1 comments about The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (Graphic History).

1. I like these books a lot. They are interesting for me to read and I learn something. They can be a godsend for my ESOL students who must learn to read English and take American History at the same time. This book is on the assassination of President Lincoln. It covers the evening when husband and wife went to the theatre and Lincoln was shot. It follows the search for the murderer and the sentences carried out for the conspirators.

5 comments about To Visit the Queen (Cat Novel).

1. A wonderful follow-up to the fabulous Night With Moon. I wondered at the time how Duane was going to be able to top Night With Moon. She does an excellent job of surpassing herself & the ending of "To Visit The Queen" was surprising. There are sad moments in this one, which make it a slightly more introspective book than the other title, but it has equally rapid plot & strong action plotlines. I loved seeing Arthur Conan Doyle as well. Wouldn't he love to still be starring in our literary achievements? :)



2. I just finished reading the book about 10 minutes ago! What a great sequel to "Night With Moon"... it carries forward some of the unresolved feelings and events from the first book, and leaves you feeling a bit easier about them. I do disagree with some of the other reviews that found this book too drawn-out or some of the plot points contrived. The book built up slowly but steadily, not with as much action as "Night With Moon" but with more detective work on the part of Rhiow, her team, and their new allies -- more the literary equivalent of a good suspense movie than an action-hero one. And also unlike some other reviews, I didn't think the battle with the Lone One was "tacked on" or unnecessary. In fact, it was almost inevitable after the cats foil Her plans for Queen Victoria. Think about it -- if you were a selfish, vindictive Power who was absolutely sure you were going to win, and suddenly your scheme was stopped in its tracks, wouldn't you be furious and decide to rid yourself of the "obstacles" once and for all? The book even leaves room for another sequel (maybe the further adventures of Arhu and Siffha'h?) and more bliss for cat lovers. I'll be keeping my figurative whiskers attuned for it!



3. All Duane's fantasy--the "Tale of the Five," the "Young Wizards" series which takes place in the same Universe as this book and its prequel--turns on the unending battle between the Powers That Be (the forces of life, or what a Star Wars fan might call "the Light Side") and the Lone Power (the renegade god whom Christians term "the Devil"), each aided by its own mortal adherents and sometimes willing, sometimes unaware pawns. In this story, feline wizard and Worldgate technician Rhiow and the survivors of her team--opera-loving tom Urruah and visionary kitten Arhu--must travel to London to try to repair a malfunctioning gate (cats, unlike humans, can both see and manipulate the "strings" that make the gates work). Gradually they discover that an alternate England has been brought into being through the scheming of the Lone Power, and threatens to overwhelm their own reality and end all life on Earth. To prevent it from doing so, they must forestall the assassination of the alternate Queen Victoria in her very bed--and the way they do it could only be accomplished by cats.

   As always seems to be true in Duane's work, there are touches of tragedy--the fate of the gallant London teamleader Huff and his beloved mate Auhlae may make you reach for the Kleenex box. But her alternate England is splendidly imagined, and there are light moments as well, like Rhiow's reflections on the possibility of finding a mate for her widowed human, Mike. Saurian wizard Ith reappears and performs gallantly, and his and the cats' interaction with a young Arthur Conan Doyle is charming. Now, Diane, when can we hope to see another adventure of Rhiow and her team?




4. New York City as a setting was more appealing to me than Britain. I suspect Duane has spent more time in NYC and can make the place more vivid than London as well. Still, the book is entertaining and definitely worth reading even if you haven't read the first book in the series.
   
   "To Visit the Queen" will stand alone from "Book of Night with Moon", but I believe reading the two books in order is a better option.



5. Very good book! I had looked forward to it for a long time. From Ms. Duane's website, I'd gotten the impression that it was the third book after "Book of Night with Moon" and "On Her Majesty's Wizardly Service". Have you ever saved an anticipated book carefully for the perfect time, only to open it up and discover that you've already read it? These are the same book under different titles, unfortunately. Apart from that, I recommend it.

1 comments about Retired Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry Reveals His Personal JFK ASSASSINATION FILE Limited Collectors Edition.

