Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy [Hardcover]

Vincent Bugliosi (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 15, 2007

For fifty 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.

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 every piece of evidence and 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. 32 pages of illustrations

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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 are on 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)
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From The New Yorker

This weighty book (its pages number sixteen hundred and twelve) claims to be the final word on the assassination of President Kennedy. It is as if Bugliosi, who prosecuted the Manson murders, intended to overwhelm with sheer, footnoted bulk. But in the way that others have "proved" conspiracies, Bugliosi "proves" yet again the guilt of Lee Harvey Oswald. He does this by reëxamining familiar evidence but also by dismissing preposterous theories, such as one that J. Edgar Hoover masterminded the murder to keep his job. Bugliosi steps less certainly in considering the work of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, which, in 1978, concluded that J.F.K. was "probably" killed as the result of a plot. Citing a National Research Council study, Bugliosi brushes aside the committee’s acoustic evidence suggesting that four shots were fired in Dallas (a fourth shot would confirm a second gunman); he is uncomfortable with a subsequent analysis, by the British Forensic Science Society, which challenged the N.R.C. opinion. Mysteries are like that"
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1648 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (May 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393045250
• ISBN-13: 978-0393045253
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.3 x 2.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (244 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #117,479 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( K ) > Kennedy, John F.

More About the Author

Vincent Bugliosi, prosecutor of Charles Manson, lives in Los Angeles, California. He is the author or co-author of many books, among them the #1 best-sellers Helter Skelter, And the Sea Will Tell, and Outrage; plus Four Days in November, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, No Island of Sanity, The Betrayal of America, Lullaby and Good Night, Shadow Of Cain, Till Death Us Do Part, Drugs in America, and The Phoenix Solution.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 108 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars 81 days... April 17, 2008

By nto62 VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

81 days is what it took me to read this over-sized, tightly-spaced, mini-fonted, 1512-page, concrete slab of a book, though this duration was unevenly distributed. Bugliosi starts his book with an extremely suspenseful countdown to the death of JFK. Minute by minute, he presents a pulse-pounding, real-time narrative that easily overshadows the reader's foreknowledge of the tragic conclusion. Were the book to stop here, it's a homerun, 5-star effort. But, it doesn't. Not by a long shot.

Next, is a thorough and highly readable biography of Oswald that perfectly complements the prior assassination narrative. Indeed, at the conclusion of this section, I was fairly certain I had stumbled upon a real gem. However, Bugliosi's ultimate intent is to completely destroy a preponderance of conspiracy theories from the nuttiest to the least implausible, and soon the laity must hunker down for a long, and often tedious, sermon.

Further aggravating the slog is Bugliosi's habit of flippantly and frequently taunting the conspiracy theorists or "buffs" as he likes to call them. He possesses less humor than he thinks and despite his feelings for some of the more outlandish theorists, his playground antics detract from what he, himself, believes a serious piece of scholarship.

Things pick up momentarily when Bugliosi rightfully dismantles Oliver Stone's horribly inaccurate and intentionally misleading film, JFK. The more serious pro-conspiracy scholars, themselves, labeled JFK, the movie, a fantasy and Stone assuredly deserves everything Bugliosi hurls at him.

Bottom-line, however, is there is nothing the author can ultimately do to save what steadily becomes a lead weight in the reader's hands. Those who have developed a personal stake in either the anti- or pro- position might feel differently, but if you're just a person who happens upon an impressively thick, initially inviting account of the JFK assassination, it becomes something of a chore. 5 stars for the first half and 1 for second leads me to settle on 3. It could have been so much better, but the captain himself seemed intent on scuttling the ship.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars common sense December 22, 2012

By likes good books, music, movies

Format:Hardcover

RECEIVED FREE COPY FROM LIBRARY

Using common sense and logic, the author examines the raftload of conspiracy theories on who killed JFK. He dismisses them all, concluding Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone on 11/22/63. Because conspiracy theories, by their nature, cannot be disproven completely, his nearly 1,600 pages of evidence, analysis, and argument and opinion will not persuade those who swear by conspiracies.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly informative, this closes case on Oswald & conspiracies April 4, 2013

By R. Martenis

Format:Hardcover

With over 1500 pages, 21 years of research, and a CD full of footnotes, Vincent Bugliosi has written a masterpiece proving beyond ANY doubt that Oswald acted alone in killing JFK. There is so much information in this book, far far beyond what would be required to convict Oswald. The author needed to spell out every little known detail of the case in order to refute the conspiracy theories that have exploded, some by very credible people.

I have always had doubts about the Warren Report, I have read many conspiracy books (they don't have answers, only questions and theories), but Bugliosi has covered all the bases with this book. If you can read this book and not be convinced that Oswald and only Oswald is responsible, than either you missed a LOT of pages or you have an agenda that I can't comprehend.

Some of the parts I love about this book (other than complete destruction of conspiracy theories) is: clearing up Sylvia Odio incident, proving that there are no `mysterious' deaths or `strangely' missing CIA or FBI documentation, Mafia have a code against killing of politicians in this country and an approval board that would have to sanctify any killing, Jack Ruby's life and trial, LBJ's lying 'mistress', Oswald's trip to Mexico and `strange' CIA photos in Mexico that are not Oswald, and very lengthy discussion of Jim Garrison trial and Oliver Stone movie `JFK'. The authors' completely refreshingly simple, brilliant motive for Oswald: a violent sociopath (proven by Oswald's wife-beating, lack of friends, attempted murder of General Walker, and calm execution-style murder of Officer Tippet) at the end of his rope (Cuba and Russia want nothing to do with him), given a window of opportunity to vent his rage against authority (JFK, the head of the USA that he has said repeatedly that he "despises"). I especially appreciate Bugliosi's treatment of Marina (Oswald's wife), he shows that she is a totally honest, loving, intelligent salt-of-the-earth woman (opposite of her husband); hopefully she will read this book and go back to her original belief (1963) that Oswald killed JFK and Oswald "might only be happy living on the moon" (her words).

In short, this is just an incredible amount of irrefutable information that covers practically every minute of Oswald's life, JFK's autopsy, rifle and bullet analysis, FBI and CIA and Secret Service history, etc., and also destroys every conspiracy theory since 1963. According to Amazon negative reviews however, a lot of people read a different version than I did - conspiracy theorists will not be swayed with evidence or reason. They are always going to go with "what if?". They believe that the conspirators were evil geniuses, manipulating evidence, intimidating and eliminating witnesses, all without leaving a shred of evidence. CIA, FBI, Mafia, KGB, etc. definitely don't fit that scenario.