4 comments about A true history of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and of the conspiracy of 1865.

1. Louis J. Weichmann would be little more than a footnote in the story of the assasination of Abraham Lincoln had he not shown himself to be ...individuals associated with a second, almost darker tragedy...the execution of an innocent woman.

   Weichmann rented a room in the boarding house of widow Mary Surratt, where many of those who conspired to kidnap and later assasinate Lincoln lived at the time. Once the conspiracy was uncovered, overzealous federal officials alleged Mrs. Surratt was an active participant. Historical fact, as well as the testimony of the conspirators themselves, stood in sharp contradiction to these allegations. Weichmann, who was barely acquainted with any of these individuals, testified that she was an active participant. It was later determined that his motive was to curry favor with government officials in hopes of obtaining a federal job. Based on Weichmann's false testimony, an innocent woman went to the gallows. Weichmann later wrote this book in attempt to cash in on the public's thirst for knowledge. The problem is, he had none. He just happened to be in the same place as some of the conspirators for a brief period of time.

   It is with this knowledge of the author's motives that anyone considering reading this book should approach it. Weichmann has earned his place in American history as a liar and a coward. As an author, he is not worthy of belief.




2. Over 100 years after the assassination of President Lincoln, the words of Louis Weichmann finally reveal the true events of the day. This is an invaluable work as a first-hand, true accounting of the conspiracy and its aftermath. Told not for profit or personal recognition (the book was not published for nearly 75 years after the author's death), this work seeks to preserve for history an intimate record of the words and deeds of the conspirators. It seals the fate, once and for all, of the Surratts and Booth, as the testimony of Weichmann did originally at their trial. Furthermore, the work relies not only upon the recollections of Weichmann, but is supported by historical documents and testimony of his contemporaries. It is a book not to be missed by anyone interested in the facts about what happened the day that Lincoln died.



3. Comparing 1865 and 1963 -- the Strange History of Death.
   
   Strange but true: There are seven letters in each name. Both presidents had legality of their election contested. Both were directly concerned with the issue of civil rights. Both were slain on a Friday and in the presence of their wives. Lincoln was elected in 1860; Kennedy in 1960. Their successors were named Johnson (Andrew of Tennessee and Lyndon of Texas) and were Southern Democrats who had previously served inthe U. S. Senate. Andy was born in 1808; Lyndon in 1908.
   
   Booth and Oswald were murdered before tial could be arranged. Both were Southerners favoring unpopular ideas (both deranged). Lincoln's secretary named Kennedy advised him not to go to the theatre. Kennedy's secretary named Lincoln advised him not to go to Dallas. Both Lincoln and Kennedy were carried in death on the same caisson. Pecularities and similarities, but something to ponder after the fact.
   
   Abraham Lincoln suffered from melancholia, as we are aware due to the History Channel special. He is about the most quoted president we've ever had; "the best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time," is attributed to him. A movie was made about this book and its claims, or vice versa. Perhaps the movie was made first.
   
   This book verifies what I have always thought, but a smart person at the library put quaslifications on the fact that " Mary Sarratt was the first woman in American history to be hanged." The check-out clerk at the downtown library said that perhaps she had been the first official one. This book claims that there had been a conspiracy plot to kidnap Lincoln, and a conspiracy cover-up. At the famous "Conspiracy Trial of 1865" she was sentenced along with three males to hang the next day.
   
   Some of the Northern commodities speculators and fianciers of the Union who were a part of the conspiracy include Jay Cooke of Philadelphia, PA, Henry Cooke of Washington,DC, journalitst Thurlow Weed, Robert D.Watson, Ward Hill Lamon who was U S Marshal, and D. C. Lamon, Lincoln's closest friend. Some of the Confederate leaders were implicated as were "radical" Republications in Lincoln's own party. Pictures of all of those accused are in the photo section.
   
   This book goes into detail how John Wilkes Booth was able to get into the presidential box at Ford's Theatre unimpeded, and how he was able to escape out the back door after he jumped and broke his leg. Booth had a wife and daughter living on a farm near Harper's Ferry, Virginia, but he went in the opposite direction so as not to involve them. He used a 44 caliber derringer pistol, which looks like a prop for a play, it is housed in the Historic Museum on the site of the killing. Due to his dramatic training, he yelled "Sic semper tyrannis" (Thus always no tyrants) as he hit the stage on his knee.
   
   The President's eyes showed evidence of brain damage. The bullet had gone in the left side of the head, behind the ear near the top of the spine. The 44 caliber ball had entered vehind the left ear and lodged in the brain just behind the right eye. Mary Lincoln, distraught over the assassination events, was declared insane and committed to an insame asylum by her son, Robert.
   
   There were coincidences published after John Kennedy met his fate, as a conspiracy was established by some of the government, and also a conspiracy involved when they killed his brother, Robert. Unlike Lincoln who had a premonition of his death, JFK didn't know what hit him or why. Both Kennedys had bad blood and did not trust J. Edgar Hoover. It was history repeating itself. Lincoln had been through a lot and was undernourished and haggard -- could be he welcomed death. But Kennedy, on the other hand, had just begun and would have been a President to emulate had he been able to do some of the things he had in the works. We would have been spared a lot of national dissention had he lived. After all, he had created his own Camelot. Lincoln would never have been so free to enjoy his life but he did attend the plays as a form of relaxation.
   
   We have quite a collection now.



4. Louis Weichmann's account of the conspiracy does give us an exceptionally detailed, first-hand account of the conspiracy of 1865, and hence is invaluable despite his omissions and blatant lies. Weichmann's choice of recollections gives us a better understanding of his moral character, his fears, his friends, and his mistakes.
   
   Weichmann recounts the events of 1865 in flowery, dramatic style; and he extensively quotes contemporary accounts of the assassination in order to support his own arguments (many of the documents he quotes do not survive in any other published form). Whether or not he truthfully recounts his personal story, Weichmann does make a genuine effort to write his book in proper scholarly fashion.
   
   Certainly Louis Weichmann's memoirs, biased as they are, would serve as a poor introduction to the Lincoln Assassination; but for a true understanding of the assassination conspiracy, this book is indispensible.
   
   --Kara Sowles & Suzanne Davies

No comments about MCKINLEY, WILLIAM: An entry from Thomson Gale's <i>West's Encyclopedia of American Law</i>.

No comments about Complete Life of William McKinley and Story of His Assassination an authentic and official Memorial Edition.

5 comments about Lincoln and Kennedy: Medical and Ballistic Comparisons of Their Assassinations.

1. This book is a good book for those of you out there who want to learn more about the Kennedy and Lincoln Assassinations and what interesting things made them similar. ENJOY!



