I’ve been looking forward to this book for over 20 years! After reading Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before I wanted to knI’ve been looking forward to this book for over 20 years! After reading Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before I wanted to know what had gotten into Captain Cook in the last year of his voyage/life. While my question was not answered (and never will be) Hampton Sides provides plenty of information from which opinions can be formed.
British naval officer, Captain James Cook set out on his third voyage in 1776 (yes, the year of the US colony’s Declaration of Independence). His mission was to find a northern water route for more direct shipping to and from England and Asia. At the request of King George he was to return Mai, a teen who was brought to England by a different exploration group, to his home on an island near Tahiti.
Cook was perfect for the job. He had spent over 5 years in the Pacific waters and had circumnavigated the globe. His cartography skills were notable as well as his judgement.
The mission’s two ships were outfitted with the very best scientific instruments of the day. They were loaded with plenty of food, casks of fresh water and rum, tools, trading goods and lots of farm animals (some to be left with Mai to help him re-establish himself).
Without a lot of introduction (for which I am always grateful) Sides takes you on this trip right away. His sources include oral histories, the diaries and logs of Cook and his mariners, oral histories and secondary writings (for instance, what was told to missionaries and Mark Twain many years later).
The writing, be it descriptions of life on board or on land, is first class. Even better is the telling of the different cultures they happened upon and their interactions and better still is the thrill of discovering the northern tip of the American continent and then the grief of Cook’s last days on the island of Hawai’i.
There are everyday issues of sailing for instance: keeping the two boats together, especially in fog; coping with accidents where a few times a life was lost; adapting fishing strategies for the different fish in different locations; caring for and using navigation instruments and more.
Stops on land may last a few days as in Oregon, Alaska and Siberia or months when repairs and supplies are needed.
You see how the initial contact is made. Sometimes there is a warm welcome and other times suspicion. Things open up when trade begins and women enter the scene. Cook continually worries about his crew spreading VD.
While on land the ship’s carpenters fell trees when new masts are needed. They may make temporary shelters or make gifts for island leaders. Considerable time is spent finding the right place for Mai and setting it up. The ship’s carpenters build him a house.
While crew members seem able and well trained, none are profiled enough to know them.
Cook and Mai have the most text. You come to know Cook through his actions and accomplishments; but his thoughts and emotions are mysteries. Mai’s life in London is described such that you can foresee the problems of his return to the Pacific Islands.
Charles Clerke, the captain of the second ship has some (but not much) definition. He is late to the expedition due to serving a prison sentence for his brother’s debt. In prison he contracted TB which he keeps a secret. He serves valiantly, taking the reins when Cook is killed. William Bligh (later known for the famous mutiny) has a cameo. There are two Americans (by birth) aboard.
It is noticed throughout that Cook, who has been known for his steadiness has flashes of temper and orders more frequent floggings than before. One out of character episode occurs early on where he introduces a dangerous (sadistic?) ritual of hazing those crossing the Equator for the first time by tying them up and dunking them into the ocean.
There is a good map of the voyage and very good color plates particularly the two portraits of Cook and the one of Mai and a painting by Herb Kawainui Kane of King Kalani’opu’u greeting Captain Cook to Hawaii. I did not use the Index or the Notes.
This is a must read for those interested in discovery, ocean voyages and/or anthropology of the Pacific peoples. It is a page turner throughout....more
This may be as close as we can get to understanding Jack Ruby. Danny Fingeroth takes you step by step from his difficult childhood in Chicago (alcoholThis may be as close as we can get to understanding Jack Ruby. Danny Fingeroth takes you step by step from his difficult childhood in Chicago (alcoholic father, mentally ill mother, 7 siblings, poverty) to his entrepreneurial days in Dallas, to the fateful shot and his subsequent trials.
You can’t help but feel sorry for this man.
Did he act alone? While we will never know, Fingeroth gives evidence of Ruby’s hair trigger and his mafia connections. He could have acted in anger as he did many times as his own bouncer at his clubs when little things set him off. Fingeroth also shows his mob connections and those of his siblings. It is hard to tell how deep they run, but his trip to Santo Trafficante (in jail) in Cuba has never been explained.
Having left school at the age of 16, he appears to have done well in life. It was hard to keep track of which bars and supper clubs he owned, had owned, partially owned, or maybe swapped. The Carousel Club, the one most associated with him has had a seedy aura, but there is a reference to a bus boy (implies dining) and some reputable performers such as Tennessee Ernie Ford. Despite his efforts, he does not seem to have much money. At one point he owed the IRS $40,000 which implies that he had (or maybe had had) n significant income.
His siblings, who also experienced childhood hardship, also did well in life. While it set them back considerably, they were able to pay for celebrity lawyer (Melvin Belli) for Ruby and various support teams for several years. One brother sold a chain of Laundromats for the cause.
Fingeroth shows the importance of Ruby’s faith and his identity as a Jew. He thought he would be celebrated as a hero for killing Oswald and expected to be released right away. Once he found the opposite he despaired that he was contributing to anti-Semitism… giving gentiles an excuse to hate Jews.
There is a good summary of the trial and the legal issues and the emotional toll they took on Ruby.
The last chapter on "Afterlife" shows what has happened to the people he knew, his club (razed) his bullets (sold to collectors) and his portrayal in popular culture.
There are some good photos of people in Ruby's orbit, Of course there is the classic photo of the shot (p.128). The index is very good and sources are clearly noted,
While this is not about the Kennedy assassination and sheds no light on any of the conspiracy theories those interested in this topic will still want to read this....more
Journalist Jeff Adelstein lucked out when he asked his Yakuza source to recommend a driver and body guard. Saigo Makoto, a “retired” Yakiza, had serveJournalist Jeff Adelstein lucked out when he asked his Yakuza source to recommend a driver and body guard. Saigo Makoto, a “retired” Yakiza, had served at all levels, rising to be something like a #2 in the Inagawa-Kai.
Each chapter tells a story that illustrates the Yakusa life. While there are some chapters that give basic Yakusa history, most of the content is about the experiences of Adelstein’s driver and body guard.
You see how the various Yakuza gangs are organized and how they protect their territory. You see bosses, like Saigo who at times had over 100 reports, control (punishment is violent) and support their “staff”. They pay widows benefits for those who fall in the line of duty.
Yakuza customs reflect Japanese culture. You see members bowing based on rank, the ritual of lighting cigarettes and sharing of business cards (Yes. Yakuza have business cards). Members enjoy the many Yakuza comic books. There are ceremonial protocols for weddings and funerals. Many members have short fuses, so like Samurai, slugging, kicking and knifing are accepted. Suicide is also accepted, and in some cases is considered honorable. Even the well centered Saigo contemplates it.