1. As the leading civilian authority on the U.S. Secret Service (and President Kennedy's interaction with the agency), I was much interested in this book by the late DPD Chief Jesse Curry (who drove the lead car in the fateful Dallas motorcade of 11/22/63; the other passengers were Sheriff Bill Decker ***and*** Secret Service agents Win Lawson and Forrest Sorrels, both of whom I spoke to and/ or corresponded with). This is quite a rare book...and a good one, at that. What Chief Curry has to say about the JFK case is VERY important, to say the least. In fact, his work was an important part of my book, as well. Get this! Vince Palamara

4 comments about National Nightmare on Six Feet of Film: Mr. Zapruder's Home Movie And the Murder of President Kennedy.

1. 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.



2. I whole-heartedly agree with Mr. Von Pein's extremely comprehensive review. If you are into the photographic and film record of the Kennedy Assassination, as I am, than Mr. Trask's published works will satisfy your desire for an in-depth analysis of the major photos and films taken during the November 21st-November 22nd period of time. All three of his books are worth the investment for the wealth of photos they contain and the analysis of those photos.
   As to NATIONAL NIGHTMARE, I liken it to that first cup of cold water after a long run. It is satisfying and quenches the thirst. Mr. Trask approaches the history of the film and his analysis of it with no agenda. He is not out to change anyone's mind as to "who dun it," unlike David R. Wrone, who does a good job of describing the history of the film in THE ZAPRUDER FILM: REFRAMING JFK'S ASSASSINATION, but then goes off into the wacky world of Zapruder film tampering by unknown conspirators. I consider myself a historian, an as such, am much more impressed with Mr. Trask's objective approach to his subject. One gets the impression that he discounts the conspiracy theories in favor of the Warren Commission findings, but it serves as an undercurrent, not as a presumptious raison d'etre for the existence of the book. Mr. Trask simply presents the photographic record in wonderful detail, leaving the theories for the reader to muddle over.
   This is really an extaordinary book, and my hope is the Mr. Trask (I hope you're reading this, sir) publishes a book of all 400+ frames of the Zapruder film in the largest, clearest, most colorful format that technology can provide and takes a page to analyze each frame of the film. One frame per page accompanied by a page of analysis would amount to a holy grail of sorts for me and no doubt for all those who understand the importance of analyzing the history of November 22, 1963 through the numerous photographs and films taken on that day.



3. Richard Trask's objectivity must be maddening to the conspiracy nuts since he clearly doesn't give credence to their silly theories, while at the same time he doesn't openly criticize their ideas. He isn't looking for a fight. He simply researches the objective photographic history and refuses to jump on the bandwagon of insanity currently awash in the country by those claiming the Zapruder film has been altered. I was glad that he did not spend a lot of time in this arena, it would have cheapened the high quality of work Trask is known for. ALong with "Pictures of the Pain" Trask must be ranked among the great photographic historians of this case. I highly recommend this work



4. I'm almost finished reading this book and I must say that it is one of the best books about the Kennedy assassination. It has everything from the detailed history of the Zapruder film to a 16 page color section that includes the famous photos by Mary Moorman, James Altgens and Phil Willis, to over 100 black and white photos and diagrams of Zapruder frames and rarely seen photos and still frames from other movies made that day. I took the advice of another review on this board and bought the book with the DVD 'Image of an Assassination'. When the book references frames from the Zapruder film you can view the DVD to see exactly what it is the author is talking about. What else can be said about a book that comes in it's own wrapper. Probably a lot. A treasure.

No comments about The Art of Political Murder.

5 comments about JFK: The Book of the Film (Applause Screenplay Series).

1. "JFK, The Book of the Film "is really an extraordinary achievement....

   The screenplay incorporates practically every rumor, fact, factoid, and theory regarding the events of November 22, 1963.

   Almost every line of dialouge is meticulously footnoted....

   The second half of the book is a compendium of op-ed articles both in defense of and attacking (as in the case of Tom Wicker, Alexander Cockburn, et al) both Oliver Stone and the film. At times these attacks seem both humorless and hysterical ("hey guys..it's a MOVIE!")

   Though the book is ten years old, I find myself taking it off the shelf every six months or so to browse both the screenplay and the media barrage surrounding it.

   A great book!