2. I bought this book when it was first published, but like many "buffs," I didn't seriously read it because I didn't have any interest in a lone gunman viewpoint. Unlike most self-styled experts, Lattimer actually knows what he is talking about (as both a ballistics expert and a former combat surgeon). But what makes this work most valuable is that Lattimer used actual scientific evidence to back his opinions. For example, he actually shoots skulls and animal carcasses with a Carcano to reproduce the wounds and movements of JFK during the shooting. Go to your local medical school library and look up the peer-reviewed medical journal articles written by Lattimer on this subject if you want an objective scientific view.



3. Both Conspiracies Unequalled in History., August 14, 2006
   Reviewer: Betty Burks (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews
   
   Strange but true: There are seven letters in each name. Both presidents had legality of their election contested. Both were directly concerned with the issue of civil rights. Both were slain on a Friday and in the presence of their wives. Lincoln was elected in 1860; Kennedy in 1960. Their successors were named Johnson (Andrew of Tennessee and Lyndon of Texas) and were Southern Democrats who had previously served inthe U. S. Senate. Andy was born in 1808; Lyndon in 1908.
   
   Booth and Oswald were murdered before tial could be arranged. Both were Southerners favoring unpopular ideas (both deranged). Lincoln's secretary named Kennedy advised him not to go to the theatre. Kennedy's secretary named Lincoln advised him not to go to Dallas. Both Lincoln and Kennedy were carried in death on the same caisson. Pecularities and similarities, but something to ponder after the fact.
   
   Abraham Lincoln suffered from melancholia, as we are aware due to the History Channel special. He is about the most quoted president we've ever had; "the best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time," is attributed to him. A movie was made about this book and its claims, or vice versa. Perhaps the movie was made first.
   
   This book verifies what I have always thought, but a smart person at the library put qualifications on the fact that " Mary Sarratt was the first woman in American history to be hanged." The check-out clerk at the downtown library said that perhaps she had been the first official one. This book claims that there had been a conspiracy plot to kidnap Lincoln, and a conspiracy cover-up. At the famous "Conspiracy Trial of 1865" she was sentenced along with three males to hang the next day.
   
   Some of the Northern commodities speculators and financiers of the Union who were a part of the conspiracy include Jay Cooke of Philadelphia, PA, Henry Cooke of Washington,DC, journalitst Thurlow Weed, Robert D.Watson, Ward Hill Lamon who was U S Marshal, and D. C. Lamon, Lincoln's closest friend. Some of the Confederate leaders were implicated as were "radical" Republications in Lincoln's own party. Pictures of all of those accused are in the photo section.
   
   This book goes into detail how John Wilkes Booth was able to get into the presidential box at Ford's Theatre unimpeded, and how he was able to escape out the back door after he jumped and broke his leg. Booth had a wife and daughter living on a farm near Harper's Ferry, Virginia, but he went in the opposite direction so as not to involve them. He used a 44 caliber derringer pistol, which looks like a prop for a play, it is housed in the Historic Museum on the site of the killing. Due to his dramatic training, he yelled "Sic semper tyrannis" (Thus always no tyrants) as he hit the stage on his knee.
   
   The President's eyes showed evidence of brain damage. The bullet had gone in the left side of the head, behind the ear near the top of the spine. The 44 caliber ball had entered behind the left ear and lodged in the brain just behind the right eye. Mary Lincoln, distraught over the assassination events, was declared insane and committed to an insame asylum by her son, Robert.
   
   There were coincidences published after John Kennedy met his fate, as a conspiracy was established by some of the government, and also a conspiracy involved when they killed his brother, Robert. Unlike Lincoln who had a premonition of his death, JFK didn't know what hit him or why. Both Kennedys had bad blood and did not trust J. Edgar Hoover. It was history repeating itself. Lincoln had been through a lot and was undernourished and haggard -- could be he welcomed death. But Kennedy, on the other hand, had just begun and would have been a President to emulate had he been able to do some of the things he had in the works. We would have been spared a lot of national dissention had he lived. After all, he had created his own Camelot. Lincoln would never have been so free to enjoy his life but he did attend the plays as a form of relaxation.
   
   Read this book before censoring the review. That's how it's done. Be Fair.



4. Scholarly, authoritative and compelling - and at the same time an easy read. This book is one of the best resources on the Kennedy assassination available. Never mind the comparisons between Lincoln and JFK though indeed interesting. The Kennedy section is the greater part of the book and is a valuable source of information to the researcher. It seems a shame that this book is often ignored by researchers, perhaps because at first glance it does not appear to be a true "who shot JFK" book. Indeed it is and quite simply one of the best. An excellent contribution to the body of work on this subject and one of the very few actually written by a genuine, professionally trained and experienced individual in the field in which they specialize. The medical and ballistics evidence is presented clearly and is not overcomplicated by tedious over analysis. The book is highly convincing in showing that beyond a reasonable doubt, all the shots were fired from above and behind. A simple example - why was the exit wound in Kennedy's neck so small - because it was really a wound of entry ? No, because the collar and tie held the skin in place to create a small exit wound. Try finding that in any of the other 200 plus books on the subject.



5. "Kennedy And Lincoln: Medical And Ballistic Comparisons Of Their Assassinations", published in 1980, is an impressive hardcover volume written by Dr. John K. Lattimer. This book, which spans 398 total pages, is one that I would highly recommend to anyone who is interested in researching the JFK case.
   
   Though Dr. Lattimer has a habit of repeating himself in the text of this volume (sometimes providing triple or even quadruple redundancy when discussing many of the points brought up in the book), his writing style and paragraphing technique are very reader-friendly and easy on the eyes, with bold-face topic headers used frequently to isolate the various sections of evidence he is discussing.
   
   For the first 120 pages of the book, Lattimer focuses his attention on the April 14, 1865, assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, as well as providing interesting details concerning the other two portions of the intricate conspiracy plot that assassin John Wilkes Booth had devised for the elimination of two additional Government officials on that Good Friday back in 1865 -- which were the planned assassinations of Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward.*
   
   * = The planned attack on Johnson, however, was aborted entirely; while Seward survived his terrifying ordeal after being savagely and repeatedly stabbed by would-be assassin Lewis Payne.
   
   There are many fascinating tidbits of information about the Lincoln assassination conspiracy in this volume that I previously had never known, including practically a blow-by-blow description of Payne's attack on Seward and a fairly-detailed section in the book centering on the manhunt and eventual killing of John Wilkes Booth in Garrett's Barn twelve days after Booth had shot and killed President Lincoln.
   
   And, too, there's a section in the book that mentions the irresistible similarities and coincidences between Lincoln's and Kennedy's deaths. Such as:
   
   1.) Both victims were shot in the back of the head.
   
