Customer Reviews

Who Shot JFK?: A Guide to the Major Conspiracy Theories

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I sat down and read this book about two years ago and I couldn't have enjoyed a book more. They have articulated all the great theories into words and idea's that the average reader can grasp without having to know too much backround info on all parties involved. I am now getting ready to take a survey history course on the subject so I am looking to get my hands on this book again!! If you can find a copy of this book, don't let it go!!

For my money, the better history books are those that keep things simple and provide the reader with ample illustration. Callahan and Zingarelli's "WHO SHOT JFK?: A Guide to the Major Conspiracy Theories" is one of those exemplary books.

Author Callahan tackles the stronger elements behind the assassination conspiracies, and presents them concisely, but in a way that leaves the reader satisfied that he/she understands them. (The section dealing with the complex, multi-personalities that Lee Harvey Oswald's legacy has left us is, to me, the strongest chapter.) Mark Zingarelli's illustrations--they are not cartoons--are witty sometimes, but at others, very, very eerie. Haunting might be the better term. Try to get your hands on this book--Amazon can find it for you.

Of the dozens of works I have read on the assassination, this one is better at orienting the reader to the thousands of books, many, many of them useless. If you read only one, this will be it. You won't read only one, after you finish this book.

some drawings may seem cartoonish, but the actual literature of this book is good.
it covers over 20 of the major assassinations theories, not in great detail, but just an overview, like Cliff's Noes.
good book that covers the Warren Commission, Ford, the FBi and CIA, Cuba, Oswald and his life, just an overall good book.
if you want all the details and names, then get the actual JFK book like Crossfire by Jim Marrs.
if you a summary of the theories like Cliff's Notes, then get this book.

I mildy recommend this 30th anniversary volume as a sort of "starter" book for nubies. That said, "High Treason" (especially the 1998 edition) is far superior.
[...]

Bob Callahan was a former speech writer for Senator Robert F. Kennedy. The `Sources' list the many books used to prepare this guide to the major conspiracy theories. Hundreds of books were published, many out of print of unavailable at your local library. This 1993 book has 149 pages with illustrations for its 38 chapters. It covers the serious theories with some bizarre ones. Their conclusion is that the real killers have not been fully identified, but you are free to judge the facts for yourself (p.11).

Chapter 6 has the Official Warren Report; it was written by the staff members. If a single bullet did not hit Kennedy's neck and Connally's chest, wrist, and thigh to emerge more or less intact, their conclusion is false (p.37). Oswald was an average marksman in the Marines (p.34), and no one in the Army or FBI could duplicate those shots. There was a problem with the wound in the back shoulder (p.58). The purpose of the Warren Commission was "to protect the national interest" (p.57). [Was this a euphemism for a cover-up?] That date on page 62 must be "1966". Chapter 16 lists the books and articles that began to question the Warren Report. The authors were Vincent Salandria, Harold Weisberg, Mark Lane, and Edmond Epstein. The CIA used its assets to besmirch critics of the Warren Report (p.66). Chapter 19 discusses the reports of a "Second Oswald". Eyewitness identification is known to be unreliable, as is self-serving statements "Oswald was here" (p.71). It isn't difficult for an actor to impersonate a subject.

Neither the `Index' or page 79 mentions George O'Toole's book "The Assassination Tapes" which provided the factual analysis to clear Oswald. When Oswald returned from the Soviet Union he associated with those against Communism and Castro (p.87). The book says Fidel Castro took over the casinos in Havana (p.95). Ike and Nixon planned to invade Cuba in retaliation. [Was this to assure the importation of heroin?] How to create an assassin (p.97)? [The Watergate burglary was in June 1972 (p.98).] Chapter 27 tells about the varying personalities of Lee Oswald. Was he always looking for a new home? A fourth shot and a second gunman resulted from a Dallas police audio tape (Chapter 30). There were three points of view about the assassination (Chapter 31). Were the CIA and FBI involved in a cover-up (Chapter 32)?