The “old style” Yakuzas stuck with protection, extortion and other schemes they could justify. For instance, they believed that their punishments for petty criminals kept a safer community than police could and those who pay extortion money are guilty of something. Young Yakuza’s broke from the more “justifiable” crimes and they started using guns, Coach, like other older Yakuza’s the head of Saigo’s gang, accepted some pretty heavy violence, but not guns.
Despite the thuggish foot soldiers, the “new” Yakuzas entered the corporate world at the top. From their fashionable offices (hardly like the meeting places of the Sopranos) they looked for “investment” opportunities like any other executive.
One of the most amazing chapters was Saigo’s penance where he removes a finger. Prior to this, there is a lot on this fading practice as well as Yakuza tattooing.
Saigo’s career spanned the (approximately) 30 year post war period when the Yakuza were powerful. They had effectively infiltrated the police and government, Yunichiro Koizumi, a former Prime Minister, was from a Yakuza family.
In 2011 a series of laws made it difficult for the lower level Yakuza to bring in the money. Those who rented an Yakuza a apartment or sold them a phone were punished. As being a Yakuza became less profitable, many left.
Adelstein follows the writer’s rule of “Show me” (i.e. don’t tell me.) Each chapter is an episode illustrating the various aspects of Yakuza life and culture. You see the how crimes, the violence, the rituals, the relationships and much more are play out in actual events.
If you are interested in this topic, the book is recommended....more
This is a work of serious research that reads like a thriller. Unlike a fictional thriller, you know the outcome; you just don’t know the ins and outsThis is a work of serious research that reads like a thriller. Unlike a fictional thriller, you know the outcome; you just don’t know the ins and outs of getting there.
Author, Stuart A. Reid, captures the events in a way that you can understand the place, the people and the dangers. The short 5-10 page chapters build on each other such that you fully digest one topic before taking on the next. The topical chapters and the very good index make it easy to flip back and refresh your memory as the many people and places recur.
I now understand what happened to Lumumba and why. I now understand how a stereotypic, foolish and cruel dictator like Mobutu came to power. I also learned about the unusual situation of Dag Hammarskjold and his death.
The Belgians, fearful of a bloody uprising like those taking place elsewhere in Africa granted the Congo its independence. The Congolese were given four months to prepare for the handover. What could the the Belgians expect from a colony with no infrastructure (outside of the white enclaves) and a population deprived of education and training, (hence, no managers, planners, engineers, health workers, pilots).
While they were lucky to have the autodidact Lumumba, Reid shows the Belgians (who never really left) undermining him. This is the height of the cold war. It was easy to get the US and the UN to doubt Lumumba: they told them Lumumba was a communist… and they believed them. So, while he had support of most Congolese and African and Asian leaders, he did not have support of those with the resources to help him.
You see how a few people in key positions made decisions that affected the lives of millions for generations. One person in particular, Larry Devlin, of the CIA, made decisions large and small that culminated in the torture and death of Lumumba and thrust Mobutu on a population that did not want him.
Lumumba’s tenure as Prime Minister is eventful with being deposed, restored, arrested and escaped, and arrested again. There speeches and uprisings, UN, Parliament and unofficial meetings. There are provinces declaring their own independence. There are real communists, horrible violence and unspeakable acts of torture and cannibalism. There are cameos regarding the involvement of Eleanor Roosevelt, Che Guevara and Sidney Gottleib. So much happened that it is staggering when you realize this takes place in just over one year.
Reid’s last chapter “The Arrogance of Power” is an excellent coda to this sad story. • It starts with the findings of the 1975 Church Commission on intelligence activities. (Larry Devlin was prepared to lie until he learned that they had his cables.) • It summarizes Mobutu’s 30+ years of control. • There is a discussion of how relevant the Congo was and is to the western nations (not enough to justify the meddling) • Discusses why the Belgian, US, and UN leadership think Lumumba was a communist? • Recognizes the role racism played. • There is regret for what might have been.
If you are interested in Africa and/or the era of independence, you will not want to miss this. Readers of spy and espionage fiction would really like this....more
This is a daughter’s biography of her father who appeared in a famous photograph – a photo that had an outsized impact on his life. The book covers MaThis is a daughter’s biography of her father who appeared in a famous photograph – a photo that had an outsized impact on his life. The book covers Marrell (Mac) McCollough’s childhood and family situation in rural Mississippi though his time on the Memphis Police force into his career of achievement in the CIA.
I was glued through the description of his growing up in a family of 13 children with a tenant farmer father. The author recounts the circumstances that forced Walter to move his family from one farm to another. Education was valued, but it was a luxury. Through the extended family Mac was able to spend some time in a city where he had short stints in very different schools. You see Mac join the Army and his siblings leave home. His father, after his wife’s death, found a partner and drank a lot.
With luck Mac became one of the only black cops in Memphis. You see his daily life and you learn how he went undercover and spied on the “Invaders”. You learn the internal issues of being black and in law enforcement and how promotions do and don’t take place.
Because he is following young activists who are following the Sanitation Worker’s Strike, he attends related meetings (MLK met with the Invaders who told him that for $500 they would help his campaign with the strike), speeches and rallies. This assignment leads to Mac’s being photographed at the Lorraine Motel just after a single bullet fired from across the street killed Dr. Martin Luther King.
After the assassination, the book's format changes as essays are wedged into the biographical chronology.
The first of these essay chapters recounts a meeting with Andrew Young, 50 or so years since the photo in which Young also appeared. Another such chapter (“Flags”) is a very good stand alone essay a child’s growing awareness of racism and how negative messages are processed. A literary chapter “Land” talks about the meaning of gardening as it is passed from generation to generation.
Here are some takeaways and observations
• The day Mac applied for a job on the Memphis Police force he was given a battery of written and physical tests that lasted into the late hours of night. This was the extent of the selection process. Is this normal?
• It is pretty risky to go undercover in a city where you have lived and worked. Were local white officers recruited for this work too? (I always presumed that newcomers were used for this.)
• As an undercover agent Mac drove Invader members to illegal operations. Is this standard? I wondered about his bringing a gas can (used to start a fire) to the police HQ as evidence. After all his work, there is nothing on his reaction to the decision not to prosecute the crimes he witnessed.
• When Mac’s cover was blown, he was told to leave town, but I do not see that he had any re-location assistance… he had to do this on his own… Upon return he went back on “the beat”. The Memphis Police Department put on a lot of risk on him.