   2.) The wife of each victim was sitting right beside her husband when the attacks occurred, with each First Lady holding the head of her husband just after the fatal blow.
   
   3.) Both Lincoln and Kennedy were shot on a Friday.
   
   4.) Each victim's Vice President was named "Johnson".
   
   5.) Both Lincoln and Kennedy liked rocking chairs (Lincoln was fatally shot while sitting in such a chair).
   
   6.) Both Presidential assassins (Booth and Oswald) were each confronted by an officer named "Baker" while in flight from their crimes.
   
   7.) Lincoln's and JFK's killers both were shot by a single bullet before either man could stand trial, and each lived for approximately two hours after being gunned down (and both Booth and Oswald were shot by "Colt revolvers" as well).
   
   ------------------------
   
   The final two-thirds of "Kennedy And Lincoln" deals exclusively with the JFK assassination, which occurred almost exactly 100 years after Lincoln's murder (98.5 years to be exact).
   
   Over the course of many years, Dr. Lattimer performed a series of very detailed tests and experiments, as he attempted to re-create certain aspects of President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination.
   
   Dr. Lattimer had been a surgeon during World War 2 and therefore, prior to writing this book, was very familiar with gunshot wounds, military type rifles, and the ammunition that was used in such weapons.
   
   Lattimer was also aided greatly in his experimental work by having the unique opportunity to personally examine (in some detail) many of the crucial pieces of evidence connected with the JFK murder, such as being able to handle and inspect the famous "Stretcher Bullet" (CE399, deemed the "Magic Bullet" by conspiracists), plus the original Kennedy autopsy photographs and X-rays at the National Archives, and the actual clothing that JFK was wearing on the tragic day of 11/22/63 (consisting of JFK's suit jacket, shirt, necktie, and back brace).
   
   Dr. Lattimer, in fact, in January of 1972, became the very first non-government person to ever be granted access to many of the sensitive and rarely-viewed original items of Kennedy-assassination evidence.
   
   Each and every one of Lattimer's carefully-conducted experiments paralleled and generally corroborated the conclusions reached in 1964 by the Warren Commission panel -- i.e., conclusions to the effect that President Kennedy had been killed by bullets fired from ONLY behind and above him in Dallas (with both of the bullets that struck the President on 11/22/63 coming out of a gun owned by Lee Harvey Oswald -- a 6.5mm Mannlicher-Carcano bolt-action carbine, model 91-38, serial number C2766).
   
   That exact rifle, which was purchased by Oswald via mail-order in March of 1963, was found 52 minutes after JFK was shot. It was found on the sixth floor of the building where Oswald was employed -- the Texas School Book Depository; and three bullet shells, which were positively ejected from that very same weapon, were also discovered underneath the window where a sniper -- identified as Oswald -- was located during the shooting.
   
   Dr. Lattimer's tests were done using the exact same kind of Mannlicher-Carcano rifle as Oswald's, and the very same type of WCC (Western Cartridge Company) bullets that Oswald used in his own weapon. In fact, Lattimer's test bullets came from precisely the same batch of bullets that it was determined that Oswald used in his Carcano back in '63.
   
   I have found a few (minor) errors within the text of "K&L", however....including Dr. Lattimer telling his readers (on three separate occasions in the book) that a noisy freight train was clanking its way across the Triple Underpass railway bridge in Dallas' Dealey Plaza at the precise moment when President Kennedy was being shot and killed by rifle bullets.
   
   The train info is positively an error on Lattimer's part, as a photograph taken by James Altgens at the time of the shooting verifies. Altgens snapped a picture looking west toward the Triple Underpass (bridge) just seconds before JFK's limousine went underneath that bridge, and there is positively no freight train on the tracks at that time.
   
   A motion-picture film taken by witness Mark Bell at the time the President's car was speeding underneath the Underpass also confirms that there was no train on the railroad bridge at that time.
   
   There's also the fact that the Dallas Police, to my knowledge, had orders to keep all trains off of the bridge during the time when JFK's motorcade was driving through Dealey Plaza.
   
   ------------------------
   
   Here's a quote from "Kennedy And Lincoln" concerning the ammunition that Lattimer used:
   
   "The cartridges used by Oswald were an excellent American-made Western Cartridge Company product. Four sub-lots had been manufactured, and we tested samples from all four. They had excellent consistency of bullet weights and powder weights. We fired about 700 rounds in our experiments, and various government agencies fired about 200 more. We had no misfires, nor did the other groups. They were sold in boxes of twenty, and it seems likely that Oswald was down to his last four, since no more were found among his possessions." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 252
   
   ------------------------
   
   Below I've written out several additional verbatim excerpts from this intriguing book, which are passages that, in my opinion, go a long way toward firmly debunking many of the JFK conspiracy theories that have filled the landscape since 1963.
   
   In particular, these text excerpts tend to irrevocably harpoon and destroy the widely-accepted theories which revolve around the general (unproven) idea that President Kennedy was shot one or more times from the front as part of a "multi-gun plot". ......
   
   ------------------------
   
   "These experiments {involving the firing of MC/WCC bullets at a simulated JFK upper back and neck} confirmed beyond all of my doubts that the smallness of the exit hole in the front of Kennedy's neck was due to the fact that the skin was supported by a firm collar band, which restrained it from bulging and bursting open ahead of the exiting bullet. .... If the bullet had not exited from the President's neck just AT the collar band, the exit wound might have been much larger." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 239
   
   ------------------------
   
   "Five cardboard skins simulating {wounded Texas Governor John} Connally were placed the same distance from Kennedy's neck as Connally was seated in the automobile in front of the President. The Carcano bullets that made the holes in these targets had passed through a simulation of Kennedy's neck, striking only soft tissues. Five of the six bullets tumbled end over end after leaving the neck and struck Connally's skin traveling almost sideways. .... These results confirmed our previous observations that these bullets almost always tumbled after passing through a neck." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 237
   
   ------------------------
   
   "An oval hole in our simulated back of Connally was caused by our test bullet that had first passed through a simulation of Kennedy's neck, causing that bullet to wobble and start to tumble end over end. Connally's wound of entry was elongated, like the one in the center of {the test} target.
   
   The punctate round hole, with black margins, of the type that always occurred when our test bullets struck the Connally target without hitting something else first, can be seen to the right of Connally's outline in the photograph {via Figure 106 on Page 265 of "K&L"}.
   
