Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20759 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 510 pages

Synopsis
Douglass (a longtime peace activist with the Catholic Workers) borrows the term "the Unspeakable" from Catholic philosopher Thomas Merton in order to point towards a form of systemic evil that he believes resulted in the death of John F. Kennedy. He argues that Kennedy was slowly, and in contradictory manner, turning away from the Cold War hawkishn

Customer Reviews

JFK and the Unspeakable
In 1991, when Oliver Stone unveiled his movie "JFK," he was ridiculed and criticised for his compassionate portrayal of President Kennedy. His controversial thesis, that JFK was a man of peace who was struck down by a powerful cabal hell bent on war in southeast Asia, was not what the media or the establishment wanted the world to hear. Journalists who fancied themselves historians were quick to point out that it was Kennedy who announced in his inaugural address that Americans would "pay any price" in their fight against communism. And it was Kennedy that brought the world the closest it ever came to nuclear war during the Cuban missile crisis. JFK, they said, was a hardened cold warrior until his dying day. End of story.

To counter Stone's powerful story along came Gerald Posner, with the most heavily promoted JFK assassination book of all time. Posner told us that conspiracy theorists like Oliver Stone were all crazy and the Warren Commission was right all along - "it was Oswald, silly!" The simple fact that "Case Closed" was packed full of inaccuracies and distortions of truth didn't bother the media one bit. Instead, Posner was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Hot on his slippery heels came Seymour Hersh ready to let us know that "Hey, JFK wasn't that nice a guy after all so it really doesn't matter who killed him. Go on, forget about the assassination. Go see what's on TV." Thankfully the dark cloud that was Hersh's vision of Camelot quickly passed over our heads and the world's people were still able to think for themselves.

Jim Douglass took the time not only to think for himself but also to actively seek the truth for himself. He studied the research of others, he interviewed relevant witnesses and he pored over the mountains of documents released by the Assassination Records Review Board. Then he produced one of the best books ever written on the subject. What makes JFK and the Unspeakable so good is that it does exactly what it promises to do; it tells us why President Kennedy was killed and why it matters. Kennedy was killed because he learned from the mistakes of the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban missile crisis and became a threat to the cold war establishment. He came to see that the inevitable loss of innocent life that would follow a nuclear war was unacceptable and that despite the differences between the American and Russian ways of life, they all must breathe the same air. Kennedy had negotiated a nuclear test ban treaty and began to look at the possibility of total disarmament. He had organised secret back channels for communication with both Castro and Khrushchev because he wanted to end the cold war. And, just as Oliver Stone claimed, President Kennedy was pulling American military advisors out of Vietnam. Kennedy was becoming a man for peace and to the CIA and the Pentagon, whose very livelihood was dependant on prolonging the cold war, this was wholly unacceptable.

Why does it matter? Because if Kennedy had lived the world may well have been a very different place. If he had succeeded in implementing his plans the cold war may have ended much sooner and the world would have been spared the horrors of the Vietnam war. It matters because if he had lived a little longer, many others might have too. Jim Douglass won't be nominated for a Pulitzer and he won't receive the media hype afforded the likes of Gerald Posner. But his book is a masterpiece because it tells you the truth and, if you will allow it to, it will make you understand it.

A Superb Book!
Amazon buyers reading this review want to know: Is my money worth parting with for this book? I say it is! I couldn't give the book 5 stars, but it is a definite 4.5 star read. Before buying though consider the following important points:

1)Novice JFK assassination readers will get just as much useful information from this book as more experienced readers of this subject. To date, I've read 40 books on this subject and I would say this is one of the finest reads. No silly conspiracy theories just credible facts with possible theory.
2)I would recommend novices to this subject get a good grounding of the MECHANICS of the assassination itself. This book does NOT tell you who 'dung it'; it points to the dark forces responsible and no more. Try any book on Amazon, from Robert J Groden, Harold Weisberg or Professor Walt Brown.
3) The book works in chronology, switching back to what was going on around JFK's life and Oswald's. It discusses Presidential policy and the manipulation of Oswald. I think this book hits the mark as to the REAL killers of JFK. Fascinating aspects include the pre-selected patsy for the Chicago plot, three weeks before JFK's death in Dallas.
4) There are some revelations in here I never knew, even after studying this subject for nearly two decades! The book was worth it just for the amazing nuggets of information I never knew!
5) This is heavy reading. You won't finish this book in 3 days. You need to read 5 to 10 pages and ingest the meaning of the writing. It makes this a more interesting book. It is also written in an incredibly mature manner, without insulting its readership.
6) Why only 4.5 stars then?! Two things really. One, this book mentions Jesus and Thomas Merton too much, near the start. I got the distinct impression that the writer is very religious. (DO NOT LET THIS PUT YOU OFF - it's not mentioned that much). I understand that JFK probably believed in God too, but this is not really the point for JFK readers. Despite which, JFK had many 'lady' friends, thus he did break a few commandments! That said, I have enormous respect for JFK and what he achieved during his presidency.
7) NO BOOK I've ever read, except those that point at Oswald as the guilty party, have ever explained WHAT EXACTLY OSWALD WAS DOING AT THE TIME OF THE ASSASSINATION. Whilst I do believe in conspiracy, I can't understand what he was up to? WHY was he found in the 1st Floor Lunchroom? WHY wasn't he looking out the window at the JFK parade? Of course, he may have explained this to the DPD [Dallas Police Dept] but as they rather unbelievably, didn't keep any notes of his interrogation, we will never know.

Now go buy this rather fine read! I found this book a worthy collection to my JFK material. The author also has my respect for his intelligent writing and in my opinion, correct assessment of what happened November 22nd 1963, when the dark forces took the Presidency and moved into the big league. Look what's happened since that time....

Definitive JFK info
Very detailed account of the Presidential days in office. Identifies who is exactly behind the whole thing. Chilling.