2. This is an absolute travesty. Every possible conspiracy element - discredited or not - is added in. Garrison's investigation of the innocent Clay Shaw - the least substantive theory - is the platform for Stone's delusions. And it would HAVE to be about the Vietnam War wouldn't it !
   Take one example, the three tramps arrested in Dealey Plaza: Stone has them armed in the film , but they were not connected in any way and were later released.Read Anthony Summers instead and ignore this rubbish.



3. Among all the stories which popup every day, this is one story that we should tell our children exactly how and why it happened, the book as the movie did, presented the whole enigma in such a fantastic realistec way, you feel actually living with the characters breathing with them, at times joining in discussions... the complexity and huge number of names and sides in the story means it is not for teatime at all, you really need to concentrate well with this one.
   The event was a tragedy no question about it, and what the late Mr.Garrison tried to do was to prevent what we are witnessing now a days by disclosing the truth, to tell the truth is a courageous mission, to stick to it and face such enormous powers ready to do any thing even kill the president is even harder.
   I do recommend that we should have a copy of this story whether as a book or as film, for the sake of history which is always twisted by the claws of the most powerful .



4. In Oliver Stone's 1991 motion picture "JFK" (and in this book version of that film), a major stepping "stone" to "conspiracy" that's used by Mr. Stone (and nearly all other conspiracy theorists who have studied the John F. Kennedy assassination since that sad event occurred in 1963) is the contention that the controversial "Single-Bullet Theory" is and was a completely preposterous myth that could never have happened in a million lifetimes, and was placed into the Warren Commission's final report re. the Kennedy assassination solely out of NECESSITY. I, however, cannot disagree more strongly with such an allegation.
   
   While it's true that Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter is given the most credit for having come up with the "Single-Bullet Theory" to explain the simultaneous wounding of President Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally -- as a point of fact, the "SBT" was in reality "More Than Half Way Home" (so to speak) as early as November 23rd, 1963 (well before Mr. Specter had ever gazed at any of the evidence in the JFK assassination case).
   
   Why? --- Because the seeds that ultimately sprouted the wholly-acceptable and utterly-logical "Single-Bullet Theory" are right there in the November 1963 autopsy report signed by Drs. Humes, Boswell, and Finck.
   
   It wasn't Arlen Specter who just arbitrarily decided (on a whim or ON HIS OWN) that a single bullet had gone completely through the upper back of President Kennedy and had exited his throat in the front. It was the AUTOPSY DOCTORS who made this critical determination on November 23, 1963 (one day after Kennedy's death and the FIRST DAY when ALL available and required information had been assembled and evaluated by the autopsy doctors; i.e., the first day when Drs. Humes, Boswell, and Finck had any knowledge at all that a bullet hole had been located in the front of President Kennedy's neck).
   
   The remainder of the SBT was, of course, pieced together in the early portions of 1964 by Specter (and probably other WC people as well) while utilizing other important information and evidence surrounding the assassination.
   
   The WC testimony of Robert Frazier of the FBI was an integral part of the "SBT puzzle". Frazier testified to the very important information about there having been no limousine damage in the rear-seat areas of the vehicle, proving that no bullet or bullets had penetrated the back seats or the Connally "jump" seats; nor did any whole or nearly-whole bullet(s) come to rest anywhere near JFK's or Connally's seats on 11/22/63.
   
   And there's, of course, the other vital (bodily) link in the "SBT chain" -- John Connally's body and his wounds (with the "elongated" entry wound on the Governor's back being a tell-tale sign that the bullet which struck Mr. Connally almost certainly had hit something or someone else first before entering the Governor's back); plus the lack of ANY bullets in Connally's body (and none found in JFK's body either, which was determined at his autopsy); and the determination by Connally's doctor (Dr. Shaw) that Connally's wounds were all most likely caused by just one single bullet.
   
   Which leads us to the ONLY BULLET ever discovered anywhere near the victims that could have been linked in any fashion to the wounds sustained by Kennedy and/or Connally (the non-fatal wounds to JFK that is) -- famous Bullet #CE399, which was found on a stretcher at Parkland Hospital by Darrell Tomlinson prior to 2:00 PM (CST) on 11/22/63, which would have been a ludicrous time for any conspirator(s) to have wanted to "plant" such a bullet -- because it was WAY TOO SOON to know for certain if OTHER missiles would be recovered from either of the victims, other bullets which (if found) would have rendered a "Planted CE399" completely useless and superfluous and, above all, PLOT-BLOWING!
   