   These bullets never wobbled or tumbled spontaneously; they were stable in their flight to the target UNLESS THEY HIT SOMETHING ELSE FIRST {DVP's emphasis}, such as Kennedy's neck, whereupon they turned almost completely sideways." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 265 (Via a November 1974 article by JKL that appeared in the "Medical Times")
   
   ------------------------
   
   "When the {test} bullet {simulating "CE399" and the "SBT"} traversed an experimental neck, it was slowed down, tumbled, and did not shatter the leg bone {of a simulation of John Connally}. Since Connally's leg bone was NOT shattered {during the actual shooting event on 11/22/63}, the bullet that hit him must have hit something else first, such as Kennedy's neck, to slow it down." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 273
   
   ~~~~~
   
   DVP Interjection -- Dr. Lattimer also explains that during his experiments of firing Carcano bullets into a simulated "John Connally", the bullets ALWAYS caused much more damage to the mock Connally bodies if those bullets struck the test Connally bodies without going through a mock Kennedy body first (with this extra damage always including displaced fragments of bone in the wrist and a fractured femur in the simulated Connally leg).
   
   This, in my view, is an extremely-significant point in favor of the much-debated "Single-Bullet Theory" being a rock-solid FACT, rather than mere "theory".
   
   ------------------------
   
   "Some critics have contended that the four bullet fragments in Governor Connally are too many to be accounted for by the two grains of lead missing from bullet 399. In our experiments we were able to make forty-one such fragments from the two-grain piece of lead that extruded from our test bullet. It can safely be said, therefore, that four fragments are by no means too many to be accounted for by the two grains missing from bullet 399." -- J.K. Lattimer; Pages 276-277
   
   ~~~~~
   
   DVP Interjection -- A follow-up to the above excerpt......
   
   In addition to the common conspiracy-flavored argument by the WC critics alluded to by Lattimer with respect to the bullet fragments that were physically removed from Governor Connally, many conspiracy buffs are also of the (false) opinion that the tiny pieces of metal that were left inside Connally's body, when coupled with the approximately one (total) grain of metal fragments taken out of the Governor, constitute "too many fragments" to have possibly come from Bullet CE399, which is a bullet that is missing an estimated 2.2 grains of its original 160 to 161 grains of total mass.
   
   But the Warren Commission testimony of one of Connally's doctors, Dr. Charles Gregory, tends to put a different light on this matter and also tends to refute the "too many fragments" theory.
   
   Here's what Dr. Gregory had to say about the metal (bullet) fragments that occupied space inside John Connally's wrist......
   
   MR. SPECTER -- "Will you describe as specifically as you can what those metallic fragments are by way of size and shape, sir?"
   
   DR. GREGORY -- "I would identify these fragments as varying from five-tenths of a millimeter in diameter to approximately two millimeters in diameter, and each fragment is no more than a half millimeter in thickness. They would represent, in lay terms, flakes....flakes of metal."
   
   MR. SPECTER -- "What would your estimate be as to their weight in total?"
   
   DR. GREGORY -- "I would estimate that they would be weighed in micrograms, which is {a} very small amount of weight. I don't know how to reduce it to ordinary equivalents for you. It is the kind of weighing that requires a micro-adjustable scale, which means that it is something less than the weight of a postage stamp."
   
   ------------------------
   
   "This bullet {a 6.5mm Carcano missile like CE399} can penetrate four feet of solid wood or three pine telephone poles side by side and come out looking completely undeformed. On the other hand, if it is fired into the thick bone of the back of a human skull, the jacket and core of the bullet will separate, releasing a myriad of additional fragments of many different sizes." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 277
   
   ------------------------
   
   "All of the metal fragments {visible in JFK's head via X-rays} were confined to the right side of the brain area and all the fragments were above an imaginary line drawn from the wound of entry through the top of the frontal sinus.
   
   Their configuration was in keeping with the track of a bullet entering at the rear of the right side of the skull, near the midline, disrupting and exiting from the front of the head on the right. It was compatible with no other direction. There were no bullet fragments in the left side of the skull to indicate a transverse bullet wound, as from the front right." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 214
   
