Conspiracy

CONSPIRACY is one of the more comprehensive books I have read on the murder of John F. Kennedy. I have read many different books on the subject in the last 32 years. Some are clearly cover propaganda and others are the investigative "real deal". Anthony Summers' work falls in the latter category. He spends a lot of time on Oswald and Jack Ruby. He did provide some new material on them both that I hadn't read before. Mr. Summers lists some of the many witness statements identifying the Grassy Knoll as the focus of attention after the shooting. The statements that gunsmoke was present and identifiable immediately after the shooter fled and personal reactions from spectators make a very convincing case for that location of a sniper. What I found even more intriguing was the identity of "Maurice Bishop" and his alleged activities in Mexico City at the time "Oswald" was spotted at the Cuban Embassy there. The link to the anti-Castro Cubans was more clear in this book also. The French Connection section was a confirmation of some information I have read before. CONSPIRACY is on a short list of books that I have read and would recommend on the JFK assassination. That list would include the following books: Mafia Kingfish: Carlos Marcello and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Kennedy Contract: The Mafia Plot to Assassinate the President Contract on America: The Mafia Murder of President John F. Kennedy Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK

Edit January, 2010: I've just discovered that there is a problem with getting the title of this book to appear at the top of my review. It is Conspiracy, by Anthony Summers. Conspiracy It has appeared with similar titles, but it's still the same book. This book is still referred to by prominent researchers such as Jim DiEugenio, so it's worth picking up a used copy or checking it out of your local library. (End Edit January, 2010) This book is well researched, with many references to publicly available sources including the Warren Commission report and the HSCA report. His status as a journalist for the BBC gave him access and the resources to interview some people who may not have talked to most other journalists or investigators. In this book, copyright 1980, Summers claimed that he was the first journalist to interview many of his sources. However, this was not usually because these sources were unknown to other journalists, but because the journalists and the corporations they worked for couldn't be bothered. Summers did not appear to have an agenda in proving a particular point (e.g., Michael Collins Piper). While he does come to his own conclusions, these are informed by exhaustive research that lead to each point. He focuses on three main suspects, the Mafia, the anti-Castro community, and US intelligence agencies. Each of these entities are linked by solid evidence. The author spends considerable time on Oswald and Ruby, both of whom had links to the three main suspect entities. The book was completed shortly after the HSCA published its report. The HSCA stated that there was a conspiracy, based on forensic evidence that there was more than one shooter, and testimony, however limited and narrowly focused, that the three main entities I cited above were involved in the conspiracy. It seemed to me that the HSCA tried to focus the blame on the Mafia, a safer option for US congressmen than entities more closely linked with the US government, such as the anti-Castro groups and US intelligence agencies. I found it interesting to read about the HSCA from a current events point of view. Summers, in the final chapter titled "Aftermath", cites the lamentable but all too predictable responses by Time and Newsweek magazines, and the New York Times newspaper to the HSCA report. "Long before their reporters could possibly have studied the monumental verbiage of the report ... (t)hey gave space to articles ranging from the caustic to the openly sarcastic." Claiming to know the public mind on the topic, the corporate media owners said the public was tired of hearing about the JFK assassination. Reading this book for the first time in 2008, I naturally made comparisons between the media coverage of the JFK assassination in 1980 and the coverage of the 9/11 events post-2001. At least in 1978-80, the BBC was willing to sponsor a serious TV documentary about the JFK assassination, produced by Mr. Summers, as well as this book. Post 2001, the BBC has j

If you only ever read one book on the Kennedy assassination, this is the one it should be. Absolutely first-class journalism in a clear and compelling narrative. There has been an industry in Kennedy assassination books, with nearly half of them ridiculous and nearly another half having no integrity. This book, now aging in some aspects, was startling when published, not startling because of extreme claims, but startling for its skilled marshaling of a huge body of facts. It is done so well, you will not be able to put it down. My apologies to another reviewer, but Gerald Posner's book not only contains errors, it brings nothing fresh to the controversy. Posner simply re-interprets parts of the body of evidence according to his inclination, and he is an awkward writer. But it is the body of evidence itself which is in question, or at least many important parts of it.

This book is an update on information to Mr. Summers' much earlier, wonderful book, "Conspiracy." In "Not in Your Lifetime (The Kennedy Conspiracy)," Summers changed his approach, apparently not wanting to cover the same ground. It is definitely worth reading, but falls far short of the intensely interesting "Conspiracy." If you only ever read one book on the Kennedy assassination, "Conspiracy" is the one it should be (5 STARS). Absolutely first-class journalism in a clear and compelling narrative. There has been an industry in Kennedy assassination books, with nearly half of them ridiculous and nearly another half having no integrity. "Conspiracy," now aging in some aspects, was startling when published, not startling because of extreme claims, but startling for its skilled marshaling of a huge body of facts. It is done so well, you will not be able to put it down. My apologies to another reviewer under "Conspiracy," but Gerald Posner's book not only contains errors, it brings nothing fresh to the controversy. Posner simply re-interpreted parts of the body of evidence according to his inclination, and he is an awkward writer. But it is the body of evidence itself which is in question, or at least many important parts of it.

Anthony Summers' comprehensive work on the assassination of JFK is among the top books on the subject, ranking alongside Gaeton Fonzi's "The Last Investigation." The author's voluminous research brings together the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle in a lucid and rare way. In a nutshell, the anti-Castro Cuban organizations [CRC, Alpha-66, etc.]and their right-wing American supporters [Gerry Patrick Hemming and Interpen, for example], the Mafia [Trafficante, Marcello, Giancana, Roselli], and elements within the CIA [David Atlee Phillips, E.Howard Hunt, Theodore Shackley, David Sanchez Morales, William Harvey, etc.] and their numerous contract agents [David Ferrie, Guy Banister, Lee Harvey Oswald(?)]were collaborating in an effort to assassinate Fidel Castro and reverse the socialist revolution in Cuba. The Mob wanted their gambling casinos back, while the anti-Castro Cubans and the CIA wanted multi-national corporate capitalism back. In a classic case of "blowback", the forces working to destroy Fidel and the Cuban Revolution failed in their efforts and subsequently conspired to destroy the man [JFK] they believed responsible for their failure. Elements within the CIA, CIA contract agents, Mob and anti-Castro Cubans had the motive, means and opportunity to effectuate the "blowback" assassination of JFK. For the meticulously researched details which support this thesis, read Anthony Summers' work: "Conspiracy". It's one of the most well-reasoned and articulate works on the subject of the JFK assassination.