David Lifton focused on the discrepancies (p.132) between the body in Dallas and the body in Bethesda. Could there have been two different bodies (Chapter 33). Was there a substitution by a body double (p.134)? The President's body was not put in a body bag (Chapter 34). Did organized crime do it (Chapter 35)? Stories about JFK's love life were used to demean him (Chapter 36). Why was JFK's death followed by escalation in Vietnam (Chapter 37). The majority of American citizens don't believe in a long gunman (Chapter 38). [What do you believe?] Robert Blakey's suggestions were shelved by President Reagan (p.148), successive Presidents did nothing. This book does not mention one event. In March 1977 President Carter received a question about the assassination of JFK. His response was not broadcast because of "technical difficulties". Who is powerful enough to censor the President?

I'm somewhat of an aficionado of the Kennedy assassination. But you don't have to be one to get a real kick -- and an education -- out of this book.

The authors have pulled off a seemingly impossible task. On the one hand, they have put together a pretty accurate thumbnail sketch of the assassination, its aftermath, the Warren Commission, the claims of cover-up, the Garrison trial, and so on. By the end of reading each chapter, you've got a fairly clear idea of the major thrust of each development and the major flaws in every assassination theory or investigation. It's a great overview, even for people who are well informed.

Yet it's also funny as hell. Alongside the descriptions and critiques of the Warren Commission and other investigators, the authors include the bizarre theories of the John Birch Society and various novelists and lunatics, all of whom have a particular take on who dunnit.

Straddling the two worlds of legitimate investigator and wacko conspiracy nut is New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, whose outrageous misuse of the legal system was whitewashed and used as the basis of Oliver Stone's movie, "JFK". The authors spare no punches in in describing Garrison's bizarre/stupid assassination theory, and the rogues' gallery of misfits and unbalanced sickos that Garrison relied on to persecute homosexual businessman Clay Shaw for the alleged participation in JFK's death. Before I read this book, I didn't know that when the police raided Shaw's house, they confiscated seventeen whips, all of which were introduced into evidence to prove that Shaw tried to kill the president. If you're the sort of person who asks what Clay Shaw's sexual fetishes had to do with JFK's assassination, then Garrison would probably have tried to exclude you from the jury.

Alongside the authors' wonderful descriptions of Garrison's self-serving shenanigans is their chapter on the many faces of Lee Harvey Oswald. Who was Oswald? they ask, and proceed to describe the many facets of Oswald's life almost as if they were descriptions of different personalities, which in a sense they are. Funny as the chapter is, it is also an accurate description of a rootless young man who ping-ponged and drifted from the Mafia to the Marines, then to Minsk, Mexico and (sorry, but I've run out of "M" words) FBI splinter organizations, pro-Castroite and anti-Castroite groups, ending in . . . what? Assassin? Patsy? We may never know.

A review of this book has to include a mention of the bizarre, yet appropriate, illustrations. My personal favorite is the picture that accompanies the Clay Shaw trial chapter. It shows Lee Harvey Oswald dressed in a jock strap and a cowboy hat, riding a man bareback and using one of Clay Shaw's whips, while Shaw himself leers at the viewer from the foreground. Other drawings are far less graphic, but you get the idea.

Do I recommend this book? You Bet! It's the perfect gift for the conspiracy nut in your family. My mom liked it, too!

President Kennedy was murdered in 1963. A man named Lee Harvey Oswald pulled the trigger of the rifle that was used to kill the President. There is no physical evidence in the record that supports the idea that any other assassins were shooting at President Kennedy that late November day in Dallas' Dealey Plaza. None at all. No bullets. No guns. Nothing.

Despite the fact that there is no physical evidence whatsoever to back up the notion that a multi-shooter conspiracy was afoot on 11/22/63, tons of conspiracy promoters have filled the landscape with so many different conspiracy theories, it's enough to make your head spin around. And not a one of them holds any water.

But, when the Conspiracy Cupboard is this well-stocked with tripe, it's no wonder that "CTers" love to wallow in the sheer abundance of all this completely-unproven and unsupportable garbage. (After all, by accepting as factual the physical evidence of Lee Oswald's lone guilt, it would surely put a lot of people out of work.)