   ~~~~~
   
   DVP Interjection -- I think a portion of the above statement from page number 214 deserves to be highlighted and emphasized once again......
   
   "THERE WERE NO BULLET FRAGMENTS IN THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SKULL."
   
   I am, therefore, very tempted to ask conspiracy theorists the following question -- How is this even remotely conceivable if, in fact, the fatal blow to President Kennedy's head had come from the RIGHT-FRONT (i.e., the "Grassy Knoll" area of Dealey Plaza), as so many assassination researchers firmly believe?
   
   Obviously (and realistically), if JFK had been shot in the head from the Knoll (located to the right-front of the President when he received the fatal blow), the X-rays of his head would have certainly indicated the presence of bullet fragments in the LEFT side of the skull/brain, which, by all rights, is a location (the LEFT side of the head) where an exit wound should logically have also been located if Kennedy had been the victim of a massive head injury caused by a Grassy Knoll gunman.
   
   But the left side of the President's head was completely intact, and showed no signs of any metal fragments within the left hemisphere of his head and brain (as Dr. Lattimer correctly points out on Page #214 of this publication).
   
   Therefore, either those official X-rays that reside at the National Archives (which verify beyond all doubt that the President was shot through the head FROM BEHIND ONLY) were elaborate and beautifully-prepared forgeries/fakes that managed to fool many, many experts over the years....or....the conspiracy quacks who relentlessly keep insisting that JFK was shot from the Grassy Knoll are just flat-out wrong. I can see no third option here.
   
   Which of the above explanations regarding the head wound and the X-rays is most likely to be the correct one? (Not exactly too difficult a question there, huh?) ~wink~
   
   ------------------------
   
   "Any {test} bullets fired into the skull from the right front always caused very obvious destruction of the left side of the skull and left bullet fragments against this side of the skull. Since there was no such damage to the left side of Kennedy's head, and no bullet fragments against the left side of his skull, and since Mrs. Kennedy was not hit by any fragments and photographer Zapruder was not visibly jolted from his perch by a deafening rifle shot almost beside him, we find it very difficult to believe that another supersonic bullet was fired from the grassy knoll in the general vicinity of Zapruder." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 258
   
   ------------------------
   
   "Combinations of human skull tops and melons were tested, and, again, all fell backward off the stand toward the shooter. No melon or skull combination ever fell AWAY from the shooter.
   
   Human skulls were then packed with solid melon contents and taped and sewed tightly together with strong tape and thread to simulate the scalp. We fired into these at the same point and at the same angle as the President was struck.
   
   The skull wounds produced were strikingly similar to Kennedy's. Again, the skulls fell or jumped off the stand toward the shooter, and large fragments of the top of the skulls flew upward and forward for distances of forty feet or more, just as fragments of Kennedy's skull can be seen to have done in frames 313 through 318 of the Zapruder movie." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 251
   
   ------------------------
   
   "I wish to re-emphasize that none of our test objects in these experiments with melons and skulls ever jumped or fell off the stand AWAY from the shooter." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 251
   
   ------------------------
   
   "Our experiments verified that the backward movement of the President's head was compatible with his being struck from the rear, and that it was certainly not necessary to hit the head from the front in order to make the head move toward the gun." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 255
   
   ------------------------
   
   "When combined with the overpowering evidence that the X-rays of {President Kennedy's} head show metallic bullet fragments arranged only from back to front in the right side of his brain case and with the skull damage all centering on the right side of his skull, we are left with absolutely no indication that he was struck from the front or right front by an additional bullet, as claimed by critics of the Warren Commission." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 258
   
   ------------------------
   
   "{Marina Oswald was often asked whether her husband Lee} might have been capable of joining with an accomplice to kill the President. Marina said: "Never. Lee was too secretive ever to have told anyone his plans. Nor could he have acted in concert, accepted orders, or obeyed any orders or plans by anybody else".
   
   The reason that Marina gave was that "Lee had no use for the opinions of anybody but himself. He had only contempt for other people. He was a lonely person, he trusted no one and he had the fantasies of a sick person; to get attention only for himself". The people who knew Lee in Dallas agreed with her." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 333
   
   ------------------------------------------------
   
   In closing......
   
   I'd like to now pose the following logical question for conspiracy theorists to ponder --- If John F. Kennedy had, in fact, been shot one or more times from the front, what do you suppose the odds are that ALL of Dr. Lattimer's ballistics tests and assassination re-creations would have aligned and agreed with the "Single Assassin Firing From Behind" conclusion reached by the members of the Warren Commission in 1964?
   
   If I were a conspiracy theorist who believed that JFK had been cut down by multiple shooters, I think I'd be scratching my head as I tried to reconcile the above inquiry in my own mind.
   
   Thankfully, I don't have that problem. For I've seen the "Lone Assassin" light for quite some time now. And the excellent and revealing experimental work done by John K. Lattimer -- which is fully laid out in a very readable and directly-to-the-point manner in "Kennedy And Lincoln" -- only further solidifies the fact that President John F. Kennedy was killed by one lone assassin named Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22nd, 1963.
   
   David Von Pein
   November 2006

5 comments about In God's Name.

1. This book gives a terrible tarnished picture of the Vatican, even if the author is wrong and there was no murder or active murder (they could have let Pope John Paul I die, by not administering him his medicine).
   A Vatican controlled by a bunch of corrupt, merciless, avid for power, 'holy' cardinals (Villot, Cody, Marcinkus, Baggio), implicated in a web of depraved banking, masonic and Mafia figures like Calvi, Gelli and Sindona. (I recommend for the 'banking' part also the book by Richard Hammer 'The Vatican Connection').
   What is also intriguing, or should I say 'demonic', is the fact that the next pope didn't remove anybody entangled in these murky affairs from his office.
   The author gives also very plausible hints why, besides personal career interests, there were moral (the issue of birth control, for instance) and financial (money laundering to help friendly unions or parties) motives.
   A devastating book. Not to be missed.



2. I read this book shortly after it was published and given recent events, I'll be reading it again. It beautifully illustrates the paradox of political institution of religion versus the spiritual faith while investigating possible murder (Pope John Paul 1) and corruption (money laundering, etc) in the Vatican.

   Other contradictory activities are uncovered; e.g. contraceptive factories/companies whose existence/ownership is traced back to the Vatican which preaches against contraception. Some critics say the book names no sources and has no footnotes; why should he? The facts are so clearly described that you are able to confirm certain things if you needed to (what with other evidence cited like documents, etc) without necessarily interviewing his sources who obviously helped on condition of anonymity for their own protection.

   As much of a furor as this book caused, it's interesting to note that almost 20 years later, not a single allegation contained from within the book has been proven to be false. Rather, much of it has been officially established as true. (see author's site yallop.co.uk). I'd recommend to anyone, especially Catholics.




3. Whether or not you buy the premise of this book--that a conspiracy among Vatican hard-liners, the Mafia, Freemasons, and others killed Pope John Paul I--IN GOD'S NAME by David Yallop presents a world of Church intrigue that is little discussed. The internecine wars among the Cardinals, the influence of huge amounts of dirty money, and the need for control of the Vatican are fascinating, if disturbing. It is a grim portrait to say the least. IN GOD'S NAME is an important book that deserves a new edition. Until then, pick up a used copy available here.