• I flipped back to see if I missed (there is no index) how Mac came to be on balcony of the Lorraine Motel just after Dr. King fell. He was in the neighborhood, but how did he get to where MLK’s most intimate advisors stood? Could anyone just climb the steps at that time?
• I’d have liked more context for the conversation with Andrew Young. It appears the two men avoided the issues that may have separated them 50 years earlier.
• Interestingly, Mark Lane is cited on p.245 for his conspiracy work that would implicate the Memphis Police (and by inference, Mac) in MLK’s death. Lane disappeared in Guyana just as he was scheduled to testify before the 1978 House Committee on Assassinations. Not cited by the author is that since that time it has been revealed that Lane had been receiving $6,000/month for creating positive PR for Jim Jones and his Temple.
There is a lot to learn from this narrative: growing up on tenant farms of the 1950’s and 60’s; some of the ins and outs of police work; how undercover worked and how the operative had to break with family and friends; how Blacks pioneered careers in government and more....more
This book, as the title implies, is about the cover-up and not the assassination of JFK. It does not delve into Dallas based issues that the title impThis book, as the title implies, is about the cover-up and not the assassination of JFK. It does not delve into Dallas based issues that the title implies, such as moving the body for a DC autopsy or the events on the grassy knoll. For me, what distinguishes Brandt’s focus from others is that he describes RFK as complicit in and Earl Warren as central to the cover up.
In forming the President’s Commission on the Assassination of John F. Kennedy (known as the Warren Commission) Brandt describes an obsession with “international complications”. This appears to be a euphemism implying that a real investigation would blow the lid on US killing (often with Mafia cooperation) of foreign leaders. Brandt says this motivated RFK (who, with his brother, agreed to a Castro assassination) to engineer (or maybe just agree to) the placement of Allan Dulles on the Warren Commission.
Since JFK fired him, Dulles’s position on this commission is questionable. Dulles headed the agency through the overthrow of Mossedegh in Iran, Lumumba in the Congo, Gutzman in Guatemala, a number of attempts on Castro (some with RFK/JFK approval) in Cuba and Diem in Vietnam (JFK knowledge?). Dulles had serious interest in covering up these “international complications” since he was the one most responsible.
Following the JFK assassination RFK stopped his very active program of Mafia prosecutions.
Brandt follows the path of Oswald as he leaves the book depository looking for a "police car" that will take him to a "safe house" and documents the steps of Ruby as he seeks an opening to take a shot.
Brandt demonstrates how Oswald's behavior demonstrates that he expects help and how a nervous and exhausted Ruby stalks the Dallas Police Headquarters over 4 days. These are good chapters, but Brandt has no footnotes. Hit List: An In-Depth Investigation into the Mysterious Deaths of Witnesses to the JFK Assassination has a well documented telling of the Tippet killing that is parallel to Brandt’s but notes witnesses to a different shooter and a gun not possessed by Oswald. This event is not critical to Brandt’s thesis, but it demonstrates a weakness in his research.
There is a chapter on Melvin Belli, who is not often covered in the JFK canon.
Throughout, Brandt has a very negative opinion of Earl Warren. Ahe sees Miranda decision not as a guarantee for the rights of the defendant, but as a deterrent to getting the truth in events like this assassination. He cites Warrens leadership in interning Japanese Americans in WWII.
Brandt heavily quotes the Warren Commission Report, attributing the misleading and incorrect information to Warren. Typically Chairmen of Commissions do not write their reports. If you read The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America’s Secret Government (a bio of Dulles) you get the idea that it could have been written by Dulles. Another possibility is Arlen Specter, an assistant consul to the Commission, who, despite his single bullet theory (not mentioned in this book) gets a pass from Brandt. Of course, whether he wrote it or not Warren, as Chairman, was responsible for the Committee's work.
If you are into this assassination, you will want to read this (short book) for its perspective. If you are new to the issues, it may be more than a general reader wants, JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters gives what was known up to its publication date (2008). It is a good place to start. It shows the lead up to the event and scope of its cover up.
The book’s title does not fit its content. It has intriguing cameos of interesting people of the middle 19th century. While Oneida is given reasonableThe book’s title does not fit its content. It has intriguing cameos of interesting people of the middle 19th century. While Oneida is given reasonable coverage, Charles Guiteau and his association with it don’t really feature.
From it I got a clearer picture of Horace Greeley (did he look like Andy Warhol?) including his association with Margaret Fuller. I now understand a bit more of Rosco Conkling and how he operated. Rutherford Hayes’s connection to the story is his being a cousin to John Humphrey Noyes, founder of Oneida, but it is his contentious election that is covered. In the stories of James Blaine and Chester Arthur you learn why politicians were prone to surrender their power of appointments - they get hounded by people like Charles Guiteau.
Wells shows that there is some diversity in this era. Susan Edson is a doctor serving both President Garfield and his First Lady. The prominent Wormely Hotel, where a lot of the action takes place, is owned by James Wormley, a successful Black entrepreneur. Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce, a former slave, is told by General Grant in Paris that he could be a vice presidential candidate and was appointed by Garfield as Secretary of the Treasury. Garfield persuaded President Lincoln to give Pauline Cushman the honorary title of “Major” for dressing as a male to spy for the Union in the Civil War.
All of the mentioned above have a connection, however tangential, to the story. P.T. Barnum and the Fox sisters have considerable space, but their relationships to the assassin and his victim are not clear.
There is some confusion on pp. 166-67 170-171; 178-9 where Garfield’s wife, Lucretia, and former mistress, Crete, (is she back?) seemed to be named interchangeably.
Overall there are a lot of good stories from this era. The reader’s disappointment is that the expectations communicated by the title are not met.
This book covers the 1964 trial of Jack Ruby. It is straight reporting with direct quotes, short commentary on the legal strategy behind the quotes anThis book covers the 1964 trial of Jack Ruby. It is straight reporting with direct quotes, short commentary on the legal strategy behind the quotes and (ok but extraneous) history of aspects of jury selection, the insanity defense, self incrimination and pretrial (and during the trial) publicity to name a few.
The lead prosecutor, Henry Wade, (later to prosecute another high profile case: “Roe vs. Wade) charged Ruby with murder which, if intent was shown, meant the death penalty. Melvin Belli, known for big settlement medical liability and divorce cases, presented an insanity defense for Ruby. Judge Joseph Brown ran and idiosyncratic courtroom filled with cigar and cigarette smoke. He refused a change of venue and made calls on objections that guaranteed an appeal.
The selection of Belli as Ruby’s attorney and then Belli’s selection of the insanity defense are highly questionable. Did Ruby’s family, which supposedly chose Belli, pay him? Why did Belli risk the insanity defense when a guilty (and it is evident that Ruby shot Oswald) plea might have 3 – 5 year sentence? The stakes for Ruby were, literally, life and death.
