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Richard B. Trask

National Nightmare on Six Feet of Film: Mr. Zapruder's Home Movie And the Murder of President Kennedy Paperback – October 31, 2005

by Richard B. Trask (Author)

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This is the true story of a little piece of 8mm film made in 1963 when President John F. Kennedy visited Dallas, Texas. Abraham Zapruder's 26-second home movie captured in horrific clarity the public murder of the President. His six-foot long filmstrip soon became one of the most monetarily valuable artifacts in world history, and arguably "the most historic film ever shot." Zapruder's film and its subsequent study and interpretation by government investigations, the mass media and thousands of assassination buffs, is a controversial and convoluted tale. Richard Trask puts the film's significance into a readable context and displays how this small slice of historic reality has become the image by which the Kennedy assassination will forever be remembered.

Print length

391 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Yeoman Press
Publication date

October 31, 2005
Dimensions

6 x 1 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0963859544
ISBN-13

978-0963859549
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Editorial Reviews

Review

I have read your book, Mr. Trask, which I found fascinating, full of original reporting and well-measured, unlike so many of the diatribes published in the past 40 years. I may have some quibbles with your conclusions and observations, but it is an invaluable contribution to understanding November 22. That is true of only a handful of books about that day. Best regards. Dick Stolley. --Richard Stolley, formerly of LIFE magazine

Richard Trask's National Nightmare is, like his seminal Pictures of the Pain, an invaluable reference book for any serious student of the assassination of President Kennedy, and like Pictures of the Painis marked by superb research and scholarship that only has one objective THE TRUTH. -Vincent Bugliosi, Prosecutor of the Charles Manson Family and author of Reclaiming History. ---- Letters to the Author ---Vincent Bugliosi, Prosecutor of the Charles Manson Family and author of Reclaiming History. ---- Letters to the Author

Richard Trask's "National Nightmare" is, like his seminal "Pictures of the Pain," an invaluable reference book for any serious student of the assassination of President Kennedy, and like "Pictures of the Pain," is marked by superb research and scholarship that only has one objective THE TRUTH. Vincent Bugliosi, Prosecutor of the Charles Manson Family and author of &34Reclaiming History.&34 --Vincent Bugliosi, author of "Reclaiming History"

From the Publisher

This is a 392 page, sewn, soft-cover, edition on acid-free paper and includes extensive backnotes. Contents of this book include 133 illustrations, with a 16-page color section.

From the Author

Josiah Thompson, author of the seminal work, "Six Seconds in Dallas," wrote the author about this book: "Since 1963, book after book has been churned out on the Kennedy assassination. With few exceptions, these have been works of advocacy. Long after they've been forgotten, Richard Trask's works of true historical scholarship will be remembered. His 'Pictures of the Pain' (1994) set a standard for objective scholarship which has made it a leading reference work. His new book on the Zapruder film, 'National Nightmare on Six Feet of Film' (2005), is even better. Its scrupulous scholarship and attention to detail, its avoidance of advocacy, make it the definitive work on the Zapruder film. Anyone serious about studying the photographic record of the assassination needs both in their library."

From the Back Cover

Advance Praise:

"The Abraham Zapruder film is the most important home movie ever made; and more than 40 years later, the film is still yielding new information. Richard Trask tells of the film's incredible history in this exceptionally thorough and accurate account." Gary Mack, Curator The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

"Through a descriptive window as if 'We Are There,' author Richard B. Trask provides an in-depth, objective, impartial and highly readable analysis of the significance and historical impact that a short segment of 8mm movie film taken by Abraham Zapruder has had on all our lives." Roland J. Zavada, Kodak Consultant to the Assassination Records Review Board

About the Author

Richard B. Trask is an archivist and historian who lives in a circa 1681 house that he and his wife Ethel restored. Together they publish occasional books on history under the name "Yeoman Press." Trask is an expert on the 1692 Salem witchcraft era and has served as consultant and interviewee on numerous documentaries and television programs. His expertise in both historical photography and the assassination of President Kennedy has led to the writing of several books and serving as a consultant for CBS News and the Assassination Records Review Board.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yeoman Press; 1St Edition (October 31, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 391 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0963859544
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0963859549
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.5 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,296,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #58,400 in U.S. State & Local History

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Robert M. Marshall

Don't pass up this excellent history lesson

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2017

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If you read no other book about the JFK assassination, read this one. It is scrupulously researched, documented, and referenced, easy to follow and tastefully presented. Me. Trask covers the path of the original in-camera film, its processing and three same-day copies. While he discusses many of the controversies put forth by critics, Trask leaves conclusions up to the reader and never disrespects critics or the intelligence of the reader. The book will require several readings to absorb all the fine and subtle details of the Zapruder film, but the journey is well worth taking for the casual as well as the serious student of history.