4. Wow! What a read. This non-fiction reads almost like a novel, but with LOTS of information. My head was dizzy trying to keep up with all the names of who did what and when. How did the author manage to keep it coherent? Anyway, I got the jist of it and was completely intriqued through all of it. It became obvious throught Yallop's investigation that Pope John Paul I was murdered. And, admittedly, he doesn't name his sources for their protection, but there's enough information to convince even the hard-to-convince. He mentions Freemasons and P2 (Propoganda 2), some clerics, and Mafioso persons who could stand to lose a lot of money by having this Pope in office. For a moment I thought I was reading the Godfather. As Yallop pointed out, was reality imitating art (or the other way around)?
   
   The web of deceit and manipulations that are weaved in this story is harrowing and endless. This is a must read for anyone interested in how our economy, politics, wars, and religions are affected by the Vatican (and have been for centuries), run by deceitful, self-serving or indifferent people choosing to play this dangerous game.
   
   Although this book is 20 yrs old, it's a great insight to the dangerous games played by those in power - at the final cost to the layman, citizen, and hard-working persons of the world.



5. Albino Luciani was elected Pope and chose to be Pope John Paul the First. Not only becoming the first double name in the history, but also appended the first to it. He was known as the "Smiling Pope" and though his reign was the second shortest in history, only 33 days, he was loved the world over. This wonderful Pastor would have taken the Church back to its Gospel roots where it belongs. He was truly a Man of God. And you could see from his 33 days as Pope that he would have been the greatest Pope ever in the eyes the world.
   
   This book builds a very good case showing that Pope John Paul I was murdered, as many has always thought. It also exposes the corruption both within the Vatican and in the Diocese of Chicago during the years covered. All his research show ties between the Vatican, the Mafia and the Freemasons tied to financial corruption. Documented proof is uncovered and other governments have tired to act on them, but they are blocked by the Curia according to the book.
   
   The author names those involved in the illegal and immoral acts and their motives and opportunity to have Pope John Paul I killed. The author leads the reader to see that it is no coincidence that the Pope was killed the evening before he was going to clean house. Though I was surprised by how obvious the cover-up and lies were according to what we read here. I highly recommend this book.

5 comments about Kill the Shogun: A Samurai Mystery (Samurai Mysteries).

1. Dale Furutani gives us an excellent ending to his ronin Kaze mystery trilogy with "Shogun". Japanese history buffs like myself should agree he depicts the early Edo era wonderfully, with great use of imagery, believeable characters, and even some historical figures. His fine woven mystery will have you hanging on edge, his sense of humor will have you chuckling constantly, and his usage of some Japanese words (with its English equivelent following!) will please Japan fans.

   I highly recommend you buy this book if you can; if not, borrow it from your library (I had to). If you love Japanese history/myseries, this is an excellent book to read. I also suggest you read "Death At The Crossroads" and "Jade Palace Vendetta" first, but this book can stand by itself.




2. It's an alrite book, although, sometimes i get confuse with what's going on. It's a pretty good buy, so u should buy it if you want.



3. It's an alrite book....nothing really special. It's an okay buy if u want to buy it...



4. ...Matsuyama Kaze ("Pine Mountain Wind") is a ronin (masterless samurai) on the run. He is being hunted by a boyhood enemy, the ambitious and ruthless Lord Okubo, who wants Kaze's head, literally, for besting him in a wooden sword match that severely injured one of Okubo's legs. Adding insult to that crippling injury, Kaze was awarded the top prize by Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu himself. This event took place years before the historic battle of Skigahara in 1600 which led to the forces of Tokugawa defeating those loyal to the late Lord Hideyoshi. Japan was finally united under the rule of Tokugawa. Kaze's Lord was on the wrong side in the battle and, true to the Warrior's Code (bushido), chose to die in battle rather than be captured and lose his honor. Kaze was ordered by his master to guard the Lord's Lady and young daughter, so he was not present at the battle. This caused him much anguish, as his home is destroyed and his wife and children die because of Kaze's loyalty to his Lord and Lady. Much is told about honor, duty, and loyalty by the author, so I'll not go into that here. Suffice it to say, Kaze rescues the dying Lady from her captors and promises to search for his mistress's daughter no matter how long it takes. It takes several years and three novels.

   The search begins in the first book DEATH AT THE CROSSROADS and continues through JADE PALACE VENDETTA and KILL THE SHOGUN. I found the trilogy entertaining and informative. As the author said, the reader will recognize similarities in each book to the films of Akira Kurosawa. There is humor to be found in these books, also, so don't fear they will be weighty, historical tracts. They're supposed to be light and fun. The best part is that they also inform. I learned much about medieval Japan that I didn't know...




5. I liked this one even better than Jade Palace Vendetta and Death at the Crossroads. It can stand alone, but there's several little elements that would make more sense or be more enjoyable if the books were read in order. This book has a relatively lighter tone, and there was more humor than in the other books. The history is of course very interesting. Tokugawa Ieyasu shows up in this book along with five daimyo, so power politics result, which is very entertaining to people who like power politics. Furutani has a very nice descriptive style and whenever he explains elements of ancient Japanese culture, he manages to keep it interesting and maintains the flow of the novel. Also, this book has more and better developed characters. There's more parts that aren't from Matsuyama's point of view, which might help. I was slightly disappointed because Okubo (the enemy) was absent for basically 3/4 of the book, but he did have some backstory, which was slightly funny and also a great insight into his character :D. Overall, it was a must read.

No comments about The Sweetest Dream: Love, Lies, & Assassination.

3 comments about Mortal Shield.

1. Heather Shaw, ForeWord Magazine, May 2008
   
   This is Taylor's first novel, but there's nothing amateur about it. It walks and talks just like SOF (special operation forces). . . . Mortal Shield is a kind of anecdotal manifesto of why some people choose a career where death is not a penalty for failure but the ultimate sacrifice for success. Taylor is at work on a sequel: this is definitely a series that will interest fans of Clancy and Flynn.



2. A cult has goals. Some of them are harmless- some of them are self-destructive, but some of them still have far more sinister plots. "Mortal Shield" is the tale of one of these cults, planning on eliminating the governor - and the governor's protectors know of this. The governor and his family, however, just want a normal life without agents blocking them every step of the way . "Mortal Shield" is a grand conflict of three groups of people with very different goals and how all of their intentions clash in an incredibly interesting tale with no clear outcome - "Mortal Shield" is highly recommended for any thriller fan and any library collection collecting them.



3. Taylor might as well have written a historical novel. Missouri residents will recognize the places and sites in the story, intelligence officers will recognize the Phineas Priests as the bad guys they really are, and those who serve in personal protection will recognize the strategies, thought processes, and esprit de corps that bonds them in the small elite groups in which they tend to operate. Taylor, who has provided protection for some of the most high profile people in the world, expertly weaves a fast-paced and exciting story of state troopers attempting to keep a vainglorious governor and others from harm in a 911-type attack. The book definitely offers a Saturday afternoon of good reading.

3 comments about The Yankee and Cowboy War: Conspiracies from Dallas to Watergate.

1. How did our CIA really come about and what was the true role of Hitler's top spymaster? Was Watergate really an "accident"? What role did James McCord really play?
   What did Jack Ruby tell the Warren Commissioners about a "whole new form of government" that would take over if he was not taken to Washington with them and be able to reveal his personal knowledge about the assassination of JFK?

   Remembers E. Howard Hunt's wife Dorothy and the highly suspicious plane crash in which she died, while in the process of paying Nixon hush money to the Watergatgate burglers???

   Oglesby's brilliant work answers these and many more questions.