   CE399 was linked to Lee Harvey Oswald's Mannlicher-Carcano rifle (to the exclusion of every weapon ever made), and, via NAA analysis, that very same bullet has been linked (with near certainty) to the bullet fragments removed from the wrist of wounded Governor Connally.
   
   Given all of the above (in its totality), can someone please explain how in the "Real World" (where most of the population resides) the Warren Commission could have come to any conclusion OTHER than the Single-Bullet scenario to explain all of these above-mentioned factors?
   
   Obviously, they could not have explained the wounds themselves (and the wounds' physical arrangement on the two victims' bodies)....and the lack of bullets....and the lack of limo damage via ANY other logical and reasonable way -- other than to say what the Warren Commission ultimately did say: One single missile (CE399) travelled through John Kennedy's upper body, exited his throat, entered John Connally's back (sideways), traversed the Governor's chest (taking out a rib en route), exited the Governor's chest just below the right nipple, continued on its flight into Connally's right wrist, then exited the wrist where it became spent in the Governor's left thigh .... where it then was dislodged at some point (in the car or in the hospital), ending up on Governor Connally's stretcher, where the bullet was then discovered by hospital employee Darrell Tomlinson at approximately 12:50 PM to 12:55 PM, Dallas time, on November 22nd, 1963.
   
   But the literal genesis of the Single-Bullet Theory lies NOT within the Warren Commission or Arlen Specter specifically -- it lies in the autopsy report itself, a report which was signed by three different doctors WEEKS before the Warren Commission even began to assemble its panel of counsel members and legal assistants (which didn't occur until mid-December 1963).
   
   
   Let's have a look (verbatim) at just exactly what was determined to be the truth concerning the details of President Kennedy's back and neck wounds as of November 23, 1963 (six days before the Warren Commission was even created):
   
   "Summary: Based on the above observations, it is our opinion that the deceased died as a result of two perforating gunshot wounds inflicted by high-velocity projectiles, fired by a person or persons unknown. The projectiles were fired from a point behind and somewhat above the level of the deceased. .... The fatal missile entered the skull above and to the right of the external occipital protuberance. .... The other missile entered the right superior posterior thorax above the scapula and traversed the soft tissues of the supra-scapular and the supra-clavicular portions of the base of the right side of the neck. This missile produced contusions of the right apical parietal pleura and of the apical portion of the right upper lobe of the lung. The missile contused the strap muscles of the right side of the neck, damaged the trachea, AND MADE ITS EXIT THROUGH THE ANTERIOR SURFACE OF THE NECK. As far as can be ascertained, this missile struck no bony structures in its path through the body."* (Added emphasis my own.)
   
   * = From Page 6 of the Official Autopsy Report on President John F. Kennedy (aka: "Pathological Examination Report"); Bearing the signatures of all three doctors who were present at JFK's 11/22/63 autopsy at Bethesda Naval Medical Center, Maryland; Signed by: Commander James J. Humes, Commander J. Thornton Boswell, and Lt. Col. Pierre A. Finck.
   
   --------------
   
   The above passages from John F. Kennedy's official medical legal autopsy report absolutely destroy the idea spouted by conspiracy theorists of TWO separate bullets striking the back and neck areas of President Kennedy. And, in essence, this reference to an 'Into-The-Back-And-Out-The-Neck' bullet path, as described by JFK's autopsy doctors, results in (literally) two-thirds of the "Single-Bullet Theory" being purported just ONE DAY after Kennedy's death. The "two-thirds" being -- An OFFICIAL explanation by the autopsy doctors themselves linking .... #1.) The entry wound on JFK's upper back to .... #2.) The exit wound on the front of his neck.
   
   Why it is that the word of ALL THREE of these pathologists who signed off on the Official Autopsy Report describing the wounds of a murdered American President are tossed into the nearest ash can by virtually ALL conspiracy promoters is something I have a difficult time reconciling (except to say that the "CTers" desperately NEED that autopsy report to be dead-wrong in order to further the notion that THREE separate bullets struck JFK and John Connally that day in Dallas, instead of just the one "SBT" missile).
   
   But the OFFICIAL record is crystal clear regarding the back and neck wounds to President Kennedy....and has been crystal clear since November of 1963.
   
