The Book I Recommend Most About the JFK Assassination

I was obsessed with reading about the JFK assassination during the years 1990-1998. I read dozens of books and countless articles. I wrote hundreds of pages -- some of which has been published in periodicals or has been posted on the Internet.

I became an expert about the year 1963.

One book that I read stands out in my mind as the best -- Russ Gusso's book Live by the Sword: The Secret War Against Castro and the Death of JFK. Anyone who wants to read just one book about the assassination should read that book.

Russo argues that:

* Lee Harvey Oswald became informed about the Kennedy Administration's efforts to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro.

* While in Mexico City, away from the Cuban embassy, Oswald met with Cubans who probably informed and agitated Oswald about the efforts to assassinate Castro.

* Oswald felt that, by assassinating Kennedy, he was defending and pleasing Castro's government.

* Oswald alone assassinated Kennedy.

* During the investigation of the assassination, some evidence was covered up if it might lead to exposure of the Kennedy Administration's efforts to assassinate Castro.

* In particular, information about Oswald's interactions with Cubans away from the embassy in Mexico City was covered up.

I am not convinced that Oswald's meetings were significant in his motivation to assassinate Kennedy. However, the book largely ignores Oswald's relationship with Russia and correctly focuses on his fantasy about becoming a spy for Cuba.

The officials at the top of the CIA and FBI who knew about the efforts to assassinate Castro feared that their investigation would lead to a conclusion that Kennedy was assassinated on Castro's orders because Kennedy had been trying to assassinate Castro. That fear was a significant factor in how the investigation was curtailed.

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Someone who wants to read more than one book should read through David Reitzes' website JFK Online.