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David Von Pein

Another First-Rate Effort By Mr. Trask .... All You Could Ever Want To Know About The Zapruder Film Is In Here

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2006

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I love reading Richard Trask's books about the JFK assassination; and this one, published in late October 2005, is certainly no exception. It's very informative and definitely a worthy addition to anyone's collection of written materials surrounding the shocking murder of President John Kennedy in November of 1963.

"National Nightmare On Six Feet Of Film: Mr. Zapruder's Home Movie And The Murder Of President Kennedy" is a softcover volume containing 392 pages packed with just about every conceivable piece of information revolving around the infamous 26-second color motion-picture film taken by Dallas dress manufacturer Abraham Zapruder on November 22, 1963, which is a film which shows, in all its morbid detail, the assassination of an American President in broad daylight on a city street in Dallas, Texas.

Mr. Trask details the full history of the film and provides a good deal of background and biographical information on Mr. Zapruder, an ordinary Dallas businessman, born in Russia, who, by pure happenstance and coincidence, turned out to be the amateur filmmaker whose name will forever be associated with the death of JFK.

But, if it weren't for the prodding of his secretary, Lillian Rogers (who encouraged Zapruder to go back home and retrieve his 8mm Bell-&-Howell movie camera shortly before the President's motorcade arrived in Dealey Plaza), that brief and awful 26 seconds in history would probably have never been captured through Mr. Zapruder's lens.

Like Richard Trask's other books on the JFK assassination which focus attention on the photographic aspect of the tragedy, the text of "National Nightmare" is ever-readable, easily-understood, and refreshingly-non-biased when it comes to taking a "Conspiracy vs. No Conspiracy" position by the author. Mr. Trask lays out the facts and leaves it at that.

This book's endnotes/footnotes are all positioned at the back of the book in one separate section, so as to not clutter up the main text of the volume. (So keeping two bookmarks handy is recommended, because a lot of interesting info can be gleaned from some of these endnotes too.)

One big surprise to this writer when perusing this book was seeing a COLOR version of the Robert Croft photograph printed on Page 67 (within a 16-page spread of mostly all-color photos and Zapruder Film frames). I had never seen the Croft picture in color previously. And it's an excellent-quality print of that famous amateur photo that I found in this volume, too. The picture is needle-sharp and the color is virtually perfect.

The Croft photo, by the way, depicts the President's limousine on Elm Street, just after the car has made its sharp left turn from Houston Street in front of the Texas School Book Depository. It was taken at a point equivalent to Zapruder frame #161 (per this book's text and captions), which is just about the time the first gunshot was being fired in Dealey Plaza.

Other highly-recommended publications authored by Richard B. Trask (centering on the photography of President Kennedy's assassination) ..... "Pictures Of The Pain" (1994) and "That Day In Dallas" (1998). The latter is a condensed version of the former, focusing attention on just three of the photographers who took pictures in Dallas on the day JFK was killed (Cecil Stoughton, James Altgens, and Jim Murray).*

* = Although condensed into a smaller number of pages than that of its predecessor "POTP", "That Day In Dallas" does contain "revised and enlarged" material throughout its limited number of chapters. And the specific photographs represented within that volume are unrivaled in their clarity and quality of physical presentation, in this writer's personal opinion.

I truly enjoyed both of those books, and was very glad to see "That Day In Dallas" come out a few years after "POTP", because "That Day" provides a larger-print format for many excellent-quality assassination-related photographs, including several pictures you're not likely to see in any other book on the subject.

As a companion piece to "National Nightmare", I would also recommend highly the MPI Home Video DVD "Image Of An Assassination: A New Look At The Zapruder Film" (released in the summer of 1998), which contains four "digital" versions of the entire 26-second Zapruder Film in various formats, including "zoomed-in" variants and a previously-unseen "Widescreen" version of the movie, which includes the imagery between the "sprocket holes" from Mr. Zapruder's "camera original" film.

