Final_Judgment

Appendix Eight
The Battle of the Books:
A Commentary on the Major Published Works Relating to
the Assassination of John F. Kennedy
By no means have I read all of the books on the JFK assassination, but
I certainly have read the primary works (along with some lesser-known
volumes) and I am thoroughly familiar with all of the various theories about
the assassination that have been presented over the years. So I'd like to
comment on some of those volumes.
I'd like to break down my commentary into several sections, since the
books about the assassination come from a wide variety of approaches, so
I'd like to examine these volumes from that perspective.
There are, first of all, the books that examine the flaws of the Warren
Commission. They were essentially the first books that were published on
the subject of the assassination. Then, as time went by there were a number
of books that were overviews of the theories about the assassination that had
been emerging, encompassing critiques of the forensic evidence, autopsy
information, etc.
With the advent of Jim Garrison's prosecution of Clay Shaw there
were a number of books written exclusively about that subject and this
opened up a whole new realm in the arena of the JFK inquiry—which, in
my view, is a key period of transition in JFK research.
Following that, there were a number of interesting volumes appeared
that were actually novels—fiction. Although they were novels they were
important because some of them contain grains of truth. I think these
novels are important because they do give you an overview of various
perspectives relating to the assassination.
There have also been a number of volumes that have laid forth various
possible conspiracies that resulted in the assassination—volumes that are
akin to the approach taken in my own book in the sense that they deal with
the power politics involved.
Then there are the more "offbeat" books that have been published by
various witnesses or studies that delve into areas that are unique to those
volumes.
There are also several books by authors who have written on various
aspects of the case and, I want to focus quite specifically on those authors
and what they have written, most notably the widely-promoted Case Closed,
by the now-infamous Gerald Posner.
Mr. Posner, of course, has emerged as the media's number one hatchet
man who is called into action for the debunking and smearing of all serious
JFK assassination researchers—including yours truly. However, Posner is a
remarkable case study in himself, as we'll see.
So let's examine some of these books . . .