 113 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Problems with the CIA, FBI, and Military . . . and a Call for an Unlimited Inquiry into the JFK Assassination June 4, 2007

By Donald Mitchell HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

If you think you know all there is to know about the Kennedy presidency, you will learn more than you expect from reading the new material in Brothers. If you don't think you know enough yet to satisfy you, Brothers is a must read.

The title of the book is a little misleading. Brothers is really focused on RFK and a few of his most loyal lieutenants. The lieutenants were so close to the Kennedys that they felt like and were treated like brothers.

As time passes, historical events become clearer. But if you wait too long to render judgment, you lose the testimony of those who participated in the events. Brothers is unusual in that sense: It adds the views from 150 new interviews, but unavoidably loses some perspective as many witnesses are no longer available and many important documents remain classified.

Here are some of the new perspectives Brothers brought to my attention:

1. JFK wasn't really in control of the CIA and military while he was president. The CIA was off running anti-Castro operations in violation of direct presidential orders. The Bay of Pigs invasion was planned by the CIA from the beginning as a ploy to trigger an American military invasion of Cuba which the Joint Chiefs supported.

2. Some in the Pentagon were pushing for a preemptive nuclear strike on the Soviet Union in 1961.

3. JFK and RFK had so little confidence in the Secret Service that they were planning to put presidential protection under the attorney general's office.

4. The Cuban missile crisis was more dangerous than I believed. The Soviets had many more troops than the CIA believed and those troops were equipped with tactical nuclear weapons and permission to use them against an American invasion of Cuba.

5.... JFK planned to withdraw from Vietnam after the 1964 election.

6. RFK began his own private investigation of JFK's assassination and concluded that he needed to dismantle the CIA if elected in 1968.

7. Those who were in the best position to judge in Dallas thought that there was more than one gunman.

8. Some of those with RFK in Los Angeles thought that there was more than one gunman there.

9. A group of CIA dirty tricksters were present in both Dallas and Los Angeles when the assassinations occurred. You are left to draw the inference that the CIA assassinated JFK and RFK, but there's no direct evidence to sustain the point.

I found that the book tended to try to cover too much ground. As a result, any particular set of evidence was covered quite quickly. In light of the many books that have been written on these subjects, it would have been useful to address those books and try to straighten out incorrect viewpoints from at least the most influential of those books. For example, the cases for and against multiple gunmen in Dallas and Los Angeles receive relatively little attention, even though much has been written on this subject.

Ultimately, the book raises a fundamental point: We have experienced some national tragedies beginning in 1963 which include these assassinations, the Vietnam War, and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Isn't it time that we made it a priority to understand what happened and what went wrong, so we can avoid repeating the mistakes? If we let sleeping dogs lie, they may awake and bite us again. Read more ›

103 of 115 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and important book June 2, 2007

By Richard E. Hourula

Format:Hardcover

In the end author David Talbot is unable to produce either a smoking gun or solid proof of exactly who killed John F. Kennedy. To be fair, such a book seems impossible given all the classified information pertaining to the case that are still under lock and key. But what Talbot does is view the JFK presidency and assassination through the eyes of his brother and attorney general, Robert Kennedy. Talbot also manages to offset some of the fashionable anti-Kennedy revisionist history that has been in recent vogue, framing JFK as a crusader who challenged the military-industrial complex and CIA hawkish world views.

Indeed it is the very challenge, that call for moderated and peaceful solutions to the Cold War that Talbot strongly suggests was at the heart of his murder. Talbot details the brothers' refusal to back the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion, their refusal to go nuclear during the Cuban Missile Crisis (pun intended) and their desire to work amicably with the Soviet Union and to find a peaceful solution to the burgeoning disaster in Vietnam. All these views and efforts put them at odds with the the hard right wingers of the military and CIA and made them some very serious enemies.

As as a long-time student of the assassination I appreciated Talbot's refusal to bog himself down in dissecting that Warren report which has already been picked clean (it still has some supporters as does the belief that the Earth is flat). Talbot also didn't waste reader time tracking down every ridiculous lead on the assassination that has popped up these 40 plus years. Instead Talbot sticks to the principal players within the Kennedy administration, and what they knew and believed.... Mostly he follows Robert Kennedy who was traumatized by his brother's death but had the courage, after initial struggles, to move on with his political life. Talbot convinces us that RFK would have solved the mystery of the assassination had he been elected president (can there be much doubt that his own assassination was to keep that quest from being successful?)

Talbot is clearly an unabashed fan of the Kennedy brothers and views them heroically. Moreover he'll win over skeptical readers. The author also sees an unmistakable CIA role in their murders. This too he is able to support with a preponderance of evidence both circumstantial and rock solid.

No, "Brothers" does not solve the case but at the very least it will keep hope alive that some day we may get some answers. Meanwhile readers will find their appreciation of the Kennedys rekindled.

"Brothers" is a smooth, fast read recommended for those interested in the assassination and the Kennedy years. Read more ›

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book! Read it. August 25, 2007

By F. james

Format:Hardcover

It took me a while to actually get into the book. It took about 40 or 50 pages.
I've read tons of material on JFK's murder and this book initially felt like just another rehash of all of the other evidence that other people have flogged to death. It is much more than that, however.
Most importantly, it provides the historical context for JFK's murder. Though it is not as thorough with the lead up to RFK's murder, he does provide a fair bit of context for RFK's murder in 1968. He does not, however, capture the mood, the near-panic of that spring/summer, as first MLK and then RFK was gunned down. Because I lived through those tumultous times, as a kid growing up in Detroit, I can safely say that it felt like the world was starting to spin off its axis. He does not quite capture that feeling or sense.
But he does a great job of providing that kind of feel for the time period leading up to Dallas in '63. I'd forgotten many of the details about the events from that time. Talbot pulls it all together with lots of detail and fact and illustrates how JFK's murder was almost an inevitable event. Considering everything that led up to it.
It always amuses me when one reads critical comments such as those offered by negative reviewers here, comments that in no way address the real factual issues and concerns that have remained unresolved for over 40 years. Critics simply lapse into ad hominem attacks and never, ever address the huge factual and logical holes in the Warren Commission approach to this crime.
As someone who tried criminal cases for a living, I believe that any case against Oswald as a lone nut killer is so full of holes, it probably could not have been charged, if he had lived.... If they had attempted to try him as a lone killer, they would have been laughed out of the courtroom. Part of a conspiracy? Maybe. A lone killer shooting from the sixth floor? No way. Also, it amuses me that critics denigrate claims of conspiracy, as though only the unhinged would ever believe in such a ridiculous concept. Obviously these people have never spent much time in criminal courts, because prosecutors routinely charge people with conspiracies, day in and day out. If small and large conspiracies happen every day - according to the people who prosecute crimes in our country - why is it so unbelievable that a conspiracy to murder a very important person could happen?
And while the particular facts are too complex to discuss in this forum, Talbot does a very good job of laying out basic, uncontested facts that clearly support his central thesis: that JFK was murdered by a conspiracy and that RFK was not stupid enough to have simply accepted the tripe that was being offered by the government. The book is remarkably free of speculation. It is grounded in simple solid reporting.
It is a book that was difficult to put down. I'm very glad that I took the time to read it. I finally realized why my old grandfather proudly hung one of those tacky velour "portraits" of JFK, MLK and RFK on his wall. (Most black folks know exactly the "portrait" I am referring to. The one that shows MLK flanked by the two Kennedy brothers.) This book makes you understand why my grandfather and so many other black folks all over the country felt so strongly about the two brothers. Read more ›