age-for-page, this generalized primer may be the most error-laden conspiracy book ever written; it smacks of being hastily written during TV commercials. Odonian’s Real Story Series sought to make political books less boring by encapsulating the salient facts in a readable format; in this case, the book was made more scintillating by piling up heaps of speculation and discredited research. Unfortunately, this book became a primary resource for novices looking for info after viewing the JFK movie. Author of 1976 The Yankee and Cowboy War and 1992 anthology The JFK Assassination. Paperback, 95 pages, 5 B/W photos, 3 illus.

he story of Baltimore ballistic expert Howard Donahue’s long-term research into the Kennedy assassination, which began when he participated in the 1967 firing re-creation for a CBS Reports documentary. Respectful of the ballistics analysis done by the HSCA, Donahue confirms their support of the Single-Bullet Theory. But then Donahue goes way off target with accepting the “low” placement of the entry wound to the skull and “machine gun” particles in skull X-rays, leading to wild theory of Secret Serviceman George Hickey accidentally firing the fatal shot with his AR-15. Cover photo of cars on Stemmons shows Hickey in follow-up car with rifle raised; unknown to Donahue, a film sequence showed both cars during the fatal head shot, prior to Hickey reaching for weapon. Useful appendixes of Secret Service statements, 1968 “Clark Panel Review” and the HSCA trajectory analysis from Hearings Volume VI. Hardcover, 361 pages, 30 B/W photos, 11 illus. St. Martin’s paperback Nov. 1993.

ight in the midst of the furor over the JFK movie came this book, by a Parkland doctor assisting the efforts to save Kennedy and, two days later, Oswald. Crenshaw is upfront about his pro-conspiracy views as his story unfolds chronologically. Some claims were disputed by Parkland colleagues in the May 27, 1992 Journal of the American Medical Association. Emphasizes Dallas right-wing climate and belligerent Johnson takeover. Crenshaw alleges receiving a phone call from President Johnson, requesting he obtain a deathbed confession from Oswald (see detailed analysis at McAdams’ site). Foreword by John H. Davis. JFK autopsy photos. Architect Shaw co-wrote 1976 book Cover-Up. Paperback, 205 pages, 16 B/W photos.

itter over his perceived betrayal at the hands of Groden and Stone in the making of the JFK movie, Baltimore writer/researcher goes out on his own and destroys Lifton’s coffin-switching and body-alteration theory. His “Zapruder blob” and “ice bullet” theories are a hoot. The gruesome autopsy photographs are printed with the quality they deserve. Many young researchers motivated by the JFK movie have championed Livingstone’s ‘90s’ works. Hardcover, 656 pages, 16 color & 46 B/W photos, 7 illus. Carroll & Graf softcover Sept. 1993.

Former CIA contract agent Robert Morrow (author of 1976 Betrayal) claims he bought three Mannlicher-Carcano rifles to be used in the shooting from Sunny’s Surplus in Baltimore. David Ferrie plotted the conspiracy, that would involve Clay Shaw. Elements of the Mafia, Cuban exiles and a French assassin named John Michael Mertz. Introduction by John H. Davis. Hardcover, 384 pages, 33 B/W photos, 67 pgs of docs. SPI softcover Nov. 1993.

ale of mystery man and right-wing extremist Charles Frederick Rogers, who disappeared in June 1965 after dismembering his parents in their Houston home. In 1950s, Rogers worked for Shell Oil, became smitten with McCarthyism, met David Ferrie through CAP and offered himself for CIA contract work, receiving an endorsement from the Rogers family minister Rev. Elmer Gerhart (who had close ties with an OSS operative). In 1957, Rogers became a full-time CIA covert agent; later used by Guy Bannister to implicate Oswald though “sheep-dipping.” Rogers posed as Oswald in Mexico City (somewhat revealing himself through fluent Spanish and broken Russian; charade also explains why Lee was not captured in surveillance photos, and Silvia Duran’s interrogation). Rogers also responsible for “Oswald” incidents in Dallas area. Just after the assassination, Gerharts tell FBI that Oswald and a companion (authors say Ruby associate Charles V. Harrelson) met with Rogers two months before. Book alleges Rogers and Harrelson fired “almost simultaneously from behind the picket fence on the grassy knoll;” plan to escape as “hobos” on a freight train in adjoining railyard thwarted by signalman Lee Bowers Jr. Photos of “three tramps” under arrest were shown on the Tonight Show by Jim Garrison and published in 1970 by Richard E. Sprague. The co-authors find compelling the facial similarities between the “tramps” and Rogers, Harrelson and Chauncy Marvin Holt. In 1980, Harrelson “confessed” his JFK role in a cocaine-induced stand-off as he was being arrested for assassinating a federal judge. Ties Harrelson to Campisi, alleged mobster who was the first person to visit Jack Ruby after he shot Oswald. Holt confessed to being in Dallas to supply Harrelson and Rogers (known to Holt as “Richard Montoya”) ID packets. Reject evidence, from unsealed files and new interviews, that three legitimate tramps were the ones in the photos. Ferrie was in Houston as a relay pilot, but “detention” of assassins forced cancellation; Ruby dispatched to silence Oswald after he unexpectedly survived apprehension. After the 1965 parenticide, Rogers reportedly did dirty deeds for the CIA in South America and Vietnam. Many scenes highly-fictionalized and links drawn broadly. Appendix includes analysis of tramp photos by Lois Gibson, Houston PD forensic artist. Paperback, 280 pages, 14 B/W photos, docs.

