Customer Reviews

The Man Who Knew Too Much: Hired to Kill Oswald and Prevent the Assassination of JFK

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This book, "The Man Who Knew Too Much" by Dick Russell is quite possibly THE very best JFK Assassination book ever written.
Russell makes a startling case for a JFK Assassination resolution with this wonderful, 40th anniversary edition of his book based on the life of Richard Case Nagell.
Nagell, in a word, was an enigma, Just like the assassination that he shed so much light on was also an enigma.......until now.
Nagell, a former CIA man and Military Intelligence agent (As well as KGB agent too!) trusted Dick Russell so much, that he met with him, and corresponded with him for many years. In each of these correspondences, Nagell revealed bits and pieces about what he knew about the Conspiracy to kill JFK, and make no mistake, Nagell knew alot!
Too Much in fact, hence the title of this book.
Nagell stumbled upon the actual assassination plots (Notice I said "Plots", plural) that resulted in the assassination in Dallas, of President John F Kennedy.
That in of itself is startling, but even more startling than that is the fact that Nagell warned FBI Director J Edgar Hoover about the plots to kill Kennedy two months BEFORE the assassination took place!
Russell meticulously puts all of the loose ends of Nagell's story together and forms a very plausible solution to the assassination, and exposes who very well could be the true forces behind the murder of JFK.
You may ask, "What makes this book any different from other JFK Assassination books?"
The answer is that the other JFK Assassination books didnt have PROVEN sources that were actually involved with the people who killed Kennedy. Russell's source (Nagell) WAS DIRECTLY INVOLVED! Nagell was not only involved with these people, but he actually infiltrated the group and tape recorded them talking about the assassination of Kennedy!
Nagell also claims to have a photo of him and Lee Harvey Oswald.
It is proven that Nagell and Oswald had lots in common......so much so that Nagell thought that he himself may have been a consideration for the Patsy in the murder. And this takes us full circle into how Nagell's story became public to begin with......Nagell purposely got himself arrested so that he would have an alibi for his whereabouts two months later when Kennedy was killed!
Nagell was "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and he was put into a horrible position that forced him to work with the KGB (The Soviet's equivalent of the CIA). In fact, Nagell was hired by the KGB to kill someone. Someone VERY familiar to JFK assassination researchers. Someone named Lee Harvey Oswald!
It is a long, immensely exciting story, but I will leave the rest for Russell to tell you about.
When you read this book, it will feel as if you are actually learning the truth, the REAL truth about the assassination of JFK. Its almost as if you have secretly broken into the government's secret vault marked "Truth about the JFK Assassination".
You will be transported right into the true circumstances that resulted in the assassination, and you will finally understand many of the aspects of the murder that have been a mystery for over 40 years.
If ever a book was worthy of being made into a Hollywood Blockbuster movie, it is this book. And it may well yet be made into a movie. It certainly is full of mystery, intrigue, excitement, and many other elements that make this book a great candidate for a big budget movie.
This book is the utlimate "Spy Novel".
It makes the James Bond movies pale in comparison, because this story is a true one!
For the most interesting, exciting, and startling JFK assassination book you will ever read, I highly recommend this book.
Did Richard Case Nagell stumble upon the actual JFK Assassination plot? I will leave that for you to decide. But while you are pondering that question, keep this in mind........ Nagell was finally about to tell his story to an official government committee, but was found dead in his apartment before he ever had a chance to tell the Commitee all that he knew about the case.
The mystery has only deepened with Nagell's death.
To fully understand the JFK murder mystery, this book is a must read!
By the way, what was the cause of Nagell's death?
Well, just between you and I, .....the cause of death was in all likelihood because Nagell truly was "The Man Who Knew Too Much".

Dick Russell's first edition of The Man Who Knew Too Much published in 1992 was a ground-breaking book, but the latest edition, just published in 2003, takes us even deeper into the almost unbelievable--but real--world of Richard Case Nagell. The latest edition includes information from recently released documents finally made available to the public, as well as information obtained from recent interviews, such as with a relative of David Atlee Phillips. It also contains new information about the circumstances surrounding the death of Nagell in 1995, an event that occurred with unfortunate timing--just as the Assassination Records Review Board was getting in touch with Nagell. Whether you've read many books about the JFK assassination, or are looking for your first in order to try to begin understanding what really led up to the killing of JFK and who was involved, this book is indispensible to understanding what happened 40 years ago. You will learn about Nagell and what he knew about the central and peripheral characters involved in the JFK assassination plot, such as Guy Banister, David Ferrie, and the anti-Castro Cubans who played a role in these history changing events.

This is a long book, the product of a lengthy period of research, which was needed to unravel the extensive coverup of the story of Richard Case Nagell, who worked for both US and Soviet intelligence. In the process of being a double agent in the early 1960s, Nagell learned that Oswald was involved in a conspiracy to kill Kennedy, which he was unable to prevent. One of Hoover's greatest failures was not paying more attention to Nagell. Nagell's letter to the Warren Commission regarding his knowledge of Oswald was basically ignored, and it was thus left to Dick Russell to undertake the investigation that Hoover's FBI should have done. Fortunately for the reader, Russell's investigation was far superior to any that the FBI would have been able to do. The result is the best book ever written on the JFK assassination. The nature of the conspiracy and some of the players are clearly delineated in this book. Anyone interested in knowing the outlines of the conspiracy to kill JFK must read this book. This isn't just a book that adds a few interesting pieces to the puzzle--this book puts the puzzle together like no other source, in or out of government, has been able to do. This is the only JFK assassination book ever written that is an absolute must for the serious (or casual) reader on this subject.