   To repeat this ultra-important point -- The doctors said that just ONE bullet passed clean through John F. Kennedy!!
   
   Therefore -- unless every last one of these three autopsy doctors are (to a man) hopeless and utter incompetents or all three of them are lying scumbags who would deliberately falsify the most important autopsy report any of them would ever sign in their entire lives -- then the very first (and verifiably-TRUE) seeds and important links to the Single-Bullet Theory lie in that 1963 Autopsy Report -- and not just in Arlen Specter's mind (nor in any unsubstantiated "theory" placed on the table by Mr. Specter alone, as many CTers seem to believe).
   
   Conspiracy theorists should begin to accept the obvious -- that "obvious" being: the Single-Bullet Theory is the most logical and valid scenario to explain the seven wounds sustained by John F. Kennedy and John B. Connally in Dealey Plaza. And it is the ONLY possible explanation of the event that stands up to critical scrutiny, detailed analysis, and common-sense interpretation of the evidence when the ENTIRE batch of Single-Bullet-favoring evidence is gathered together in the same place.
   
   Denying this fact is to play Oliver Stone's game -- a game highlighted by mystery killers firing from the Grassy Knoll, unexplainable disappearing bullets, and a series of bullet holes (made by THREE different gunmen) in TWO different victims that mirror a SINGLE-BULLET EVENT so closely as to be deemed "perfect" for the adoption of the "SBT" in the months following the shooting.
   
   And I ask with the utmost sincerity -- Who in their right mind would have any desire to play that conspiracy-filled game of impossible-to-pull-off nonsense? Not I, that's for certain.



5. This book presents factual information that should be known to every American. Where the movie about the assassination of John F. Kennedy presents a plausible scenario, the book provides a list of essential elements that points, as the movie, to a conspiracy. It is disquieting to read, so many years later, that some believe a single bullet inflicted such wounds to two men but supposedly survived in near pristine condition. This book should be read along with Trauma Room One by Dr. Crenshaw who was there at Parkland Memorial Hospital and examined the President's wounds. The first version of Dr. Crenshaw's book was declared by the American Medical Association to be a fabrication but he won a judgement against them in court.

5 comments about Will's War: A Novel.

1. If you think you've read the quintessential courtroom novel, or learned more than you can possibly learn bout contemporary history, think again. this book has it all. Janice Woods /windle has an uncanny knack for making real people come to life on a page and they soon feel like old friends or family members. Here's a book that tells you things about Texas you never knew, gives you an entirely different slant on how this country handled the era around WWI, and shows you with almost painful clarity how people's passions and prejudices shape history and lives.

   From the first page where you meet Will Bergfeld until the conclusion of an emotional trial, this is a book you can't put down. As much as this book resembles True Women and Hill Country in creating a mood and drawing the history of Texas, it is again totally different, and could just as easily have taken place today. For those who think racial profiling is a new facet of our lives, think again. Pick up this book and you won;t be able to put it down until you've read the last word.




2. I learned so much by reading this third book of Janice Woods Windle. I was amazed at the intolerance and fear that Americans, Texans in particular, had of their fellow citizens who were of German extract during WWI. What a phenomena fear is! And war brings out the worst of fears, even today. To read of Will, Janice's ancestor and his trial related to supposed treason against the U. S. is an amazing read, as it is based on the truth of the trial of Woods Windle's kin.

   I was also fascinated by Will's involvement with the labor movement in Colorado and the Wobblies, and how that branded his reputation, threatened his livelihood as a mailman and upright citizen who saw a need for change and put his life on the line.

   I am a devout fan of Janice Woods Windle's three books. Actually "True Women" convinced me that she was a writer to watch. "Hill Country" was okay, but "Will's War" is right up there with "True Women." This is a must read in historical fiction of Texas, circa WWI and its surrounding years.

   Highly recommend!




3. For those of us who loved "Hill Country" and "True Women", Woods doesn't disappoint. Here is more of the story of her family, and the evolution of life in Texas. The characters, based on her ancestors, are real, and carry us through what was a very difficult time - a time of persecution of those who had the courage to risk life and limb to find a home in our promised land - and who, for the most part, were loyal, patriotic citizens. Again, we are aware of the resiliency and courage of those pioneer spirits who created the Texas of today. This is a great read, particulaly if you are interested in the human side of Texas history - warts and all.