What little you learn about Ruby is only revealed through the testimony, mostly trumped up to build the insanity defense. There are interesting asides about how the jury lived in the court house’s jail cells and while they were there inmates escaped. The book concludes with the appeal, Ruby’s interview with Earl Warren and some members of his Commission and Ruby’s death in January 1967.
While the authors steer the text away from conspiracy theories (there has to be a better name for this when applied to JFK) there is plenty to fuel them. How is it that Ruby had access to the police station? What of the many reports that Ruby and Oswald had met? Are not the death and alleged suicide of two of Ruby’s dancers at this time suspicious? Who paid Belli and why did he present such a risky defense? This is the trial that aroused the suspicions of Dorothy Killgallen an early critic of the Warren Report. Killgallen had covered Belli’s previous trials (and was able to convince Belli to allow her to interview Ruby). She died under suspicious circumstances after writing of a bombshell to come.
This book does what the authors planned – it reports on the trial. It will be of interest to those interested in legal aspects of the JFK assassination. The reporting is dry and not user friendly. Chapters should be named and breaks between the reports on the different witnesses would help. A list of the lawyers and witnesses with short descriptions would be helpful.
The book breaks little new ground, other than show Marvin Belli as an overpriced peacock (didn’t he know his theatrics would never go over in Dallas?). I hope this book inspires a full treatment of Jack Ruby....more
I first learned of Dorothy Kilgallen’s importance in the JFK assassination investigations in Richard Belzer’s Hit List: An In-Depth Investigation intoI first learned of Dorothy Kilgallen’s importance in the JFK assassination investigations in Richard Belzer’s Hit List: An In-Depth Investigation into the Mysterious Deaths of Witnesses to the JFK Assassination. Elsewhere in the JFK literature you will find only a sentence or two, but Belzer lists her in the top 10, (along with Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby and Officer Tippit) of those who lost their lives in the cover up.
Mark Shaw brings it all together and in telling her story gives her the tribute she deserves. A short biography shows her status and influence. She had covered a lot of murder cases, most famously the Sheppard murder where her journalism propelled the case to the Supreme Court; Its decision led to a retrial which reversed Sheppard’s conviction. Long after Kilgallen's death (and many who remember this) Sam Sheppard was fully absolved by DNA.
In covering Jack Ruby’s trial, Kilgallen again picked up on things that eclipse most people. Why was Marvin Belli, a famous civil attorney, the defense attorney in a criminal case? Why was Ruby’s defense insanity? Kilgallen had connections and status. She was able to convince Belli to allow her to interview his client. This brief and private interview, from which Kilgallen was said to have had copious notes, was the only time Jack Ruby was interviewed. Her investigation gave her enough clues to take her to New Orleans, which suggests Carlos Marcello is in her sights. Shortly after this, Kilgallen is found dead.
Most of the book that follows focuses on the irregularities and inconsistencies of the circumstances and non-investigation of her death and how it came to be officially determined a suicide. There are a lot of tentacles with those most worthy of investigation being: 1) the “mystery man” of the night before (and the fishy behavior of “friend” Ron Pataky), 2) the positioning of her body as found (unusual clothing, not ready for bed makeup, hair and false eyelashes, upside down book, the specific drugs on the bedside table), 3) everything about the Medical Examiner’s report which was signed by a deputy in the Brooklyn office when the death was in Manhattan and 4) the most critical – Kilgallen’s files, notes and papers on the assassination were missing from her home.
Like many books, this book has a web site. Unlike any book, to my knowledge, the site (thereporterwhoknewtoomuch.com) has the video interviews covered in the book.
If, like me, you are interested in the JFK assassination here is another book for your “to read” list. It is not the most important book in the topic, but it documents the first credible challenge to the Warren Commission's conclusions. We do not know what she found, but she had the access and the platform to “blow it wide open” (as she claimed to friends) with far less information than is now known. In one sense, her death was the canary in the coal mine… warning, and most likely silencing, all but the very brave....more
Jan Stocklassa consulted Eva Gabrielsson, Steig Larrson’s long time companion, on a research project relating to architecture/geography and crime. WhaJan Stocklassa consulted Eva Gabrielsson, Steig Larrson’s long time companion, on a research project relating to architecture/geography and crime. What she had to say took his research in a totally different direction that consumed him for the next 7 years.
Well known for his fictional trilogy, Larrson’s life work was in countering right wing and Nazi extremism. He investigated, researched and wrote for his own publications and others. The intersection of Stocklassa’s interests and Larsson’s was the 1986 assassination of Sweden’s Prime Minister, Olof Palme. Larsson’s extensive files containing clippings, hand written notes, biographies and government reports became the framework for Stocklassa’s research.
Palme’s anti-Apartheid stance and his disruption of the South African and Swedish parts of the US’s Iran-Contra Arms deal earned him powerful enemies. His social policies set off right wingers who convinced themselves he was giving Sweden to the USSR.
His research took Stocklassa to Cyprus, South Africa and rural Sweden. He describes his spy craft (cameras in pens and glasses and use of Facebook) and those who assist him and those he interviews. South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation testimony contained applicable confessions and gave prosecutorial immunity such that some were willing to be interviewed. A chart on pages 380-383 shows the broad reach of the bombings and assassinations by those who most likely planned the Palme assassination.
Of all the people playing with fire, Lida is the most intriguing. Her identity is well screened (Mossad? CIA?). She was fearless, comfortable with spycraft and an excellent actress.
I didn’t know (but was not surprised) that the CIA had an assassination manual. Recommended is having a hapless person who is (or appears to be) a true believer either pull the trigger or stand at the crime scene. In the Kennedy assassination (to which the Palme assassination can be compared for its impact and cover up), it was Lee Harvey Oswarld and in this case it is Jakob Thedelin, who looks like the composite drawing of the 10 witness who saw the likely assassin fleeing. He was not interrogated during the investigation; Was the investigation corrupted by sympathizers of the assassins in the various investigation teams?
The lack of an index is a serious omission. There are so many people it is hard to keep track of them. The List of Characters at the end lacks sufficient detail to be of help. Entries for “Suspects” and the “ South African Connections” are so spare you cannot distinguish one from the other. I suggest that readers take notes on the characters to place them when they re-appear. Not as serious an omission, but still a need, is the lack of documentation. While Larsson’s files, books and news reports are noted in the text, full documentation would be helpful.
As of the date of this book review, the murder has still not been officially solved. Although the evidence is circumstantial, I believe Stocklassa has found the killer.