This is one of the most important books concerning the assassination of JFK. I doubt anyone will find a more thoroughly researched book as the author spent fourteen years writing this work - an absolute literary marathon.

This work follows the career, life, and intrigue of Richard Case Nagell, a U.S. Army infantry officer who later became involved in military intelligence work and was involved in key aspects of Lee Harvey Oswald's activities, especially towards the countdown to the murder of JFK. Nagell's life is a fascinating one and much of his later professional life was outwardly a sham, nothing more than an extensive cover story so that he may move in certain intelligence circles as an agent - either doubled or tripled over. Nagell's world is one of surveillance, double dealing, deception, and, finally, murder as the JFK conspirators begin to tie up their "loose ends".

Some have said that this entire book is nothing more than an extensive piece of disinformation in order to lead the public in the wrong direction as several U.S. entities were essentially given a "free pass" on their involvement - I disagree. This work is, in fact, a scathing indictment of the FBI, CIA, secret service, U.S. military, Texas Oil interests, and former U.S. Presidents who all had a hand in the JFK assassination. Interestingly enough, while some have called Nagell the ultimate con man, the author is able to corroborate the majority of what Nagell claimed about the assassination.

Ultimately, The Man Who Knew Too Much is an investigation into how a network of U.S. government entities and officials were able to conduct a coup in America, murder a score of people who knew about the details of the killing, and get away with it. This is a very disturbing hypothesis that looks all too real after reading an avalanche of details, evidence, and witness statements provided by the author. But, read it for yourself and make your own conclusions.

A superb work. 5 stars all the way.

I am now in my 4th year of ongoing research into the lives of JFK/RFK and their assassinations, which will soon culminate in the writing of a historical fiction volume(s). I have over 1,000 pages of typed notes on my laptop. My bibliography is 6 pages long to date. I have been to Dealey Plaza, and I have researched at the National Archives.
To summarize my opinion of this relatively unheard of, brilliantly presented account of Richard Case Nagell's life and its implications, I am simply going to show you one quote.
In 1994, the Assassinations Records Review Board (ARRB) attempted to contact Mr. Nagell pertaining to their investigation into the declassification of documents relating to JFK's death. They were the first governmental committee to do so. The Warren Commission never did, and neither did the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) in 1976. The ARRB dispatched notification to Mr. Nagell in October 1994, which was 2 years after Nagell first told his story to the author of this book, Dick Russell.
The ARRB's Final Report was released in 1995. This quote is from page 133 of that Report (parentheses are in original final report):
"Subsequently, the Review Board was informed that Nagell had been found dead in his Los Angeles apartment the day after the ARRB's letter was mailed. (The coroner ruled that he died as a result of natural causes.)"

Reading about America's "intelligence community" backed by its internationalist, wealthy elite in this book leads to the apodictic conclusion that the CIA is a security risk to the "people" of the USA. "The Man Who Knew Too Much" clues us in on the true nature of government by secrecy and how the CIA has been surreptitiously infiltrated by persons with the agenda of alien interests and actions fatally detrinemtal to the well being of the "real" political, economic, and military interests of the United States.

This one is a monument to both human curiosity and disciplined research. That is one rare duplex! It wanders like Gravity's Rainbow but is on footnotes not marijuana. You will leave this book with a curiosity that is nearly illegal, at this stage of capitalism.

It shows us that the Kennedy Assassination, is not a naive exploration of the contingencies of one liberal's death.

Rather it is a core-sampling of Cold War America, that is more current an event than anything you will read in a newspaper this year. It teaches about media, intelligence history, and their connections to everyday events and people. Can only enlarge a readers sense of what politics really is right now.

If you are an assassination or conspiracy researcher, this should be your most 'dog-eared' referance material. Mr. Russel approaches all the angles here, in an un-biased collection of facts. semi-facts and outright myths surrounding the JFK incident. While there is much insight to the Richard Case Nagle scenario, Russel provides much material that is scattered about the research communtiy in several different sources, and presents them in an easy to lactae manner. Even if your not a ressearcher, it is a good read.

Dick Russell is a great writer and the book goes deeply into CIA connections and the JFK murder. Killing shot was from the front and if you read the books and care enough you will find that. He has done the work that many have not. Case is always open.

I agree with Mr. DeLuca, this may be the finest (and certainly the LONGEST) book ever written on the JFK assassination.
Oswald's story has many twisty turns and it is now obvious he was
playing different roles for different agencies. The other essential book on Oswald is "Harvey and Lee" by John Armstrong which details the use of Oswald's double - a Russian speaking immigrant who as "Harvey" did what we now know as identity theft, with the help of the CIA and FBI of course.
With these two books together - you'll know just about everything there is to know about the two Oswalds, how their paths were manipulated, and how they got swept up in a myriad of double agent agendas and one agency (or one branch of the CIA) spying on the other one - one pro war with Cuba, and the other trying to prevent it.
You can even forget about the JFK context - this book is also simply a great detective story that keeps your mind twisting throughout trying to follow the plot, and who the bad guys are.

I cannot praise this book highly enough. Mr. Russell has done us all, and history, a great service.

Michael Thurman