4. 
   Mrs. Windle has written another fascinating, engrossing work. She seems to write, not only from excellent research, but from diligent research. Her descriptions of the occasions help us relive the history of her story as they keep us in touch with the characters and what they must have felt and the way they likely have behaved in this terrible time of our history.



5. Will's War represents the lenghts our govenment will go to, to silence those who don't agree with them (like our current administration), and how they bend the laws to get what they want. History repeats itself. Will the subject of this tome was framed by the government because like most German's of the WWI era they were against consription (the draft), he was also involved in both Farmers and Labor unions, two more reasons why the government went after him.
   
   Ms. Windle opens up her grandfather's struggles and the struggles of the German people who were subjected too the governments Mischarges of Justice. The courtroom drama was outstanding and fans of Perry Mason Mysteries will enjoy it. Although Paul Drake becomes Will's sister who is instrumental in turning the government's case around.
   
   Kudos and Bravo Ms. Windle
   
   Ms. Windle and I share the same surname "Windle" and we are probably related but the relationship link occurs over in Germany in the 1600's. My great, great, great, grandfather (John A Windle) did settle in Texas when it was a Republic in 1837 in Rusk Co. TX, but he was born in Virginia in 1804 and lived in AL and TN before finally settling in Texas long before WWI.

5 comments about The Fatal Bullet: The True Account of the Assassination, Lingering Pain, Death, and Burial of James A. Garfield, Twentieth President of the United States ... of Victorian Murder (Graphic Novels)).

1. This entry in Rick Geary's series on Victorian murders examines the assassination of President James Garfield by Charles J. Guiteau, a megalomaniacal failure at preaching, the law, and almost everything else he had tried. The drawings are evocative of the time and place, and give a clear idea of the events. The lives of Garfield and Guiteau are traced, and Guiteau's mental illness is made quite clear; today, he would almost certainly be sharing a room with John Hinckley. I'd like to see this whole series reprinted: one of them is out of print and apparently unavailable.



2. As a history buff, and a fan of Rick Geary's, I knew I'd enjoy this book, but I had no idea how much! The book tells the paralell stories of President James A. Garfield and his stalker (and eventual assassin) Charles Giteau, an abysmal failure in every aspect of life; indeed, his ONLY success in life was the murder of President Garfield, and he almost botched that up, too. Garfield lingered for months after the attack, dying perhaps more as a result of medical incompetence than Giteau's efforts.
   Geary's wonderfully cartoony art is reminiscent of claymation; it gives a true illusion of depth and form. He is truly one of the underrated geniuses of the Comic art form. His meticulous research gives us many interesting facts, such as The President being allowed to walk around Washington D.C. unescorted (No Secret Service yet), Abraham Lincoln's son's association with Garfield, and too many others to count. Do yourself a favor- read the book!!



3. When I ordered this book, I thought it was a short textual history of the assasination of President James Garfield. It turns out that this book is in comic book format with the story being told by dialogue and cartoon illustrations. However, I really enjoyed the book and learned a lot about Garfield, his assasin, Charles Guiteau, and Garfield's slow death.

   Guiteau was basically a loser in life and had even served time in jail. He was constantly skipping out on creditors and and he showed signs of mental illness. He was dillusional and thought that Garfield would apppoint him to an ambassadorship. He literally stalked both Garfield and Secretary of State Blaine in an attempt to secure the appointment. When it was not forthcoming, he stalked Garfield (this was in the days before the secret service) until he had the opportunity to shoot the President.

   The wound caused a rupture in an artery but an aneurism sealed off the opening so he did not bleed to death. Garfield lingered for many weeks until the aneurism ultimately ruptured and Garfield died. The location of the bullet had not been located and the aneurism had gone untreated. Today, Garfield's condition would have almost certainly been diagnosed through an MRI and he may have survived delicate surgery which would have saved his life.

   In reading history, we generally get a line or two about Garfield being assasinated by a "disappointed office seeker." It was enjoyable to learn more about this event, particularly in such an unusual literary format.




4. I'm a fan of this series. There are good entries and less good entries. I discovered them with the Jack the Ripper volume which I like to read at night before bedtime. There are two aspects of that book I wish Geary would return to. The first is that the crime is scandalous and unsolved (as is the Borden case), the second is that none of the victims was a president!
   
