Customer Reviews

Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK

5 star:		(85)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

Im not a conspiracy buff my any means but a few things about the JFK assassination have always bothered me. First, why did the Secret Service simply take the day off? Second, I don't buy the scenairo where a 24-year-old loser with a bolt action el cheapo rifle and no marksmanship ability hits a moving target at better than 50 yards. It takes skill to do that. Third, Oswald couldn't drive and did not own a car, so how was he the man taking potshots at General Edwin Walker? If you are looking for information about those kinds of things, you won't find it in this book. "Ultimate Sacrifice" is a thoroughly researched and well-documented book which details the planning inside the White House to assassinate Fidel Castro. It is the best work on the Kennedy assassination's Cuban/Mafia connection to date. It is lengthy and there are alot of names and dates to keep straight, so it's not an easy read by any means. If you have been interested in the assasination for some time, this book will provide a few "a-has". This book will not reveal who the men in the shadows were that day, but it does shed some light on why they were there.

"Ultimate Sacrifice"'s authors Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann should be commended with a Pulitzer Prie for his amazing work. After all these many years we finally have the definitive story, backed with facts (not fiction or theories or crapola), about how and why JFK died that terrible day in Dallas. This book also briliantly tells the story of the Kennedy brothers involvement in C-Day, the coup to oust Castro in the fall/ winter of 1963 (it is ironic that Castro is still alive, but I digress). My shelves are bulging with books on this subject that I now have half a mind to just throw away (or sell on here haha)-"Ultimate Sacrifice" tells all and answers all regarding 11/22/63 and the brothers Kennedy (and their obsession with Castro/ Cuba). To say that this book is a must-have is an understatement. I am now in the process of rereading it-it gets even better all the time.

A very satisfied reader
Chagrin Falls, Ohio
(a Browns fan all the way haha)

Ultimate Sacrifice is a quantum leap toward uncovering what happened prior to and on Nov. 22, 1963. The reasearch done by Waldron over the last 17 years, especially after the release of documents precipitated by the movie JFK in 1992, is thorough and convincing. Waldron interviewed many of the participants and spent days pouring over newspaper microfiche in his effort to uncover the truth.

Waldron presents information in easy to follow pieces, developing a clear and convincing argument for involvement of the CIA with the Mafia in a program that Bobby Kennedy, representing JFK, had ordered stopped. I am left with the awareness of a renegade CIA refusing to follow orders from the President himself.

What impressed me is the message I perceived from Waldron's nonjudgmental reporting, that the Kennedy brothers truly cared about what happened to the Cubans and wanted them to have a fair and democratic government.

Ultimate Sacrifice is well documented and well indexed. I appreciate the attention to detail that went into its production.

I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in a close look at the inner workings of government and a clear understanding of how things can go wrong even with the motive is pure.

This book presents, logically and with excellent documentation, a great deal of new and relevant material in the JFK case, making this book well worth while. Rather than elaborating on that point, however, I'd like to lay out a few problems with its basic conclusion--that the mafia was responsible for JFK's death. The problems include the following:

1. The discussion of individuals like Banister, Martino, and Morales provides a lot of good information about them and their activities. But, all were involved with various organizations other than the mafia. So why conclude that they were acting on behalf of the mafia?

2. There is a lot of interesting information about David Atlee Phillips and his activities, but to fit the mafia conclusion, it is stated that Phillips' activities were somehow (not clear how) manipulated by the mafia. Seems unlikely.

3. Oswald is said to have been in Mexico City seeking a visa to Cuba as part of a US government plot to kill Castro, with Oswald having some undefined role in that plot. The evidence, documented in Norman Mailer's non-fiction work, Oswald's Tale, that months before that Oswald was seriously considering hijacking a plane to get to Cuba, is ignored in this book. That prior indication of Oswald's desperation to go to Cuba, for personal reasons since no US government mission would attempt to get him to Cuba via a hijacking, would seem to refute the notion of Oswald's motivation provided here. A simple personal motivation would also better explain Oswald's behavior documented by Nechiporenko in Passport to Assassination.