This is an excellent research report. Short chapters make for a quick read. A lot of it feels like a mystery novel. The lack of a much needed index (or at least a more helpful character list) takes it from a 5 star to a 4 star book for me....more
Mark Lane was an early critic of the Warren Report which he presented in “Rush to Judgment” in both book and movie formats. This book, published in 20Mark Lane was an early critic of the Warren Report which he presented in “Rush to Judgment” in both book and movie formats. This book, published in 2011, covers a range of topics, some relate to the assassination and cover up and others to Lane’s experience in seeking justice. It ends with an indictment of the CIA.
There is a very thorough treatment of the Secret Service failures with a spotlight on Abraham Bolden who was punished for raising the issues. Oswald’s alleged pre-assassination trip to Mexico City is discussed, but the issue of a potential double is not. There is information on witnesses you don’t hear much about: Acquilla Clemons who actually saw the murder of Officer Tippit (and not by Oswald); Roger Craig of the Dallas Police who ran to the grassy knoll when he heard the shots and stopped a suspect (who showed him a false secret service ID) and Martina Lorenz (the mother of Castro’s first child) who along with Frank Sturgis (later,a Watergate burglar) took weapons to Dallas to name a few.
From Lane’s own experience there is color on E. Howard Hunt who sued a media outlet for liable. The case turned on its reporting of Hunt's location on the day of the assassination. Lane won the suit for the publisher by proving Hunt was not home with his family (i.e. not in Dallas) as Hunt alleged. Given the failure of Jim Garrison’s case against Clay Shaw, this may be as close to a legal victory there is for those who have challenged the Warren Commission’s findings.
There is a lengthy report on how Lane pushed to get the House to appoint a Select Committee on Assassinations. He shows how the committee’s mixed results (Oswald fired shots but there was probably a conspiracy) were political and not based on evidence.
Other Lane encounters include those with William Buckley (who seems to know something) and Vincent Bugliosi who aggressively defends his 1000 page affirmation of Oswald acting alone. Lane points out how some of Bugliosi’s conclusions are based on debunked evidence. (For interesting background on Bugliosi see Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties)
The indictment of the CIA covers its activities in Iran, the Congo, Chile and elsewhere and gives a lengthy treatment of MKULTRA its drug research project on the vulnerable and unwitting. Lane notes that the uni-bomber may have been a victim.
The Appendix on George DeMohernshildt shows what a fascinating person he was, but does not have what I believe is the most significant fact: his (alleged) suicide the day he was notified his testimony was of interest to the House Select Committee on Assassinations.
The book is wide-ranging and at times it seems Lane is unnecessarily defensive, a posture that is understandable since he has been at this over 50 years. The text needs work. Most of the section’s introductory paragraphs have little context for what is to follow. People may be cited before you know who they are. Testimony is referenced, but not whether it is from the Warren Commission or the House Committee. While there is a lot of good material, it seems randomly culled from Lane’s memory.
There are no photos, no index. There are footnotes on the page cited, but these are too few for the type of book this is....more
James Douglass establishes Kennedy’s character through his PT109 experience and shows JFK remaining a hero by giving all and more in public life. As pJames Douglass establishes Kennedy’s character through his PT109 experience and shows JFK remaining a hero by giving all and more in public life. As president, his growing views about the dangers of the cold war put him at odds with the “military industrial complex” which Eisenhower had warned about and with the CIA which had a vested interest in maintaining both cold and hot wars. With this as a starting point, Douglass goes deeper into the motivation and methods of JFK's assassins.
At the time of his assassination, Kennedy was working on an arms ban treaty with the Soviet Union, a visit to Indonesia to help Sukarno fend off a military coup, a negotiated settlement with Vietnam and other world peace initiatives. Support for these measures came from the general public, not from “Washington”, including lack of support from JFK’s own appointees.
With key witnesses either out of the way or intimidated, it is no surprise that a significant amount of information was held back from the Warren Commission and later from the House Select Committee on Assassinations (1978-9). Dogged investigations have found witnesses to come forward 40+ years later. Only recently, with all or most perpetrators gone, can we get a more accurate picture of the right-wing conspiracy that killed both Kennedy brothers and perhaps politically damaged another and may have downed the flight of JFK’s son.
For me, Douglass has documented, confirmed and/or clarified: • Lee Harvey Oswald was a CIA agent. He prepared for this work as a marine. He returned to the US from Russia on the CIA payroll. This information was not available to the Warren Commission or the House Select Committee on Assassinations. • George de Mohrensen’s Haiti contract was via the CIA, most likely payment for “minding” Oswald and handing him off to the Paine’s. (His death was an alleged suicide days before his scheduled testimony before the HSCA.) • The mystery of the Paine’s taking the Oswald’s into their home as they did was solved: both Ruth and Michael had ties to Allen Dulles. • Jim Garrison, the only prosecutor who brought a case against any of the alleged conspirators, was on to a lot, but important info was not available at that time.
These items were new to me: • A Chicago assassination attempt for November 2, 1963 was foiled by a tip to the FBI from someone named Lee. Its plan (a fake shot from on a high window at a turn in a motorcade) and its scapegoat (like Oswald, a former marine with CIA ties) resembled the November 22 event. • Oswald most likely had a double. It was the double that went to the Russian Embassy in Mexico (Oswald was fluent in Russian; the man who resembled Oswald at the embassy was not). The visit’s purpose was to tie Oswald, the scapegoat, to Russia and Cuba. • Jack Ruby was seen delivering the Oswald double (the actual assassin) to the grassy knoll. He was also seen as an early visitor to Parkland Hospital and then the movie theater where Oswald (and maybe the double) was (were) apprehended. What are the odds that he would just happen to be at any of thee three locations? • Richard Case Nagel was the CIA officer tasked with assassinating Oswald after the deed. He couldn’t do it and got himself arrested sensing that he would be safest in jail. • Ruth Paine not only got Oswald the Book Depository job, she saw that he was not aware of a call about a higher paying job. Her car was seen at the grassy knoll – picking up Oswald (most likely the double). Her cover story is widely accepted, but the facts say that she or her husband, or both, were setting Oswald up. • The story of Abraham Bolden shows the breadth of the cover up. Bolden tried to contact the Warren Commission about the Chicago attempt. His reward was a counterfeiting rap. The judge tried to sway the jury to a guilty verdict but failed. A second trial convicted him. In a separate trial a so called witness to Bolden’s alleged counterfeiting testified that he had perjured himself at the Bolden trial. The conviction was never overturned. In prison Bolden was given mind altering drugs. The day after a visit from Jim Garrison Bolden was put in solitary confinement. While in prison his home was vandalized and later set on fire. A brick was thrown at his wife. • The story of Ralph Yates shows more cruelty in the cover up. For his testimony of having picked up a hitchhiker who looked like Oswald carrying a package of “curtain rods” and letting him off at the Book Depository, Yates lived 11 years in a mental institution where he died. While there, he received electric shock treatments. The most likely explanation for Yates's treatment is that he picked up the double who was tasked with planting evidence to make it look like Osward took a gun to the book depository. When the real Oswald was documented at other locations, Yates and his inconvenient knowledge had to be suppressed.