   This very rare and magnificent read is long overdue for a republication, so that the many conspiracies of the 60's are better comprehended.

   I cannot recommend this work highly enough.

   Attorney Dawn Meredith,
   Austin, Tx.




2. I concur with Ms. Meredith- Oglesby's analysis is cohesive, and the information contained herein is unavailable anywhere else.



3. This is the first of several high-level political analyses motivated by a need to better understand the politics that led to both the JFK assassination and the Nixon Watergate Affair. It deploys as the primary theoretical model, C. Wright Mills "Theory of the Power Elite" and the framework in Carroll Quigleys book "Tragedy and Hope."
   
   With these tools, Carl Oglesby posits an interesting thesis: that JFKs assassination, instead of being a random act by a lone nut was in fact a carefully planned and professional executed ongoing coup d' etat a la Americaine, a not so silent coup by the same forces responsible for the murders of JFK, RFK, MLK, Malcolm X and possibly the demise and eventual destruction of the billionaire Howard Hughes.
   
   What all of these events had in common was that they were links in a chain designed to replace one set of power elite (members of the old moneyed "peace promoting" Eastern Yankee Establishment) with another (the Nuevo Riche and newly arrived, "progress through war" Western Cowboys). Thus it is argued here that the events connecting Dallas, Memphis, Watergate and the demise of the Hughes empire, are but threads in a common fabric, growing and evolving directly out of the systematic corruption of American politics and out of contemporary political realities.
   
   Altogether it is thus a seductive and believable theory that says as much about American political realities as it does about the events of Dallas, LA, Memphis and NY themselves. What Oglesby tries to do, and succeeds at it brilliantly, is expose the almost organic level of corruption in the structure of the political process that led to the events in Dallas and Watergate. When the connections linking these two are examined in detail, and are traced backwards in time to their origins, they extend not just back to CIA dirty tricks to get rid of Castro, or to the Cuban rum and gun-running days of Batista, or for that matter, even to the unholy and corrupt pre-war alliance forged by FDR between Meyer Lanksys wing of the mob and the USG, but they go all the way back to the competing North-South power factions emerging in the aftermath of the Civil War.
   
   Left unchecked, except by the tug of war being waged in the under currents of the competing interests of the power elite, this corruption eventually led to the ceding of power to what we have come to recognize as the "Secret National Security State." It is precisely this melding of corruption and the built in power of the national security state that General Eisenhower had warns us about in his farewell address. And in both the JFK assassination and the Watergate Affair. it seems (at least to Oglesby) that those events were a simple case of "the buzzards coming home to roost:" In short, the machinations of competing factions within the Secret National Security State eventually took on a life of their own.
   
   Of all the books on the JFK assassination one is likely to read, this is one of the few that gets directly at the heart of the matter. And even though it deals confidently and adequately with the facts surrounding both the JFK assassination and the Watergate Affair, which are important in and of themselves, it is not just about the discrete facts of those events, but about what it means for the republic when two of our elected Presidents are brought down by clandestine and hidden powers that undermine and substitute a Secret National Security State for our democracy.
   
   The book seeks to answer the question: How could these things have happened in a self-respecting democracy? What does it means when "We the People" can go on pretending that even though two coup d' etats occurred before our very eyes, that life goes on behind our collective denial as if nothing has really happened? Ultimately, these questions are more important than who and how JFK was killed.
   
   Anyone who doubts that answering these two questions is Oglesby ultimate aim should read first the epilogue, Chapter 9, entitled "Who Killed Kennedy?" then go back and read the rest of the book. Chapter 9 is an essay so chilling it will make any self-respecting democrat, republican or independents hair stand on its head. It is the single most chilling chapter of any book on American democracy one is ever likely to read.
   
   What Oglesby tells us in this brilliantly written epilogue is that when a President bleeds, whether through assassination or by being hounded out of office, it is our solemn duty to clean up the blood. We have a choice in this unpleasant task: We can exercise the default option and sleep in the blood as we have done for the last forty five years, pretending that sleeping in blood is the new reality. Or to use John Deans metaphor in the advice he gave to President Nixon, we can pretend that the cancer on the Presidency has not finally metastasized and now has infected us all. Or we can chose the toughest option of all, which is to pro-actively defend the republic and its future against the bureaucratized criminally corrupt cabals that felled two Presidents and appears to be using its unchecked power under the secrecy of the National Security State to completely replace our democratic form of government. In either case, by what we do or dont do, we have made a choice about what kind of democracy we are willing to settle for. If we choose not to fight, as we apparently have done, then the war of competing corrupt and powerful elites going on above our heads will continue unchecked.
   
   In this book, Oglesby just wants us to be clear about what it is we have done when we capitulate: We have effectively forfeited our right to a democracy and all the values, ideals and traditions that go along with it. Arguably, todays political existence in the U.S. is a whole new form of quietly hidden tyranny run by the Secret National Security State as the proxy for two competing vampire power elites.
   
   The overarching point of this book is to tell us that there is no free lunch even in a democracy. As in any other political system, in a democracy too the choice is between terror and tyranny, between Democracy and Fascism. These two poles of political existence cannot be finessed through laziness, exhaustion, or choosing to live in denial. Like all other political systems, democracy also exists on that tenuous sliver of ground that lies between these two poles; there are no angles left to be played. Those who somehow believe that benign tyranny "by their own favorite corrupt power elite" is the answer to terror, have failed to notice Oglesbys crowning point about the JFK assassination: that terror and tyranny are but opposite sides of the same corrupt coin: that tyranny is terror, just by another name, and by other more elaborate means.
   
   That this fact is true could not be made clearer in todays post-911, post-JFK, RFK, MLK and Malcolm X assassination era. In the current heightened internal security frenzy, it is easy enough to see that the American internal security landscape has finally being transformed in plain sight, into a proto-Fascist nation overrun by rent-a-cops, hired security guards and undercover agents of all descriptions, gated communities, metal detectors, mercenary armies, informants, spies, counterspies and intelligence stringers, NARCs and DEA agents, FBI, CIA, Secret service and IRS agents, helicopter surveillance, bill collection agencies, and bounty hunters, just to name a few.
   
   And this is being done at the same time that our leaders take us to war without asking our consent and without good reason. It is now the USA, not the Communists nations, that is throwing suspected terrorists in jail and torturing them without the benefits of even the minimum of legal protections. It is our own home-grown democracy, not Russia or South Africa that now leads the world in prisoners with 2.3 million of our own citizens locked behind bars. And all of this is taking place after two Presidential elections have been decided under a cloud thought to be normal only in a Banana Republic.
   
   Under such dramatic circumstances it is no longer just an academic exercise to ask the question Oglesby poses in this book: Where does our democracy now lie along that spectrum between tyranny and terror? Between Fascism and democracy? Nor is it mere hyperbole that John Dean, one of the surviving principals in the Watergate Affair, is at this very moment furiously writing books warning us all over again that the cancer he spoke to President Nixon about has finally metastasized and spread throughout the American body politic. If no one has noticed but Carl Oglesby, those who assassinated Kennedy and ran Nixon out of office with the Watergate caper, are now in charge of the Secret National Security State.
   
