Some assessments (by myself and others) of JFK writer Harry Lvingstone's work (still one of my favorites)

Some assessments (by myself and others) of JFK writer Harry Lvingstone's work (still one of my favorites)

“HIGH TREASON”



Amazon.com Review

Originally published in 1980, High Treason remains one of the touchstone texts for many who are unconvinced that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy. "Too many people have too much at stake to allow the truth to come out," cautions Livingstone, "even though it has been squeezed out drop by drop over the years. The cover-up is kept in place to this day by those with interests that are threatened by the truth of a political assassination."

Among the provocative conclusions that Livingstone reached, and which he expands in this revised edition, is that "all of the evidence, including the famous Zapruder film, was fake," deliberately altered to conceal direct proof of multiple gunmen. He enlists several people, including eyewitnesses to the autopsy, to go on record in order to support this allegation, and also documents the "strange deaths" of numerous people who he believes are related one way or another to the cover-up. Although there are some occasional lurid turns of phrase, High Treason is for the most part one of the calmer, more levelheaded examinations of JFK's death.



VMP---warts and all, a classic. My main introduction to the case. I am in two later versions of this book, as I got to know and work with Harry.





“HIGH TREASON 2”

From Publishers Weekly

This is an oddity in the current spate of Kennedy assassination books, representing both the best and worst aspects of the genre. Livingstone, an assassination buff, self-published the first installment, and this is a follow-up. He concentrates intensively, for two-thirds of the book's nearly 600 pages, on the medical evidence, endlessly interviewing and cross-examining everyone involved in either of the two autopsies , in Dallas and at Bethesda. He concludes, as many before him have, that the photographs, drawings and X-rays that were released simply do not add up, and that much manipulation was involved to prove the President was shot only from the rear. Livingstone's amassing of this material is meticulous and exhaustive; in his more general comments, however--on the Kennedy presidency, his enemies, his lifestyle and sexuality--he is another writer entirely: overemotional, credulous, often ludicrous. The book needed severe editing--and it is not clear, despite the detail, what Livingstone adds to what many writers have said in a fraction of the length. Photos not seen by PW.



From Library Journal

This sequel to High Treason (Conservatory Pr., 1989), cowritten with Robert J. Groden, expands on its predecessor's thesis that JFK's autopsy pictures were faked. Three basic flaws mar Livingstone's argument. Like Philip H. Melanson's Spy Saga: Lee Harvey Oswald and U.S. Intelligence ( LJ 11/1/90), Livingstone here assumes the reader has a great deal of prior knowledge. In addition, frequent authorial asides impede the flow of the story. Thirdly, Livingstone's tendency to sprinkle the text with irrelevant insults provides more heat than light. Joining the ranks of conspiracy theorists Mark Lane ( Plausible Denial , LJ 11/1/91) and Mark North ( Act of Treason , LJ 11/1/91), the author does put together a strong body of evidence pointing toward a domestic coup d'etat (a la JFK ). More uniquely, he looks into the research cottage industry that has grown up around the assassinations of JFK, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. Recommended for extensive collections on the JFK assassination and libraries that already hold High Treason .

- Randall L. Schroeder, Augustana Coll. Lib., Rock Island, Ill.



VMP---A masterpiece (on the medical evidence)! I am credited in the book.



“KILLING THE TRUTH”



From Library Journal

This work is Livingstone's third take on the Kennedy assassination squabbles; he wrote High Treason 2 ( LJ 5/15/92), which was an update of High Treason (Conservatory Pr., 1989). He revisits, yet again, his thesis that JFK's autopsy photos were faked. Sloppy scholarship and argumentative writing destroy whatever merit exits in Livingstone's case. He states that James Hepburn's Farewell America (Frontiers, 1968) "was almost completely suppressed in the United States." Yet a quick check of OCLC reveals that 46 libraries in 26 states own it. After Gerald Posner's Case Closed ( LJ 10/15/93), it is difficult to know what to believe about the JFK assassination. Livingstone states that the media is put off by the disinformation. "They are simply exhausted by thirty years of bullshit." He got that right. Not recommended. See also Gaeton Fonzi's The Last Investigation , reviewed above.--Ed.

- Randall L. Schroeder, Augustana Coll. Lib., Rock Island, Ill.