While we use the term CIA as the assassin, to re-purpose the NRA expression “people (not government agencies) kill people”. The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government shows the life of Allen Dulles and how he had the motive (policy differences and his dismissal from the CIA) and means (ties to the agency with long experience in assassination) to carry this out. Douglass shows how Dulles got himself appointed to the Warren Commission and was its most diligent member; the only member to attend all its meetings. Douglass often documents how what witnesses reported differs from their testimony in the Commission’s minutes.
Here are some of my observations that I have never seen anywhere in print:
• Conspiracy debunkers use police and autopsy reports with no skepticism. Douglass shows how some police work was co-opted and the autopsy was not allowed to progress according to accepted practice. Police and physicians as well as witnesses were silenced, severely altering the record.
• Arlen Specter who as a staff member of the Warren Commission co-authored the single bullet theory, was a rising star in Democratic politics. In 1965 he became a Republican. Local politics are the official reason, but there are official stories for too many involved with this assassination and its cover up. Specter changed parties again – in 2010.
• There are YouTube clips of Judyth Baker ( Me & Lee: How I Came to Know, Love and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald) that chronicle her 1963 romance with Oswald. While her story is not accepted as mainstream, could her romance have been with the Oswald double? Some of the pictures she has posted show Oswald with beefier face; the Oswald at the Russian Embassy in Mexico was said to be a bit bigger than the real Oswald.
• I personally know someone who may have had prior knowledge of the JFK assassination. In the 1960's he was sent to Attica Prison for a murder and may still be there. He did not seem to be the kind of guy who would kill a woman in her kitchen. He as a driver for an important mob figure. Was he set up to get him off the stage like so many others with foreknowledge?
Douglass quotes and references Thomas Merton at the beginning and end and at places in the middle of this is a cautionary tale. He writes not only of moral values, but also Merton’s prescience about Kennedy's fate. Similarly Kennedy's Commencement Speech at American University (which appears in the Appendix) is frequently cited.
Here is a very real “deep state” of “unelected” bureaucrats. It is not a deep state not of liberals, as envisioned by the people who use these terms; but a “deep state” of "unelected" conservatives.
This is an important book. Its contents should be taught in American history classes....more
Little is known about Boston Corbett, but we would know nothing at all if his regiment had not been selected to pursue the fleeing John Wilkes Booth aLittle is known about Boston Corbett, but we would know nothing at all if his regiment had not been selected to pursue the fleeing John Wilkes Booth and he was not the man who shot him. His story illustrates the opportunities and hardships for young males in the United States in the mid 19th century.
Scott Martelle traced the scant records of this strange man. Corbett immigrated to the US as a young man with his taxidermist father who returned to England. Alone in the new country, Corbett became a deeply religious, preaching and praying everywhere he could and learned the trade of hat making. Widowed after a brief marriage, his religious fanaticism propelled him to castrate himself… Matetlle’s medical reporting on this is not for the squeamish. His faith also led him to oppose slavery and fight for the Union.
There are good sections on Corbett’s military life, how he preached and prayed at every opportunity, his daily life in battle, patrol and as a POW. Martelle covers the Booth family, something of the conspirators, Lincoln's assassination and the manhunt. He explains how and why some claim that Booth escaped.
After the war, Martelle follows Corbett as he moves about the country preaching and taking short jobs. The description of his homesteading in Kansas may be a typical experience of trying to make bad land work.
Corbett’s fanaticism seems to do him in and he is institutionalized. It is not clear how this happened (not the author’s fault), but this clever man who found his way out of Anderson Prison, found a lasting route to freedom this time. It is unclear what became of him, but you do learn how, without modern ID methods, imposters operate.
This is a short and interesting book. If you have interest in these times, you will enjoy it....more
Marita Lorenz dramatic's life began in 1939 in Germany as the child of an American mother and German father. I was riveted to her memoir which will leMarita Lorenz dramatic's life began in 1939 in Germany as the child of an American mother and German father. I was riveted to her memoir which will left me exhausted in the end. As I read this book, I kept asking myself two questions: How much of this is true? How could she do this?
How much is true? She is very specific with names and places. I presume a lot of this can be backed up with documents and court records, but the book is not footnoted. Marita claims she gave the photo of herself with Lee Harvey Oswald and Frank Sturgis (at the, presumably, CIA training camp where she saw Jack Ruby) was given to Sen. Howard Baker and the photo of her son with Fidel Castro is held by Oliver Stone. Witnesses may be deceased, but could someone have told someone still living who can corroborate the rescue from the Amazon rain forest? The trip to Dallas? The way she was taken out of Spain? etc.
How could she do this? As a toddler she was separated from her parents, sent to Bergen-Belsen and rescued after 8 months; She was raped at age 7. She received concentration camp survivor’s benefits and she names the rapist who was brought to trial for this and other rapes. These events should be documentable, but again, no footnotes. Is her impulsive behavior result from PTSD? Are victims of child abuse prone to promiscuity? Was this the result of an adventurous spirit (similar to her mother before her) in a time of limited roles for women?
Her life and life-style shed light on what her mother would call a “kept woman” of this era. I lost track of the many men who kept her. The first was Fidel Castro with whom she fell in love with at age 19. He kept her in a hotel room and visited her from time to time. (By age 21, still in love, she joins a group dedicated to killing him.) With the deposed President of Venezuela Marcos Perez Jimemez one day she receives a $36,000 bracelet, not long after she is on food stamps. Her second child (or maybe it's her third) had four paternal claimants; 3 were “waiting” at the hospital, and the (believed to be) real father was in jail. As her two US kids grow, they are moved around a lot, often sent to live with others.
From time to time Marita has a job, but they do not last long. She does not have a high school diploma and has no training. While she mentions education for her two kids, it is a minimal factor in their lives.
The book adds to the record on the Kennedy Assassination, showing additional links for the CIA and the Mafia. It also shows the life of a mistress to the powerful and corrupt in this era....more
Alexander Litvinenko solved the crime of his murder as he was dying from poisoning and it took the British government another 10 years to confirm it. Alexander Litvinenko solved the crime of his murder as he was dying from poisoning and it took the British government another 10 years to confirm it. Luke Harding takes you through the crime and the issues that surround it. You see how those who fall out of favor with Vladimir Putin are never safe.
