Oswald and the CIA [Hardcover]

John Newman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0788154877 | ISBN-13: 978-0788154874 | Publication Date: June 1, 1995

From the acclaimed author of JFK and Vietnam comes the most unsettling, revelatory book about the CIA and the Cold War to be published in a decade. Sure to cause a firestorm of controversy, this book uncovers more than any previous inquiry of the governmentÂ’s role in the Kennedy assassination. How involved was the CIA with Lee Harvey Oswald? Why was OswaldÂ’s file tampered with before the assassination of John Kennedy? And why were significant documents from it removed afterward? Finally, we have answers to these questions, answers not from theories, but from the primary sources themselves. John Newman has interviewed dozens of high-placed officials who have never before spoken candidly on these sensitive issues. He has thoroughly examined the vast body of new material forced into release by the JFK Records Act of 1992. Oswald and the CIA is a devastating report based on indisputable evidence. Written by a historian who spent more than twenty years with the U.S. intelligence community, it is an insiderÂ’s account of the secret record. Bit by bit, document by document, the reader watches OswaldÂ’s file build as it was observed through the eyes of the intelligence officers who actually handled those files. The Oswald paper trail inside the CIA is a gripping journey through the darkest corners of the AgencyÂ’s Clandestine Services. The Oswald connection leads through the agencyÂ’s most secret elements and their operations, including the Soviet Russia Division, AngeltonÂ’s Counter-Intelligence Staff, and the Special Affairs StaffÂ’s anti-Cuban operations. To look at the Oswald file is to look at the most sensitive CIA operation of the Cold War. The story is as alarming as it is tragic; for the lies and the manipulations it reveals lead directly to the PresidentÂ’s murder.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This meticulously documented expose gives the lie to the official CIA position that it had no relationship of any kind with Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of President John Kennedy. A former U.S. military intelligence officer for 20 years, Newman (JFK and Vietnam) relies primarily on newly released government documents made available within the last three years under the JFK Assassination Records Act, passed in 1992, which mandates that the U.S. government make available all its information on this case. Using CIA, FBI, military and American embassy files to reconstruct Oswald's activities from his 1959 defection to the Soviet Union up until his murder, Newman shows that the CIA was spawning a web of deception about Oswald weeks before the president's murder. For example, the agency has denied that it knew about Oswald's 1963 visits to the Cuban consultant in Mexico City, but Newman refutes this, using interlocking CIA and FBI cables and reports. The evidence presented here, though fragmentary and based on heavily censored and edited documents, strongly suggests that the CIA had a keen operational interest in Oswald, that it kept tabs on him and that Oswald, either willingly or as a patsy, was deeply involved in CIA operations. CIA documents suggest that the agency had a hand in Oswald's defection to the Soviet Union and monitored his activities there and his return home in June 1962. This heavily annotated tome, which reads like an intricate spy thriller, serves as a corrective to Norman Mailer's Oswald's Tale.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

JFK assassinology revived recently with the release of some newly declassified files, and Newman is the first of several researchers to sift through and capitalize on several hundred thousand pages of documents as they pertain to the murder and the prime suspect. Although the page count is convincing testimony to bureaucratic procedures (record and report every contact), the gargantuan paper trail produced by the State Department, FBI, and CIA looks mighty curious to the conspiracy-minded. Newman, formerly a military intelligence officer, is qualified to examine the mass of raw information--virtually all of it pertaining to the disaffected Oswald's defection and redefection--and is unconvinced that various gaps in the records and censored items are really due to bureaucratic glitches or legitimate protection of intelligence sources. Newman's suspicion peaks with a "smoking file," which he implies contains suppressed CIA knowledge that Oswald met a KGB assassin in Mexico. Mirrors abound in the abundance of detail, but perhaps debunkers of the lone-nut theory should view Magritte's painting "Ce n'est pas une pipe" ; a pipe or an Oswald can be what they appear to be. Gilbert Taylor --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 627 pages
• Publisher: Caroll & Graf Pub. (June 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0788154877
• ISBN-13: 978-0788154874
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,646,834 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. John M. Newman, MAJOR, US Army, RETD

Born December 20, 1950, Dayton Ohio

Education:
BA Chinese Studies, George Washington University (1973)
MA East Asian Studies, George Washington University (1976)
PhD Modern Far Eastern History, George Washington University (1992)

Experience:
US Army Intelligence, 1974-1994
Assistant to the Director, National Security Agency, 1988-1990
US Army Attaché in China, 1990-1992
Professor, University of Maryland, 1981-Present
Honors Professor, University of Maryland, 1994-Present
Yoga Instructor, 2006-present

Publications:

JFK and Vietnam (Warner, 1992)
Oswald and the CIA (Carroll and Graff, 1995; Skyhorse edition, 2008)
Quest for the Kingdom: The Secret Teachings of Jesus in the Light of Yogic Mysticism (Createspace, Amazon: 2011)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The documents speak for themselves, July 15, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Oswald and the CIA (Hardcover)

As a intern for Dr. Newman on this particular book, I spent countless hours searching for documents in the National Archives - I know first hand the length he went to provide accurate details. Dr. Newman recounts the interesting story of a dark point in our nation's history. He is very careful not to speculate on the assassination of Kennedy - he deals only with the facts before him - CIA and FBI documents that display what they knew about Oswald. He leaves the rest to the 'assassination buffs'

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oswald and CIA: was there a connection? Author thinks so., May 12, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Oswald and the CIA (Hardcover)

This is an important book in the Kennedy assassination genre. It contains the text of CIA documents not previouslypublished, attempting to establish a CIA connection withLee Harvey Oswald and subsequent efforts on the part of the CIA to conceal this connection through tampering with itsOswald files. The book is flawed by poor editing, andfrom time to time the author makes great leaps in his logic,but for all that, it is well worth the time spent reading.The book breaks off after Oswald's death. One can onlyhope that Mr. Newman writes another volume addressing post-assassination events, including the controversy surroundingthe bona fides of KGB defector Yuriy Nosenko and his claimto have been the KGB officer supervising the Oswald file inRussia

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very convincing information, not a light read, July 29, 2008

By 

Mad Max (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Oswald and the CIA (Hardcover)

This is one of the most exhaustive collections of information and data regarding the JFK assassination and Lee Harvey. I do agree with one of the other reviewers - this is not light reading. It's pretty dry - just the facts, no "window dressing".

We always hear about the conspiracy theories, and speculation that the CIA played a role in the JFK assassination - this book sets out to provide convincing data. So if you're looking for an adventure novel or light reading, look elsewhere. But, if you're looking for an almost encylopedic source to quote when discussing such things, this is definitely the book.