Live By The Sword: The Secret War Against Castro and the Death ofJFK by Gus Russo

Live By The Sword: The Secret War Against Castro and the Death ofJFK Reviews

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  Gus V.

  The question is not who killed JFK, but why he was killed. Russo's answer is that Oswald shot Kennedy because of the White House's secret war against Fidel Castro, a "secret" which was common knowledge in the city of New Orleans, from which many anti-Castro operations were based. Lee Harvey Oswald, a young communist sympathizer that had been in the Soviet Union, knew of these operations through acquaintances in New Orleans' Cuban community and decided to kill JFK to protect Castro. Russo discusses Oswald's failed attempt on General Walker's life, previous to his contact with Cuban agents in Mexico and his subsequent shooting of the President. Details of the Kennedy assassination and Oswald's escape attempt are provided, including his killing of officer Tippit. An important contribution this book makes to the discussion of the JFK killing is the photograph of the interior of Kennedy's limousine in Appendix A. It clearly shows that the seat John Connolly was on was about a foot lower than JFK's back seat. This seating arrangement validates the often dismissed "single bullet theory" -- the trajectory is obviously in line with the placement of the two men. A great read for those interested in knowing the truth about the JFK assassination. I recommend this book as a companion to a Kennedy biography (e.g. Dallek).
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  James Johnson

  Fascinating and rivoting! There is so much that I didn't know about the JFK assassination. This book was chocked full of information and evidence but more importantly, it has inspired me to weigh the evidence for myself.
  
  The author makes a great case for the lone gunman theory but his greatest contribution in this work is to document the efforts of the Kennedy brother to thwart, subvert, and destroy the Castro regime. In doing so, the Kennedys were living by the sword and it was inevitable that one or both of the rival presidents would end up dead.
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  Tom Schulte

  There ya have it - there were multiple conspirators at Dealey plaza that fateful day: One was Lee Harvey Oswald, the other ... was JFK. JFK was conspiring with RFK to kill Castro and Oswald was conspiring to save Castro. Of course, if Oswald had implicit support (some would be happy to just not stop him) or explicit support (some would love to help him, if they could get past his dangerous neuroses. This is the ultimate tale of hubris ... and nemesis ... and tregedy.
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  Nate Briggs

  With the current wave of fond remembrances of Bobby Kennedy, it's useful to check back and confirm that the Kennedy brothers were indeed cynical assholes: consumed by the impression that Castro was more Alpha than they were - and scheming, every day, how to reverse the Cuban Revolution by any means possible. The comedy script detailing the buffoonery at the highest levels of the American government has yet to be written. It would have the potential to be sobering - and hilarious.
• 
  Jose

  The only book one needs on the topic,backed by facts not emotions and certainly not a Camelot laced and approved whitewashing of what happen.
  Although I don't like the constant Right-Wing mentions the author doesn't smear any rightwingers and goes straight to the point.The author has put together not a fantasy or a Oliver Stone Make-Believe screenplay but a true book looking at not the how or the who but the why.Who had the most to gain,and the simple fact to this day as the author so finely points out is that Oswald was a Commie,a Castroite who hated this country and who was no patsy or dullard and was more complex than most so-called books paint the man.The conspiracy in all of this is the whitewashing and upholding the Camelot myth and blaming the Mob for something JFK started but was too chicken to finish and left brave Men on a beach to fight.By the time he and his brother wanted to avenge the embarrassment suffered by their own ineptness it was too late sadly.If you like Novels and kooky conspiracies maybe the book isn't for you,also the CIA isn't to blame they were just following Kennedy's orders,sadly the Company was soft in some aspects in regards to overthrowing Castro seeing as they were the same Liberal Establishment Eastern types then in the agency and were Kennedy Allies such as Dulles.I am glad I picked it up and read it and Own it,And I agree with most of it and he overall conclusion and theme of the book.
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  Nicole C.

  Some of these things I kind of knew, but new information has come to light in the last decade or so, and this book does it in more detail that one might want.
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  Donald Elton

  Very good and very complete and very up to date history of the US war against Cuba, Bobby Kennedy's responsibility for his brother's death, and how and why JFK had to die.