onumental study of a man named Richard Case Nagell, who claims he worked with Lee Harvey Oswald on intelligence matters and became aware of a pending plot to assassinate Kennedy. When assigned by the Soviets to kill Oswald in order to prevent the assassination, Nagell got himself intentionally arrested by firing off a few rounds in an El Paso bank in September, 1963. Boston journalist, with a long history of conspiracy articles and meticulous documentation, spend seventeen years on this project. Exhaustive analysis of spy-vs-spy counter-espionage intrigue at the height of the Cold War, with both sides manipulating the other’s interest in Oswald. Probes links to a right-wing cabal of Cuban exiles, military extremists, the mob and Texas oilmen. Suggests Ferrie used mind-control (Manchurian Candidate) on Oswald. Highly speculative (see detailed analysis at McAdams’ site). Hardcover, 824 pages, 52 B/W photos, 7 docs. Paperback reissue, 2003.

uthor provides an updates of sorts to previous works The Kennedys: Dynasty and Disaster and Mafia Kingfish: Carlos Marcello and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy. New twist has mob lawyer Frank Ragano delivering Hoffa assassination consent to crime bosses Trafficante and Marcello. Contends patsy Oswald was in Depository’s lunchroom during shots. Has chapter picking over flaws in JFK movie, taking issue with Stone’s conviction that Kennedy would not have escalated commitment to Vietnam. Takes some pointed jabs at certain JFK researchers; and implies Jackie and Bobby Kennedy aided cover-up with limited autopsy. Paperback, 312 pages, 17 B/W photos.

ell-written analysis of conspiracy theories and certain critics. Especially good on Oswald’s background, the medical evidence, ballistics, the Garrison fiasco and Jack Ruby. This best-seller gave the critics—still euphoric from the JFK movie—a long-overdue reality check. It was through Posner that the Connally lapel-flip finding and advances in computer trajectory analysis became known to the general public. Blows away many contentions from such critics as Weisberg, Lifton and Summers. Hardcover, 606 pages, 36 B/W photos & illus. Anchor softcover, Sept. 1994. Random House Value hardcover, Nov. 1995. Paperback reissue, 2003.

ots of key photos and images collected together in one place. Many published in color, including the Bronson slide, for the first time. Author’s interpretation of the photographic and medical evidence is extremely dubious. In 1997, Groden’s “expert” credentials were totally destroyed during cross-examination at the OJ Simpson Civil Trial. Foreword by Oliver Stone, on whose JFK movie Groden worked as a consultant and had a brief cameo as the courtroom projectionist. In person, Groden is a likeable fellow whose activism and dogged determination has earned him support. Large-format hardcover, 223 pages, 600-plus photos, mostly color. Penguin Studio large-format softcover Sept. 1994.

ivingstone turns his guns on some of the better-known conspiracy critics; have to admire him for having the guts to stand up to the conspiracy hard-liners. See Chapter Ten for some curious analysis of one of my articles (assumes I got ideas from Prodigy years before I had internet-access, fracture edge of bone shows clipper marks, etc). Gossipy allegations towards Texas and Johnson. Appendixes include responses of doctors to JAMA articles and 83-page “Encyclopedia of Medical Events and Witness Testimony” by Livingstone and Kathlee Fitzgerald. Hardcover, 752 pages, 7 color & 29 B/W photos, 12 illus. Carroll & Graf softcover Nov. 1994.