   This is really not about juicy, low Victorian murders which I would think is the appeal of a series with that title. Once a president is involved you're into assasinations, which to my mind are a different thing. Curling up with a book about an assasination in which the killer is known & villified for his failings, the victim lingers, and in which all the answers are found before you're done just doesn't hold the same appeal.
   
   People who are seeking history seem to like the book.



5. Rick Geary's new book "The Fatal Bullet..." explores an important event in American history in an unusual yet effective manner.
   
   To summarize: the nation, which in recent times had dealt with the horrors of President Lincoln's assassination was once again shaken to its core the summer of 1881. On Saturday, July 2 in the near empty waiting room of a train depot, the twentieth U.S. President, Republican James Abraham Garfield was shot in the back. It would take a grueling two months before the President would succumb to his injury.
   
   The assassin, one Charles Guiteau was quickly apprehended. He announced that he bore no ill-will toward the President but that his death was a "political necessity." During his trial Guiteau defended himself proclaiming to be an agent of deity. He would go on to state that the President's physicians should bear the burden of his death. He reasoned this because of the fact that they had decided the wound the President had suffered was not, in fact fatal and that he would soon recover. Guiteau was convicted of the assassination by a jury and was executed by hanging on June 30, 1882.
   
   What sets Geary's book apart from other historical works is that it was written in a graphic novel. With illustration reminiscent of a comic book, Geary's book sets out to explore the Garfield assassination as well as to take a closer look at the events leading up to this significant point in the two men's lives.
   
   Geary examines certain similarities in both lives. Some of these included are in regards to their home regions, the fact that both were the youngest in their family, both considered clergy as a career and that both were drawn to the law and politics.
   
   Robert Frost wrote of two roads that diverged in the wood. This would certainly be applicable to the life paths taken by Garfield and Guiteau. While their lives bore some resemblances they each took different paths. Garfield had a "happy prosperous life" with a strong marriage and a "reputation for honesty, loyalty and fair dealing." Guiteau, on the other hand, took the "downward path" with a bitter and brief marriage and a reputation as a "cheat, charltan and hum-bug."
   
   Geary's book is very interesting and unique. To take a piece of history put it in comic form and stay true to the serious nature of the event is quite the feat. This book will appeal to those young adults and teens who may otherwise have little or no interest in history. Teachers would do well to include this book in their curriculum.

5 comments about Dark Union: The Secret Web of Profiteers, Politicians, and Booth Conspirators That Led to Lincoln's Death.

1. I came across "Dark Union" the other evening in a late-night visit to a bookstore and was immediately intrigued by its premise. However, I am, like President Lincoln, "vacillating"...vacillating between continuing to read this book or returning it to the bookstore.
   
   Why?
   
   To begin with, while I don't doubt the integrity of Mr. Guttridge, a very good historian, there are too many things here - unresolved issues, unconnected dots, that don't hold water. The authors claim that Lincoln authorized a "meat-for-cotton" deal to save the Union financial structure. Fine, if one considers that if Lincoln truly needed the cotton, he would have authorized another "Red River" expedition headed by someone more militarily astute than Nathaniel Commissary Banks. He would not have agreed on a financial deal to save the Union based on Confederate cotton.
   
   Secondly, Andrew Johnson's chief aide? Relations were already bad between Johnson and some of the other alledged co-conspirators (Edwin Stanton, et. al.,) that why would they want someone affiliated with the detested Johnson to run the show. And bringing in John Wilkes Booth, a blatant Confederate symp and hater of Lincoln to be part of the team? C'mon.
   
   John Wilkes Booth was, according to nearly every account that I've read, never married. If he was, where's the proof. On the other hand, women like the relative of Senator Sumner who tried to distance herself from any association with him, or the poor beautiful actress who tried to kill herself after her lover murdered the President are much more numerous and much more known.
   
   As for Lafayette Baker and Stanton, sure, these were very powerful and yes, very despicable men. But this deal to kidnap Lincoln when he vacillated on the deal, preferring, according to the book a decisive military victory, simply is too unwieldly - and there would have been too many people who would have spilled the beans, no matter who might have been involved. General Grant allowing Lincoln to be kidnapped or murdered - and Lew Wallace described as being close to Grant??? Anyone who has read about Grant's anger towards Wallace after Shiloh would have known better, even if Wallace did get back into Grant's good graces after his valiant one-day stand at Monocacy against Jubal Early.
   