That DVD also contains some valuable and collectible "bonus" video programming, including interviews with Zapruder associates, as well as the March 1975 "Good Night America" program (hosted by Geraldo Rivera), during which U.S. audiences first saw the horrifying images of Mr. Zapruder's movie. The DVD also has a crystal-clear video copy of the Live interview that Abraham Zapruder gave on WFAA-TV just hours after he had filmed the assassination.

Many of the above-mentioned items from that "Image Of An Assassination" DVD are also referenced by Mr. Trask throughout the well-written pages of "National Nightmare".

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

In "National Nightmare On Six Feet Of Film", Richard Trask has admirably filled in yet another in a seemingly-never-ending series of pieces of subject matter that comprise the wide and varied fabric that form the mosaic of literature covering the topic of the John F. Kennedy assassination.

Nowhere can be found a more detailed and fact-based history of Abraham Zapruder's historic film than that which resides within these 392 pages.

42 people found this helpful

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Jeff L. Meek

Well done

Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2020

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This book is certainly worth a read.

Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2016

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The photographs in the book and the explanation regarding each photograph sheds additional information regarding the JFK assassination.

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Dan

A Definitive Book on a Definitive History Tool

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2018

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As good as I thought it would be. Trask has been consistently excellent and never prone to fanatical, unchecked speculation in his writing.

Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2017

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Great book!

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JT

Regurgitates party line; mocks those who challenge authenticity.

Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2015

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Trask's behavior in this book makes Robert Groden look trustworthy. Trask joins Groden in the Hall of Shame on page 282 of his book where he withholds the explosive discoveries and proofs of the 2003 Fetzer symposium. Trask doesn't give any details except to flippantly give his personal opinion that he doesn't think much of it. Trask puts the nail in his coffin as far as I am concerned by not presenting the details of John Costella's shocking new research and then either agreeing with or refuting Costella's position.

Instead, Trask turns into a schoolyard bully and will not use his name but only refers to him as "an overseas researcher". Are you kidding!? What crass jingoism and bigotry! Trask tells the reader nothing of the research of this "overseas researcher" (who even uses the term "overseas" anymore?). Trask only gives the irrelevant fact that this "overseas researcher" is new to JFK assassination research in a childish and shameful attempt to impugn his work by implying that because he is a new researcher to the topic somehow his research is not worth discussing!

Well, I am familiar with what the "overseas researcher" has exposed through his research and it is nothing less than scientific proof that the Zapruder film is inauthentic. That's a big deal. Don't you think? Apparently, Trask who is a self-declared neutral party, in this book on the Zapruder film does not think the research of a scientist who has proved the Zapruder film is a fraud is worth mentioning.

Contrary to Trask's unfounded dismissal, Costella's presentation it is VERY worth seeing. Check it out on Youtube. Just search for John Costella and JFK and you'll find a 2003 symposium where he destroys -- absolutely obliterates -- any notion that the Zapruder film is an unaltered original out-of-camera film.

Of ALL the researchers Trask the bigot mocks, berates and belittles as "alterationists" the one who blows Trask's position out of the water is John Costella. Trask gives no explanation of Costella's research and won't even use his name! I used to think Trask was respectable. Not anymore.

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Barry Ryder

The book of the film

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 15, 2012

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This fine 2005 book by Richard Trask relates the remarkable story of the iconic Zapruder film from the moment that Mr. `Z' pressed the `start' button on his camera in 1963 up until 1997 when The Sixth Floor Museum became the final custodians of it.

Trask chronicles the key, initial hours as the film is developed, printed, copied and viewed for the very first time. He stays hot on the trail as two of those very first copies head off to Washington for analysis whilst Mr Z begins to realise what an incredible scoop he has made.

The film's sale to Life Magazine is well covered as is the Warren Commission's use of the film during its deliberations.

The author spends a little time discussing how the `research community' obtained the film and how `bootlegged' copies were soon being shown on college campuses all over the country.

The reader will find a very useful chapter which deals with the `alterationist' schism within the `research community' and what they believe about the film. Trask contrasts this viewpoint with those of the `authentic' section and, most importantly, what the real photographic experts say.

The book has plenty of black-and-white plates and some good colour ones as well.
At times some of the discussion and analysis of film development processes and camera mechanics can seem a little arcane for those (such as I) who are 'technophobes', but overall, this is a fine book about a fascinating subject.

If you already have a copy of the MPI DVD, `Image Of An Assassination', this would be an ideal companion to it.

Barry

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