   What Oglesby proposes in this analysis is that it is the Yankee-Cowboy War that has finally lulled us to sleep. We have been socialized into hiding behind our favorite power elite team jerseys, outsourcing our hard won freedoms and power by proxy to those Yankees and Cowboys, who, at the same time they stand-in for us, also rape us in the name of their own private economic self-interests. We have been socialized into handing over our loyalty to those who have proven that they no longer have the interests of this nation at heart, those with no demonstrable values above their own ability to seek power and their ability to accumulate wealth. To them, this Yankee-Cowboy War may be a game with a winning strategy. However, for us, the true heirs and the true sovereigns of American democracy, trickle-down Socialism, or trickledown Cowboy Entrepreneurism (which in the end are pretty much the same thing) is a losing proposition whether our proxy is a Cowboy or a Yankee, whether our political party is democrat or republican, and whether our team jersey is red or blue.
   
   JFK, Nixon, MLK, RFK, and Malcolm were all brought down by those who somehow have used their corrupt power to bore their way into the walls and crevices of our blindly and insanely partisan democracy, establishing in its place a Secret National Security State, an entity that grows without bounds like a cancer and one that is ever inching the nation closer toward Fascist tyranny. And like the political imbeciles they each take us to be, We the People have allowed them to ride into town on their red and blue Trojan horses to steal away our power, our freedom and our peace of mind under the guise of political partisanism, and keeping us safe from terror and tyranny.
   
   This is an important book not just because it builds up, brick-by-brick, a coherent frame of reference for situating the events that unfolded into the JFK assassination and the Watergate caper, but also because it forces the reader to think and to ask the hard questions laying at the subtext of the JFK assassination: What does it say about us as a nation if a President can be murdered in broad daylight, and the murder covered-up for half a century, and the nation goes on pretending that it was all the result of a lone nut?
   
   When a President bleeds, who will clean up the blood?
   Five stars.

5 comments about The Gemstone File: A Memoir.

1. I had heard about the Gemstone File for years as being one of the more plausible conspiracy theories out there, so I bought this book to finally see for myself. The parts of the book that are copies of what Bruce Roberts (the author of the Gemstone File) wrote are entertaining but not in the least bit believable. Mr. Roberts certainly had a vivid imagination, but his theories are full of contradictions and he makes some bold predictions that despite what Stephanie Caruana would like us to believe have never come true. The parts of the book written by Stephanie Caruana are utter crap. In assides she tries to relate the JFK assasination to our current president and makes snide comments about how things that happened 40 years ago were obvious foreshadowing of the "9/11 hoax". From this book I gather that Bruce Roberts suffered from paranoia. Stephanie Caruane comes across as nothing more than your typical left wing kook who would like us to believe that our government is run by idiots yet these idiots have managed to perpetrate a vast evil conspiracy that has been kept secret for over 50 years. I never understand why the conspiracy nuts fail to see the contradiction in this belief.



2. I find this book to be a very entertaining mixture of supposition, guesswork, contradiction, and extraordinary searching for any evidence that could possibly be used to indicate that there is a vast underground conspiracy that really controls the United States and quite possibly all of the world.
   
   All in all, I find it a little hard to believe and for two or three reasons:
   
   1. I've been to the Texas School Book Depository, and to the window where the shooting was done. I could have made those shots. People don't want to think that one man could have done this, but the target was right there, an easy shot. It wasn't necessary to have a team of shooters.
   
   2. To tie together all the things in this book from JFK to Mary Jo Kopechne, Onassis, RFK, South Vietnam, George Wallace, and many, many more would require such a huge operation, with so many people that screw ups would have occurred. All of these killings wouldn't have been as smooth as they were. Furthermore, someone would have talked. There would be some real evidence.
   
   3. The third reason is WHY. Why would such an organization be set up in the first place. Why would it be kept going down through the centuries. Why bother?



3. This is the worst book I have had the misfortune of buying! Save your money!!!!!!



4. This book confirms the death bed confession of E Howard Hunt to his son and points to the fact that multiple assassins were waiting in Dallas that day. Ms Caruana did an admirable job in presenting the Bruce Roberts material as Roberts was being harassed around the clock in San Francisco and his letters appear rambling and paranoid.



5. The Gemstone File: A Memoir
   
   Review by Shawn Hamilton, 24 May 2008
   
   I first received a copy of Stephanie Caruana's "A Skeleton Key to the Gemstone File" in 1976 from a high school history teacher. The typed original had been copied so many times that some words and letters were unclear or missing. The document was only about a year old then, so clearly there was a feverish underground effort to get this information out.
   While the claims made in the Skeleton Key are startling, I always felt that the document possessed an internal consistency that justified my withholding judgment on its primary thesis, which is simply that the United States government is essentially run by, and as, organized crime. Bruce Robert's Gemstone letters redefine the stereotypical definition of "Mafia," the kind of caricature and even glorification we see on a show like "The Sopranos," and paints for us a truer picture that shows how deeply the roots of organized crime intertwine every aspect of US politics.
   So I've kept a copy of the Skeleton Key around for the last thirty years taking notes on developments. History, so far, has increased my faith in the document's veracity. Let me give you just a couple of examples regarding statements made in the Skeleton Key and subsequent historical developments.
   The Skeleton Key claims one of the shooters of JFK "went down a manhole and followed a sewer line away from Dealey Plaza." Keep in mind this was written in 1975. In the 1990's I was watching a History Channel program called The Men Who Killed Kennedy. The show featured Tom Wilson, who had developed for US Steel a process using "photonics" to detect imperfections in steel. He applied this new technology to photos in the Kennedy assassination, including the Mary Moorman photo, and ended up making a three-dimensional model of Kennedy's gaping head wound. From that he traced back the path of the bullet and was amazed the see it was coming "out of the ground." He went to Dealey Plaza and discovered the path he anticipated led directly to a manhole cover and open curb sewer line. In other words, someone could have been crouching underground shooting at Kennedy from the curb. Subsequent studies by a researcher named Jack Brazil have determined that shooters from behind the picket fence on the Grassy Knoll and from the curb on Elm Street could both have "squeezed off rounds" and escaped underground in about twenty minutes. The sewer lines lead to the Trinity River well away from Dealey Plaza.
   Another claim that sounded wild to me in 1976 was this one: "Lots of heroin gets produced in a Pepsi Cola factory in Laos. So far, it hasn't produced a single bottle of Pepsi Cola." I hadn't learned about the CIA's "Air America" drug flights at the time, but this was another truth that Roberts understood long before most of us. In 1990 Mel Gibson and Robert Downey, Jr. starred in a film called "Air America." The film included the Pepsi-Cola factory, the CIA, and the heroin. Details like these over the years make me believe that Bruce Roberts knew more than the average citizen about current events and past history. While his emotional state might have been somewhat unstable, that's understandable considering the threatening forces he felt were surrounding him and had killed his father.
   Robert's letters aren't always easy to read, and it's only after reading The Gemstone File: A Memoir that I realize what an excellent job Caruana did writing the original Skeleton Key. Considering the scattered yet repetitive nature of Robert's original letters and notes, Caruana's "Skeleton Key" is an amazingly competent work. It's organized, reads not only well but powerfully, and has survived without the benefit of formal recognition for over three decades. Caruana took the rough stone of Bruce Robert's notes and letters and created, in the Skeleton Key, a finely faceted Gemstone!
   I give Caruana's The Gemstone File: A Memoir my highest recommendation. The book is important historically and as a basis for future research. As a compendium to "A Skeleton Key to the Gemstone File," it's invaluable. Anyone who has ever read the Key, or wants to, needs to buy this book!