4. I don't really understand the reasoning that the US government covered up the JFK case because mafia figures knew about the planned operations against Cuba. If there was such concern about them revealing such things, why was RFK pursuing the mafia with such gusto. On November 22, 1963, while JFK was being shot, Carlos Marcello was in court in a case brought against him by RFK's Justice Department. I don't know why it is logical to suppose that the US government could pursue mafia figures for any crime except the murder of the President. It makes more sense that any coverup was for reasons other than fear of prosecuting the mafia.

In short, anyone reading this book will learn a lot about the events that were the backdrop for the conspiracy that killed JFK. But it is far from proven that the mafia was the ultimate force behind it.

Waldron & Hartmann are owed a debt of thanks for clearing up the many mysteries surrounding the death of JFK and the attempts to kill Cuban Premier Fidel Castro. The "Ultimate Sacrifice" is a book no library or responsible historian should be without. I hated to see it end. Also, it's nice to see Carroll & Graf come out with a well edited book for a change.

As a 40-something professional adult, I have always been fascinated with all things Kennedy, especially growing up with Kennedy-loving parents. So, naturally, I am drawn to a book like Ultimate Sacrifice, as I am hundreds of other books on the topic of *J*F*K* and his assassination. What makes this book special is that the authors have done their homework in a major way, unlike Gerald What's-his-name of Case Closed infamy.

How anyone can read this book and not be convinced of its findings is beyond me. Unless you are in major denial or cannot read, Ultimate Sacrifice will totally sway you toward the inevitable conclusion that JFK and RFK were playing with fire in their attempts to kill the bearded one Fidel Castro of Cuba.

I encourage you to buy it now or for the holidays as it would make a great gift to any history buff.

WHOLEHEARTED AGREEMENT MUST BE EXTENDED TO ALL OTHER 5-STAR REVIEWS CONTAINED HEREIN. THIS BOOK IS SIMPLY OUTSTANDING! I THINK WE ARE ALL SICK TO DEATH OF BOOKS WITHOUT ANY EVIDENTIAL BASE WHATSOEVER...NOT A PROBLEM HERE. MASSIVELY FOOTNOTED AND DOCUMENTED, CLEARLY WRITTEN. SPEND YOUR HARD-EARNED DOLLARS ON THIS ONE; IT'S WLEL WORTH IT, TRUST ME.

SATISFIED CUSTOMER
NEW YORK, NEW YORK

I didn't even want this book in the first place, but received it as a gift. I was blown away: this is the very best book I have ever read of the JFK assassination. I highly recommend it to one and all.

"Ultimate sacrifice" lays it all together in a very plausible and beleivable way. Naturally, I am a sucker for anything so well documented as this. Waldron and co. scored big with me on their work for this amazing book. Don't walk---run to get this book.

While I heartily recommend Harrison Livingstone's books, as well as James Fetzer's first two books, and even William Law's new book (regarding the **medical** evidence), as well as Walt Brown's "The Warren Omission" and Stewart Galanor's "Cover Up" for disecting the Warren Commission and the government's case quite amazingly, in my learned, experienced, well-read opinion, "Ultimate Sacrifice" is THE ultimate book on the JFK case (with a nod to Larry Hancock's "Someone Would Have Talked" as a very nice companion volume)!

Not only is it very well written and put together (and lengthy: over 900 pages!), it is extremely well documented and thought out. There is no other way to put it: forget all the many "theories" on the case put forward by others, however well meaning---"Ultimate Sacrifice" puts forward solid FACTS via HISTORIANS, utilizing a vast trove of (new) documents and unique-to-the-authors' knowledge obtained from Kennedy insiders, among many others.

There WAS indeed a conspiracy involved in the death of JFK...and "Ultimate Sacrifice" lays out the 'who', the 'what', and the 'why' better than any book I have ever seen. Get this book asap!

Vince Palamara (a very proud contributor [re: Abraham Bolden/ Secret Service])
[I still think it's good, but nowhere near as great as I once did]