Review: "End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy"

Three days ago, I ordered End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy through Amazon.com.

Two days later (yesterday), it arrived and I read the whole book last night. I wasn't disappointed.

Like his book, Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, James L. Swanson provides details on the assassination in a minute-by-minute narrative that will keep the reader glued. It is definitely a page-turner.

Besides the assassination, Swanson takes a look at the lives of JFK, Jacqueline Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald (with details on his assassination attempt on General Edwin Walker) prior to November 22, 1963 as well as Jacqueline Kennedy's life following that day.

As far as errors go, I only detected one and that was stating that Kennedy's Dallas coffin was "flag-draped" aboard Air Force One as the presidential party returned to Washington, D.C. from Dallas. It wasn't. That casket was never intended to be used for JFK's burial, and it was rendered useless anyway as the handles had to be broken off to get it aboard Air Force One (it was eventually dumped into the Atlantic Ocean years later) as it couldn't be fit though the door of the airplane with the handles on.

The book attempts to recreate the mood of the country before, during and after the assassination and it does it pretty well. The book also has plenty of photographs and extensive source notes.

Interestingly, the book discusses the merchandising by "entrepreneurs" that include pinback buttons, banners and magazines. One interesting item (of questionable taste): a 3D Dealey Plaza desk ornament, complete with a ball-point pen and paperclip tray. It also includes a model of the Texas School Book Depository with Oswald's open window and the Hertz clock sign frozen at 12:29 P.M., one minute before the shots rang out, and an "x" marking the spot where JFK sustained the fatal shot. (Two of these are up for auction at eBay, as it turns out.)

My grade: A.

End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

Although I am an unabashed and unapologetic conservative, I am also an American history buff. One of the things that has interested me over the years is the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. I remember that day as I was under three months away from turning ten years old. I even visited Dealey Plaza in 1984.

There is a new book of like-minded people who are interested in the events of November 1963.

The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation has posted an article on a new book by James Swanson, End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Above, the sniper's position at the open window.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Swanson is the author of the excellent book chronicling the 12-day manhunt for President Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer. I recently read Manhunt and finished it in one night, it is that spellbinding.

Swanson is a legal scholar at The Heritage Foundation and his book on the JFK assassination is broken down into second-by-second accounts. He also includes Jacqueline Kennedy's side of the story, which was largely ignored and disregarded in previous accounts.

If End of Days is anywhere as good as Manhunt, this should prove to be a great read.

To read The Foundry article (which also includes a video), go here.