Those at the top did not plan it well. While they found two unassuming motiveless assassins, Andrei Lugovoi and Dimity Kovton knew little of their tradecraft. The descriptions of how they dressed, attempted to get laid, and sought an accomplice are comical. Did the planners know that polomium 210, while hard to detect in a body, leaves a larger external trail, one that could possibly put thousands at risk? It doesn’t matter that the planners were careless, with the power of the “country” they control and their wealth, consequences are unlikely. They publically awarded the assassins with honors.
Litvenenko’s assassination did not occur in a vacuum. There is a description of the Crimea takeover which gives insight as to how the Putin regime works. There is a description of the wealth these oligarchs are protecting, not only in their world-wide properties but also their prominence in the Panama Papers. (For those following Putin and his circle it is interesting that “cellist” features in the “Papers”.)
Harding profiles some of Putin’s critics that have wound up dead: Boris Berezosvski (Litvenenko’s former mentor & exile to the UK) Badri Patarkatsishvili (a Berezosvski partner and UK exile), Anna Polikovskaya (a Russian journalist murdered in her Moscow apt. stairwell), Boris Nemtsov (an opposition politician murdered in the open at a would-be Moscow rally) and Mikhail Lesin (a mysterious death in the US). You understand that Harding has had some space considerations since the trail is far from complete. Sergei Magnitsky (and others that perished regarding the Browder claims) gets only mention and other prominent victims are not listed.
There are many takeaways. One is awe for the very brave men and women in Russia who pursue reform through the media, politics and the courts. In the US these can be career or commitment pursuits, in Russia they are life and death undertakings. Another is how Russian money acts like a drug on policy makers and politicians in the west.
While Trump supporters may look the other way, it is clear that the influence is here in the US. The inability of the Republicans in the House and Senate to secure our voting system makes you wonder how deeply they are hooked on Russian cash. It also makes you hopeful that the Robert Mueller investigation can put some energy behind isolating this threat to democracy.
This book is highly recommended for both those who know the issues, but also for those who are starting to inform themselves about how Putin’s Russia operates and its tentacles this book is also a good introduction....more
Alison Weir thoroughly presents and critiques what is known about this complex and murky affair. Most of the book is readable, some of it is a page tuAlison Weir thoroughly presents and critiques what is known about this complex and murky affair. Most of the book is readable, some of it is a page turner, and on some technical parts (who was at a meeting; legal precedents; translation issues) it can be a slog. Written in 2003, I believe it remains the definitive work on Lord Darnley's murder.
Weir covers the main elements of the story with more clarity than I have seen anywhere, specifically:
- How Mary came to marry Darnley (inclusive of Elizabeth’s mixed signals and the possibility of Leicester as a husband) - the Rizzio murder and after it Mary’s attempt to portray a “good family” up to the birth of James. - witnesses on the night of the Kirk o’Field explosion - the cover ups and the power grabs that followed the murder - how Bothwell took and used Mary and the civil war that followed. - The trial in England and Elizabeth’s evolving motives - A thorough dissection of the Casket Letters – particularly how some dates can’t be possible and how the words are not Mary’s manner of writing.
Rather than write a review, I’ll make some observations:
- Mary had to living in a constant state of PTSD. She lost her father in her first week on earth and was shipped off to France to marry the Dauphin at age 5. By age 18 she was a widowed queen of France and the orphaned Queen of Scotland and more or less sent back to rule a land she knew little about and hardly spoke its language. Her second husband, for whom she fought a civil war, was (most likely) alcoholic and syphilitic, sleeping with men and women and had tried to kill her – or maybe just get her to abort their child by having her lute player stabbed 50+ times while she watched at gunpoint. This is just the start.
- Both Mary and Darnley were 6 feet tall. There has to be something to this, perhaps in Mary’s falling in love, and the people’s awe of their towering royal couple.
- Mary’s imprisonment saved her life.
- The nobles can quickly raise armies with thousands of soldiers at what seems to be a day or two notice… How is this done?
- Mary spent very little time with her baby James, and until captivity, seems not to miss him.
- What should be expected of an 18 year old monarch, raised to dance, smile and embroider?
- For centuries people believed in the divine right of kings. Mary wasn’t the first to let her sense of entitlement to ruin her life....more
This is a thriller; and it is real. You know the outcomes: first MLK will be shot and then James Earl Ray will be caught. Sides still has you at the eThis is a thriller; and it is real. You know the outcomes: first MLK will be shot and then James Earl Ray will be caught. Sides still has you at the edge of your seat. It is not historical fiction, a “true life novel” or any other liberty-taking genre. It is a well documented history of a major 20th century event. The only book that comes close in my experience is My Thoughts Be Bloody: The Bitter Rivalry Between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth That Led to an American Tragedy by Nora Tilton (co-incidentally) about an earlier assassination and manhunt).
As I relived these events, Sides provided new (to me) context. For instance the “I may not get there with you” speech is more meaningful when you understand King’s mental state, his reservations about the movement (had it peaked?) and his staff’s dissention (local operations? or national marches? Vietnam?) and the near hopeless situation of the sanitation strikers. The Memorial March through Memphis is even more emotional when you understand that the leaders believed that the movement was on trial. The presence of Senator Georgia Davis (and the naming of others) gives a new cast to Coretta King as an official Sphinx-like widow and adds to the understanding of Jackie Kennedy’s visit. I had not previously thought about how, on the day of the RFK funeral, the announcement that Ray was caught made the FBI director’s day.
Two issues stood out to me because of their eerie relevance for today.
- -J, Edgar Hoover was not just keeping a file on Martin Luther King, he was actively undermining him with… Yes… fake news (Shades of Comey’s announcement about the Weiner computer).
- - Ray/Galt/Willard/Sneyd, etc. was held up as a hero and groups that we know today as the “alt-right”, raised money for his defense.
There are a few smaller items that stood out - - Jesse Jackson - shown as a publicity hound from the start. - - Ramsey Clark – shown to have a deep commitment to the investigation. - - LBJ - in disengagement - - J. Edgar Hoover - wanted to catch the assassin because he knew that many, who knew his negative obsession with King, would think he had a hand in it. - - Dr. King - seemed deliberately late for a home cooked meal (an imposition on the cook). Had he been on time he’d have foiled at least this shot. - - Ray’s interests in locksmithing, hypnotism and positive thinking are understandable, but dancing lessons? - - I’m glad, at the end, Sides says something about how Ray might have funded his post-escape life… I would think he was committing small below the radar crimes.