ood analysis of the evidence seen and photo-duplicated by Savage’s uncle, RW “Rusty” Livingstone, who worked in the DPD Crime Lab and witnessed Oswald’s arraignment. Proves the physical evidence established Oswald’s guilt by the end of the first day. Contains Jim Bowles’ important 1979 critique of the HSCA acoustics findings, and the technical advancement that enabled Oswald’s fingerprints to be positively identified on photographs of the rifle’s trigger-housing. Savage discussed book’s revelations on the 1993 Frontline documentary “Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?” Hardcover, 416 pages, 140-plus B/W photos & illus. (Self-published. Ordering info: P.O. Box 2741, Monroe, LA, 71207-2741)

masterpiece…this is the one book to own! Massachusetts archivist/curator Trask spent decades researching and writing the ultimate examination of the photographic evidence, and the photographers. While trying to maintain some neutrality, Trask ultimately demolishes many of the conspiracy claims, and for good reasons that are spelled out. If all you’ve ever read are conspiracy books on the assassination, you’re in for a pleasant awakening. Hardcover, 600 pages, 300 B/W photos. (Self-published. Ordering info: 35 Centre St., Danvers, MA, 01923)

The late “Dean” of assassination researchers issues a volley to Gerald Posner’s landmark Case Closed. Extreme nitpicking over such minutiae as Rosemary Willis’ actions in Z-film, floor marks on the sixth-floor and Os’ smirk. More semantics than substance. There’s some interesting recollections of Weisberg’s earlier battles with the feds when he tried raising chickens…here he’s tending small potatoes. Softcover, 178 pages.

Former conspiracy sympathizer Mailer throws in the towel in the wake of Posner’s Case Closed. Collaborator Larry Schiller (a photographer in Dallas just after the assassination; some photos appearing soon after in the Saturday Evening Post) arranged for Mailer to have unprecedented access to KGB monitoring records of the Oswald couple in Minsk. Speculates Oswald had homosexual inclinations that contributed to isolation. Enormous background detail on Oswald’s Russian contacts and environment. Hardcover, 829 pages. Ballantine Books softcover July 1996. Random House Value hardcover Oct. 1997.

mpressive academic study by Maryland historian Dr. John Newman of one key aspect of the assassination controversy: Oswald’s intelligence contacts. Newman, with two decades experience as a military intelligence officer, analyses certain promising leads among the two million documents released 1993-95 by the JFK Assassination Records Review Board. Told chronologically, beginning with Oswald’s 1959 defection to the Soviet Union; Oswald’s manner and avoiding formalizing the defection suggests the act was staged. A “dangle” to gauge Soviet interest in Oswald’s U-2 past is suggested, just the sort of op CIA counterintelligence czar James Angleton might conceive. Typical of “abnormalities in Oswald’s files,” the CIA delays opening a “201” file on Oswald until late 1960; one more hint that Oswald was in the Soviet Union on some US operation. Newman notes the belated 201 opening coincided with a suspected interception/retaining of Oswald’s first letter to the US embassy (in 1991, the letter was found in Oswald’s KGB file), thus the CIA may have had a KGB mole or Oswald himself was communicating through a source within Russia. Upon return to US in 1962, Oswald was treated “routine” by FBI. But Oswald’s activities in New Orleans during the summer of 1963 “set of alarms bells” at the Bureau and CIA. Oswald tried to initiate a Fair Play for Cuba Committee while making approaches to anti-Castro Cubans, including some CIA “assets.” During his mysterious visit to Mexico City that fall, Oswald met with Vladimirovitch Kostokov, a high-ranking KGB assassination specialist. Newman wonders if reported threat by Oswald against Kennedy reached the CIA, who by then were “spawning a web of deception about Oswald.” No documentary evidence of agency-wide CIA plot to kill Kennedy but Newman suggests his analysis may be supportive of the CIA “renegade” hypothesis. Valuable insight into how various intelligence agencies functioned and cooperated during height of Cold War espionage. Hardcover, 627 pages, 22 B/W photos, 93 pgs of docs.

Livingstone tones down some of his rhetoric. Now willing to consider my argument that the frontal bone is still present in the autopsy X-rays. Dishes out loads of criticism against Posner’s Case Closed and pronounces “special effects” in the Zapruder film the “hoax of the century.” Appendix “A New Look at the ‘Film of the Century’” by Daryll Weatherly. Hardcover, 458 pages, 16 B/W photos, 3 maps & 21 illus.

Groden’s “companion volume” to The Killing of a President. Oswald’s baby pictures. 1955 photo of Oswald and Ferrie at Civil Air Patrol picnic. Suggests Oswald sent to Russia on a mission and was working for Banister in New Orleans. Claims Oswald impersonated in Mexico City and denies “Lee” shot at Walker or Kennedy. Chapters on Ruby and Tippit. Introduction by Dr. Cyril H. Wecht. Large-format hardcover, 261 pages, 600-plus photos, mostly B/W.