Fifty-Seven Unproven Conspiracy Theories Surrounding JFK's Assassination (Note -- Not all of these are referred to specifically in this "Who Shot JFK?" book):

1. "Badge Man".
2. "Black Dog Man".
3. "The Umbrella Man".
4. The Sewer Assassin.
5. The Dal-Tex Shooter(s).
6. The West-End TSBD Assassin.
7. Oswald Was A "Patsy".
8. The Single-Bullet Theory Is An LNer's Wet Dream.
9. Puffs Of Smoke On The Knoll Prove Conspiracy.
10. Oswald Didn't Kill Police Officer J.D. Tippit.
11. Ruby Killed Oswald As Part Of A Conspiracy.
12. Conspirators "Allowed" Ruby To Enter The DPD Basement In Order To Kill Oswald On Live TV. (LOL!)
13. The Zapruder Film Is A Fake. (Additional LOL required here.)
14. Vast Numbers Of Dallas Police Officials Were "In" On The Conspiracy.
15. Ruby Planted Bullet CE399 At Parkland.
16. Ruby Knew Oswald.
17. Tippit Knew Oswald.
18. James Files Killed JFK.
19. Secret Service Agent Hickey Killed JFK.
20. Limo Driver Greer Killed JFK.
21. Acoustics Evidence Proves A Conspiracy Existed In Dealey Plaza.
22. Oswald's Rifle Was Planted In The TSBD.
23. The Three Bullet Shells Were Planted In The TSBD.
24. The Empty Paper Bag Was Planted In The TSBD.
25. Tippit Was "Assigned" To "Rub Out" Oswald Before He Could Talk.
26. Marrion Baker Was "Assigned" To "Rub Out" Oswald Before He Could Talk.
27. Michael Paine Was A Conspirator.
28. George DeMohrenschildt Was A Conspirator.
29. Santos Trafficante Was A Conspirator.
30. Carlos Marcello Was A Conspirator.
31. Clay Shaw Was A Conspirator.
32. David Ferrie Was A Conspirator.
33. Guy Bannister Was A Conspirator.
34. John Connally Conveniently "Arranged" For The Motorcade To Pass By The TSBD.
35. All Three Autopsy Doctors Are Liars and "Faked" The Official Autopsy Report.
36. Gerald Ford "Conveniently" Moved JFK's Back Wound.
37. The Warren Commission Was Comprised Of Only Evil People Who Wanted Nothing Better Than To "Cover-Up" Any Signs Of Conspiracy At All Costs.
38. Ruth Paine Was An Evil Conspirator.
39. The Oswald "Imposters".
40. The Backyard Photos Are Fakes.
41. The Autopsy Photos Of JFK Are Fakes.
42. The Autopsy X-Rays Of JFK Are Fakes.
43. All Of The "Oswald Bullet Evidence" In The Limo Was Planted.
44. Oswald's Palmprint Was Lifted Off Him In The Morgue.
45. Howard Brennan Is A Liar.
46. Oswald Worked For The CIA.
47. Oswald Never Went To Mexico City.
48. All The Witnesses At The Tippit Murder Scene Are Wrong Or Liars.
49. The Tippit Bullet Shells Are Fakes/Planted.
50. LBJ Killed Kennedy.
51. The Mob Killed Kennedy.
52. The FBI Killed Kennedy.
53. The Military Industrial Complex Killed Kennedy.
54. The CIA Killed Kennedy.
55. Castro Killed Kennedy.
56. Khrushchev Killed Kennedy.
57. And A Biggie For The Finish ---> JOHN F. KENNEDY'S WOUNDS WERE MYSTERIOUSLY ALTERED SOMEHOW BETWEEN PARKLAND AND BETHESDA.

------------------------

How many of the above theories do you think are true?*

* = Anyone who answers "all of the above" should contact Oliver Stone immediately in order to help write the script for Stone's sequel to his 1991 motion picture. It'll be a 7-hour spectacle entitled "Kennedy's Killing: 20 Shooters Plus The Kitchen Sink". (Rated "G" For "Goofy" .... MPAA Warning: Film may contain scenes actually depicting a modicum of "truth"; viewers who encounter such rare items within said Oliver Stone motion picture are encouraged to contact Ripley's Museum asap.) ~wink~