The book needs an index and could use more photos, but it is still a 5 star book....more
Herald Munoz was asked by UN Secretary General Ban Kai-Moon to lead a fact finding mission and report on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Munoz waHerald Munoz was asked by UN Secretary General Ban Kai-Moon to lead a fact finding mission and report on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Munoz was asked as a diplomat, a journalist and a representative of Chile, a country with little history with Pakistan or influence/concern about its internal issues or external relations. A representative of Chile, which was saddled with a dictator through a coup which now is known to have had US backing, was believed to be sensitive to the international power issues that might be at play.
The research team was never expected to find the perpetrator(s). As intended, it documented the situation and issues and brought to light the many irregularities naming those associated with them. Bhutto’s is not the only murder (and/or suspicious death) “gotten away with” in recent years in Pakistan's public arena. Others include the assassinations of her brother and a previous prime minister (at the very site of Bhutto’s killing).
Munoz begins with a brief history of this young country and its initial position as a US ally. You learn of Pakistan’s fragile democracy and something of its inability to curb popular support for Al Qaeda supporters and Al Qaeda infiltration into governmental security agencies. The history is violent and advocating change is dangerous.
Everything about Bhutto’s death suggests a well planned act and an extensive cover up. Disinformation campaigns (i.e. Bhutto died of a head wound -the impact of hitting the hatch on her armored car) and evidence destruction (hosing down the crime scene) began immediately. The list of suspicious elements is long from the 16 year old with the suicide bomb to a lead vehicle with Bhutto’s security advisor.
There were hundreds of interviews; many with those who were most likely involved. At the end, you do learn of a few mildly positive outcomes since a few duplicitous politicians were removed from the scene.
If you are well informed this will be a 5 star book for you. If not, there are lots of new names, positions and issues to absorb....more
Whenever it is said that the “CIA” or “the mafia and the CIA” killed JFK, no name is ever associated with it. It is as though some leaderless operatorWhenever it is said that the “CIA” or “the mafia and the CIA” killed JFK, no name is ever associated with it. It is as though some leaderless operators managed to carry off this major crime and cover up all on their own. This biography shows how Allen Dulles had the motive and the means, the attitude (a law unto himself) and the experience (he successfully toppled governments and destroyed critics). You see this as a culmination of everything he had engineered to date.
David Talbot begins by showing how Allen Dulles ran the OSS office in Bern, Switzerland as though it was an extension of his Sullivan and Cromwell firm whose clients included the financial and industrial institutions of Nazi Germany. You read how he had no reservations about protecting former Nazis from the Nuremberg trials and hiring some of the highest level Nazis in the CIA. In contravention of US policy he tried to negotiate a separate peace with a representative of Himmler, a peace that would send the Jews in camps to Africa. He could set up friends and children of friends as unwitting decoys knowing that they would wind up in Soviet gulags. It didn’t bother him to have experimental drugs tested on vulnerable populations or have his own son suffer an experimental brain manipulation.
You see how he built power throughout the Washington and financial establishments. You see how be built a loyal staff and how he socialized to make alliances and create a benign image.
Talbot shows the Bay of Pigs as the defining event when the new President Kennedy became aware of the danger of Dulles and the “shadow government” he had developed with little oversight by President Eisenhower. It is unclear how Dulles was let go from his post since there appeared to be a lot of face saving, but it is clear that he never really left. His staff continued to defer to him and he was able to spend the night in CIA quarters as he did just after the JFK assassination.
This volume is not a “conspiracy” book, it is a biography. The JFK assassination was part of Allen Dulles’s life and has the appropriate amount of space. It does not show that Dulles led the operation, but you see where he was and what he did and how the circumstantial evidence points to him. His lobbying to get on the Warren Commission and then his work on that commission, certainly point to active participation in the cover up. The book concludes with the death of Bobby Kennedy (13 shots when Sirhan’s gun had only an 8 bullet capacity), which may also be part of the Dulles life story, and shows how lax the press and opinion makers continue to be to this day.
A good complement to this volume is The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles & Their Secret World War which has more on his childhood and family history. The Dulles grandfather, Robert Lansing, was Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson who similarly had no problem with helping his corporate clients through his public office. Author Stephen Kinzer ties Lansing to the overthrow of Queen Liliokalani of Hawaii which was a boon to US agricultural interests. His grandsons followed his path, in using their public office for client services and in the overthrow of the elected governments in Iran the Congo and Guatemala where business interests were at stake.
This book makes me sad all over again for Kennedy family and the US, but more particularly for the Iranians and the Congolese who today still suffer without freedom or economic mobility due to what unelected operatives tied to Dulles, did to their elected leaders decades ago.
This book breaks new ground. I don ‘t see it on the "Best Books" or "Prize" lists for 2015 which says to me that to the media establishment, this subject is still taboo....more
Authors Girard and Kuklick digest the sad story of Patrice Lumumba who within two years of being the first democratically elected prime minister of thAuthors Girard and Kuklick digest the sad story of Patrice Lumumba who within two years of being the first democratically elected prime minister of the Congo was removed from office and murdered.
It appears that Belgium never expected to truly liberate the Congo or, maybe they didn’t know what liberty entailed. There were many financial interests in the southern province of Katanga, where with installation of Lumumba, a secession movement began. The story takes a lot of twists and turns. At a few points there is marginal hope for Lumumba and his democracy.
It is hard to tell why so much western hostility was poured onto Lumumba. On pages 140-1 Richard Helms is quoted as saying “I’m relatively certain that he represented something that the US government didn’t like, but I can’t remember anymore what it was.” This is exactly what I felt as I was reading the book. It seemed to be an idea that fit the needs of Belgium, the anti-communists in the US (although there is no evidence that Lumumba was a communist) and competing politicians and politicians on the take in the Congo. The UN’s objections to him are the hardest to glean.
While the locals did the deed, they responded to other masters. The CIA had developed a culture of doing dirty work and used a coded vocabulary for it: “a good high level”, “plausible deniability”, “eliminate”, and “subvention” meant bribery. Later US Senate hearings cut through the nuance and divulged (later confirmed in declassified CIA documents) that the order came from President Eisenhower.
The capture, torture and the disposal of Lumumba’s body were sordid affairs and paved the way for Joseph Mobutu.
While this is a dramatic story the prose is bland and reportorial. Hypocrisies are noted as are the strange episodes (i.e. brutal events and the delicacies of protocol) but in general, events are left to speak for themselves. If you want the facts, this book is for you. ...more
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