From Kirkus Reviews

Case reopened! Gutsy--if at times farfetched--overview of Livingstone's JFK conspiracy theses, first met in High Treason (1989--not reviewed) and High Treason 2 (1992). Livingstone may step off on the wrong foot when drawing himself as emotionally troubled by attacks on him by other researchers, allegedly conspiracy-sponsored, out to get him and to lead others into searches for red herrings--but he unveils plenty of new evidence on the Kennedy killing here. No one should miss his summary of the hard evidence for a conspiracy--which, if accepted, leaves the lone-gunman theory far behind. Livingstone has managed to interview Diana Bowran (uninterviewed in 27 years), a British nurse and the first medical worker at Parkland Hospital to touch JFK's body. Bowran got into the back seat with the President and Jackie; found that JFK had no pulse; stayed with the body the entire time it was in the Trauma Room (aside from three minutes spent getting a transfusion packet); washed the corpse; closed its eyes; packed JFK's nearly empty skull with cotton squares; saw the extra back wound; and wrapped the body and watched its removal in a bronze casket. Livingstone points out that Kennedy's brain could not possibly have weighed 1500 grams (the weight of an average brain), as the autopsy doctors said, because a third or more of it was missing. He asks why the steel-jacketed ``magic bullet'' remains fresh-looking while the head-wound bullet exploded into fine bits, and answers: two guns. Actually, Livingstone posits four. His heavies are Texan oil billionaires H.L. Hunt and Clint Murchison, Jr., with LBJ, J. Edgar Hoover, Richard Nixon, and John J. McCloy all meeting at Murchison's house on the eve of the murder and focusing on raising the national debt and lining their pockets by beefing up the war machine JFK was out to reduce. Livingstone's list of conspirators may sound unlikely, but his examination of the forensic evidence is compelling--and makes this even more readable and exciting than his last. (Sixteen pages of photographs) (First printing of 50,000)





VMP---A mixed bag. Some great stuff, some not-so-great stuff. I am also credited in this book.



“KILLING KENNEDY”



From Publishers Weekly

Livingstone (High Treason; High Treason 2) is becoming the Grand Old Man of Kennedy assassination literature. Dogged and persistent, and with endless patience with niggling details, particularly involving the medical evidence, he has now turned his attention to the Zapruder film of the assassination that is the source of so much speculation by both lone-killer-Oswald and multi-shooter-conspiracy camps. Aided by what seems like impressive technical examination, frame by frame, of the surprisingly many versions of the macabre home movie available, Livingston is convinced, along with his experts, that parts of the film as publicly shown are faked. They find that frames have been eliminated and that certain visual effects involving the impact of the shots have been cleverly added to the film-presumably with the aim of eliminating the possibility of shots from elsewhere than Oswald's alleged window. The book also tellingly dwells on the conflicts between the various doctors' evidence of the Kennedy autopsy, and the X-rays and photographs that were released. A chapter is devoted-mostly by way of assaults from other assassination buffs-to attacking Gerald Posner's Case Closed. Like many assassination theorists, however, Livingstone weakens his presentation by maudlin appeals to the spirit of Camelot. Photos not seen by PW.





VMP---good but not a big fan. I am also credited in this book.



“The Radical Right and the Murder of John F. Kennedy: Stunning Evidence in the Assassination of the President”



Classic Harry: flawed, erratic, from the hip, warts & all :) January 22, 2005

By Vince Palamara

Format:Paperback

Harry Livingstone is a true enigma, a paradox of sorts---an old Beatnik with a sincere, dedicated passion for the truth in John Kennedy's murder and in JFK the man himself. Harry's books are fascinating and compelling...and quite unique: for every brilliantly written passage, there is another that makes you wince. Typos, run-on sentences, and grammar are potholes in the road from time to time. Alot of repetition, as well.

So, WHY am I giving this book 5 stars? Because it may be Livingstone's crowning achievement, with a close second being his best-selling "High Treason 2." There is so much great, important information contained herein that to give this book a 4 star (or less) rating would be heresy, even in spite of the spelling, grammar, and repetitive 'problems.' Harry shoots from the hip at times...and, warts and all, he often hits the target. Although I have every other book in Livingstone's impressive catalogue, I bought this one begrudgingly, thinking to myself "Why ANOTHER book, Harry? Haven't you said it all before?" I was WRONG...flawed, erratic, but indispensable. It is well worth it for the gems aplenty, the passionate writing, and the occasional brilliant passages. Buy this a.s.a.p.!!!:)



(I am on one page)



“The Hoax of the Century: Decoding the Forgery of the Zapruder Film”



And



“Kaleidoscope: A Review of Douglas Horne's Inside the Assassination Records Review Board”



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http://harrisonelivingstone.com/






Outstanding! Check it out