   Finally, John Wilkes Booth being smuggled out of the country to India, courtesy of Stanton. This is just too rich for me.
   
   A good conspiracy call, - but just too unwieldly, too unbelieveable, even if Stanton was involved up to his armpits. I'll leave it to some of my friends who are Lincoln experts to sort this thing out.
   
   Were Leonard Guttridge and Ray Neff playing a joke on all of us??
   
   Has the DNA been checked yet???



2. I have mixed thoughts on this book as it does bring to light the possibility of an early war conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln. I did like how Guttridge brought ideas to the table about how the food for cotton program started, but a lot of this book is full of "could be" situations. I found it a bit confusing as to how Booth came involved with the early war plot or how he came into the fold with the profiteers and their connection. I did like reading about the chase to find Booth at the end of the book and how questions arised from whether or not Booth was actually captured.
   
   I found this book covering a few topics that at times didn't seem to mix well or flow with each other. At the end of the book, it seemed more like a Booth biography, but didn't really match the original content. The Lincoln assassination does bring up a lot of possibilities though I think Guttridge needed to focus on one and kept it simple versus jumping on a lot of different ideas and making me wonder how some related to others.



3. This book is hard to believe. There are some elemental truths in this book, like the black market trade in cotton, which some in the government sanctioned. Other things, like the two groups of fugitives going across the Potomic and the attack on Seward supposedly by his eldest is just unbelieveable. The authors roll out some sketchy facts, but not sufficient proof that an actual conspiracy took place. The alleged conspiracy itself is kind of hard to believe. The authors would have us believe that greedy businessmen, along with radical Republicans and Southern government officials combined to rid the government of Abraham Lincoln. I am not sure you could get all those people in the same room, lest agree.
   
   This is a poor book in revisionist history. I liked the review of the clandestine business deals that took place with the South. Much of the rest of the book was not very believeable.



4. A fascinating read. While not a historian myself, I do have a problem with critics here who find alliances between North and South brewing a conspiracy to be "unbelievable" because the 2 sides would ever agree on anything.
   
   This is why black-ops against leaders always succeed - we are too conditioned to accept the power that large sums of money truly has over individuals. (You can find examples of Arabs and Isrealis who mutually profit from businesses.) It's time we wake up and realize the control that banks and bankers have over world societies, by way of war-created debt and their media ownership.
   
   The plot detailed in this book is simply a result of that - and I think that's why this book has been raked over the coals. It's simply more evidence of that centuries of increasing control.



5. Guttridge and Neff have done a meticulous job of exposing the power elite operating in Washington and New York in 1865 and why they had decided that Lincoln had to go! Lincoln wanted reconciliation with the South with full citizen rights just as before the Civil war. He did not want the South looted and plundered. Wealthy and powerful people in the North had other ideas. Great fortunes were to be made by stealing the cotton in the South and selling it in Europe for large sums of money to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. In today's dollars that would be billions of dollars. The Power Elite got it their way. John Wilkes Booth, who really did escape, was just an instrument used to attain the Power Elite's goals.
   
   There has always been a Power Elite operating behind the scenes through out history. Kings, Presidents, Prime Ministers, call them what you like, are mostly puppets. The puppet masters operate behind the scenes and pull the strings. You don't have to look far to find out who they are. Who has all the gold? The power players who control the money supply have the real power and the politicians have to dance to the tune the Power Elite plays. One only has to study the JFK assassination to see how this all plays out. They got rid of Kennedy just like they got rid of Lincoln.
   
   For those who do not believe there is a Power Elite operating behind the scenes, I'm reminded what Senator Meachum says to Swagger in the film Shooter (2007). "Oh you poor dumb fool. You still don't get it. There are no Republicans or Democrats. There is no left or right. There are only haves and have not's. It's all about the money. Now which side do you want to be on son? Are you in or out?" That sums it up pretty good.
   
   For all the reviewers who said Guttridge and Neff did not document their sources, you must not have read the notes on pages 244-273. It's all there. And yes, be leery of establishment historians who owe their livelihood to perpetuating a false history which protects the Power Elite from being exposed.

No comments about November 22, 1963.