Treachery in Dallas [Hardcover]

Walt Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1995

The author of The People v. Lee Harvey Oswald dives headlong into the maelstrom of deception and clues surrounding the assassination of JFK. Synthesizing the various competing theories--involving the mob, Castro, the CIA, right-wing extremists, and others--and eliminating their contradictions, Brown reveals the startling hypothesis of the master conspiracy that manipulated them all. Illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the aftermath of Gerald Posner's Case Closed, Brown (The People v. Lee Harvey Oswald) has written what seems a rather old-fashioned Kennedy assassination book. But it has certain distinct virtues, as well as some liabilities. Brown's contention, put forward after a lengthy examination of the various theories of the assassination, is that the President was killed by a group of assassins working with the knowledge of J. Edgar Hoover and probably of Lyndon Johnson, and with the cooperation of at least part of the Dallas police force. Oswald's role, Brown argues, was as a patsy instructed to deliver a rifle to the shooter in the Texas School Book Depository and then to be fingered as the culprit. Brown maintains that the only shot fired from the sixth-floor window of the book depository was the first one, a blank round designed to concentrate attention on that spot; the President was then killed by carefully triangulated fire from the knoll, the roof of the county jail and the far end of the depository. Brown shows an encyclopedic knowledge of the people and issues involved and constructs a careful if vaguely worded hypothesis; but he too often wanders into gratuitous and sometimes frivolous asides-and spends an unconscionable amount of space giving evidence of how much time and paper the Warren Commission wasted. The case has long been closed on that, at least. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 435 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub; 1st edition (September 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786702389
• ISBN-13: 978-0786702381
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #395,960 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Forensic competence V conspiracy, May 18, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Treachery in Dallas (Hardcover)

This is an interesting book, in which the author provides an fresh perspective on what happened in Dealey Plaza, in 1963. Some of the extrapolations fail to recognize the distinction between conspiracy and forensic competence. It is interesting to note that the annual report (not mentioned by the author) of the Dallas Police Department for 1963 makes no mention of one of the most momentous occurrences in history. As a law enforcement officer, I can readily identify short comings, in the way Dallas PD handled the enquiry. It is not every day that officers have to deal with an incident of world interest and prominence. The fact that not everything went according to plan is hardly surprising. Whilst I do not judge the way in which the enquiry was handled, it is not the case that lack of forensic certainty and conspiracy are the same thing. I would have preferred the author to provide more forensic detail about the rifle found in the TSBD and the weapon allegedly used to shoot the President: where they the same; what, forensically, can be shown about the magic bullet and its relationship to the'TSBD' weapon? Similarly, the book would have benefitted from more detail about the weapon with which Tippit was shot. In both cases, a link to Oswald or otherwise would have enhanced the forensic examination provided by the author, which, generally, is of a good standard.
Finally, do we ever bottom the Hidell/Oswald dilemma? I am unsure that we do truly unearth the actual relevance.
Over all, this is one of the best books that I have read, dealing with the assassination of the President

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Another View on the Conspiracy, December 28, 2007

By 

Acute Observer (N. Jersey Shore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Treachery in Dallas (Hardcover)

Walt Brown is a former special agent of the Justice Department, and has a Ph.D. in American History. The 'Acknowledgments' thank the many who helped him. The 'Prologue' summarizes the assassination of JFK. Brown ways this coup d' etat was done by and for the "financial elite and intelligence community" to remove a threat to their interests (p.6). An end to nuclear testing and the Cold War threatened the profits of the military-industrial complex. The intelligence community used their allies in organized crime to effect this murder (p.7). LBJ and J. Edgar Hoover cooperated for their self-interest. Dallas was the perfect location for this operation (p.8). Brown explains who had the motive, means, and opportunity to control and effect this operation: the local police (pp.9-10). The Warren Commission was created and controlled by LBJ, it only saw the evidence that was approved by J. Edgar Hoover (p.10).

This book is divided into five sections. "Theories" will present the major conspiracy theories and analyze them. "Blue Death" will detail the events that point to important Dallas police officials. "Red Patsy" will examine the career of Lee Harvey Oswald. "White Lies" discusses the cover-up of the Warren Commission. "Hypothesis" will try to make sense of it all to the reader. No single book can answer all the unsolved questions and arrive at the ultimate truth (p.14). Future researchers will have their answers. "Table 2" lists the suspects who could plan that assassination, carry it out, then cover it up (p.345). The "Select Bibliography" lists a number of books by authors. There is no rating or summary for any of them. After 44 years public opinion does not believe it was a lone gunman. Do you?

On page 85 Brown mentions some of the people who were in the "pilot car". "Since no innocent explanation has been offered for these presences, one can only place a sinister interpretation on them." This breaks some laws of logic! Book One Chapter 5 has interesting comments on the shooting of policeman J. D. Tippit. (There were 3 Dallas policemen named "Tippit" then.) The stories about a "second Oswald" could be explained by a look-alike (p.243). The "Hypothesis" chapter provides a summary of this book. Its interesting reading even if you don't believe all of it. From the time of the assassination to J. Edgar Hoover's death the Dallas police were banned from FBI training facilities (p.333). Brown contrasts the shots that killed JFK and RFK (p.334). [This 1995 book cannot discuss the accidental death of JFK Jr after he decided to run for the Senate in 1999. The October 2000 issue of 'Flying' magazine discusses the findings.] The 'Epilogue' says this is "the best logical deductions to be made from available source material" (p.337). Brown discusses the "bag pistol" found near the TSBD (p.339). Another plant? The Appendices 1,2,3 analyze the 488 witnesses who gave testimony to the Warren Commission. Brown lists the 200 witnesses who were not called before the Warren Commission (pp.381-389).

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended book!!!, September 8, 2007

By 

Armand Herpe (MIAMI FLA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Treachery in Dallas (Hardcover)

I have read many books on the JFK Assassination and this one by Walt Brown is at the top of the list in my favorites!very well written and researched!!