Investigative journalist team Fontaines evaluate evidence from newly released files, falling for the dubious tale of Oswald cell mate John Elrod. See detailed evaluation at McAdams’ website Hardcover, 456 pages.

ritten by author of this bibliography; to address some of the many errors compounded in Robert Groden’s two coffee-table books (1993, 1995). One of the most irresponsible researchers to ever put pen to paper, Groden squandered many opportunities to advance genuine evidence and betrayed certain colleagues with his tabloid sensationalism. The book also provided an opportunity to present my research that complemented that in recent books by Posner and Trask, on issues including the Backyard Photographs, Umbrella Man and the Black Dog Man shape on the knoll. Sorts out the confusion over witnesses Lovelady, Witt, Holland and Rowland; and issues like the shoulder bunching and “missing” frontal bone in the X-rays. Substantive review of recent advances in photo-analysis and computer modeling that confirm the Single-Bullet Theory. Traces autopsy photo possession and exploitation; with a table listing all known inventories and initial publication. First comprehensive history of the Zapruder film, the analysis that has endured and a new explanation for the head snap that doesn’t require neuro or jet reactions. Oswald’s guilt and motivation demonstrated. Appendix includes 1993 Third Decade article “Insights on the X-Rays.” Softcover, 84 pages, 40 B/W photos.

rask profiles three of the most important photographers on-the-ground in Dallas to assemble an overview of the day’s events. Captain Cecil Stoughton was an official White House photographer assigned to the Texas tour; his images captured the morning’s events, initial panic in Dealey Plaza and drama onboard Air Force One. AP photographer James Altgens took photos of the limousine on Main as it approach Dealey Plaza, one famous photo of the Presidential party under fire and several images of shocked bystanders; his work would be widely published that weekend. Local free-lancer Jim Murray took more scenes of the aftermath and subsequent police activity in the Plaza than anyone else. Many of the photos are afforded full-page treatments not practical in Trask’s Pictures of the Pain. Large-format softcover, 136 pages, 135 B/W photos. Yeoman large-format hardcover reprint Jan. 2000 (Self-published. Ordering info: 35 Centre St., Danvers, MA, 01923)

Story from Dallas point of view. Over 45 local assassination witnesses asked identical line of questions; some interviewed for the first time. Consistent methodology devoid of speculation yields rational scenario. Hardcover, 627 pages. Univ. of North Texas softcover Feb. 2002.

hen the CIA/Mafia assassination plots against Castro became public in the 1970s, some on the Warren Commission said such disclosure would have enabled them to say more about Oswald’s motivation. Did Kennedy’s clandestine war on Castro drift out of control and eventually lead to JFK’s own demise? This book examines in detail and lends credence to that intriguing hypothesis. Russo co-produced the 1993 BBC/Frontline documentary “Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?” Hardcover, 512 pages, 32 pgs of photos.

ollows the actions of Oswald and Dallas patrolman JD Tippit up to their violent encounter 45 minutes after the assassination. Offers persuasive evidence of Oswald’s sole guilt in the slaying of Tippit, including many rare photos and documents. Myers is able to cast enormous doubt on housekeeper Earlene Roberts’ claim of a police car outside her home when Oswald was there. Myers establishes that Oswald owned the murder weapon and connects the shells recovered at the scene to that revolver, which Oswald had on him when arrested. An explanation is offered for the discrepancy between the manufacture of the shells and the recovered bullets; and it’s proven that the jacket abandoned near the scene was indeed Oswald’s. This is the most comprehensive and scholarly work yet on the Tippit murder, a key event Commission supporters like David Belin claim reflects on Oswald’s guilt in the Kennedy assassination. Myers was a technical consultant to the 1993 BBC/Frontline documentary “Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?”; in 1994, he produced a computerized trajectory recreation of the assassination. Hardcover, 702 pages, 157 photos, 16 color plates, 13 illus, 182 docs.

rone (Wisconsin history prof who has taught a course on the assassination for the last two decades) provides first comprehensive history of the famous film shot by Abraham Zapruder. A longtime conspiracy buff associated with Harold Weisberg, Wrone recycles the old chestnut of Oswald, not Billy Lovelady, being the “man in the doorway.” Wrone times first shot at ca. Z190, ignoring strong evidence for shot being earlier. Claims throat wound was entry-type and back wound was exit-type. Wrone contents JFK “fully emerges from behind the sign” with “fists raised to his throat” at Z225; in fact, JFK fully emerges and raises his fists in subsequent frames. Wrone concludes the film disproves the “official dicta” of the SBT and shows explosive-type ammo hitting the head, all factors exonerating Oswald. Wrone is more on-point in disputing Lifton’s body alteration theory and allegations that the film was altered. See book’s webpage. Wrone wrote 1973 Annotated Bibliography and 1980 Comprehensive Bibliography. Hardcover, 400 pages.