Live by the Sword: The Secret War Against Castro and the Death of JFK - Hardcover

Russo, Gus

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1890862010 ISBN 13: 9781890862015

Publisher: Bancroft Press, 1998

Synopsis

"Humiliated at the Bay of Pigs, John and Robert Kennedy sought desperately to eliminate Castro. Their strategies for overthrowing the Cuban leader were so elaborate and bizarre, they could only engender paranoia. Castro openly threatened to retaliate.Pro-Castro agitator Lee Harvey Oswald learned that Robert Kennedy was personally supervising groups plotting against the Cuban leader. Filled with rage and a sense of destiny, Oswald went to the Cuban embassy in Mexico, announcing he would kill America’s president in exchange for sanctuary in Havana. Live By the Sword forces the conclusion that members of the Cuban regime accepted the troubled American’s offer. Russo shows that Oswald was indeed JFK’s lone assailant, but that after the president’s murder, a devastated Robert Kennedy and key officials launched a comprehensive coverup to hide its true causes.Gus Russo, based in Baltimore, Maryland, has reported for acclaimed ABC and PBS documentaries on JFK, and done research for authors Gerald Posner, Seymour Hersh, and Anthony Summers. Exhaustively researched, Live by the Sword ends 35 years of public mistrust and confusion over the Kennedy assassination."

About this title

From AudioFile:

Out of three million pages of assassination records released in 1993, this audiobook recreates the fateful battle of "Camelot" vs. Castro. Patrick Cullen's treatment of the unflattering and delicious details buried in secret files keeps the story moving without inappropriate theatrics. His diction complements every word except the Spanish ones. An example of Cullen's skill with audio is heard in his quotes, for which he effects a subtle change in the character of his voice, rather than with a full-blown characterization. The final result is an excellent and entertaining revelation of how JFK's mistakes with Cuba provoked a young communist to commit murder in Dallas. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Kirkus Reviews:

Probably the last book on the Kennedy assassination you will need to read. Veteran investigative reporter Russo has reported for both ABC and PBS documentaries on the subject. Here he begins with an autobiographical introduction to convince readers he is not a conspiracy theory nut. His description of the twists and turns in his beliefs about the Kennedy assassination suggest an open-mindedness that is reason to take this author seriously, as well as a serious obsession with the subject matter. Russo argues that the critical question is not who killed Kennedy but why, an inquiry that takes us far beyond Oswald as a lone gunman. In a nutshell, the Bay of Pigs disaster left the Kennedy brothers committed to removing Castro, even to the extent of endorsing bizarre James Bondstyle assassination schemes. Bobby was personally involved in this ``Cuba Project,'' an effort pursued through a Cuban-American community so porous that all such activities were known by Castro in advance, and none of them was even close to successful. Oswald was also familiar with these efforts through his contact with the Cuban community, and he acted because he believed Kennedy was out to kill his hero, Castro. Whether Oswald had support from the Cubans remains a mystery, but for Russo the bottom line is that ``JFK's actions towards Castro were so outlandish, in fact, that had it not been Oswald, someone else was bound to take a shot at him.'' The coverup that followed was not due to governmental complicity in the assassination, but was rather to protect Kennedy's reputation. ``For three decades, Kennedy loyalists would fight tooth and nail to perpetuate the `lone nut' hypothesis and to keep the lid on the Kennedys' attempts to murder Fidel Castro.'' Russo's extremely detailed account reveals much more that was going on, but the story in the end is that the Kennedy brothers were inexperienced and incautious, and they paid the price for a reckless foreign policy. Gripping and convincing. (50 b&w photos, not seen) ($75,000 ad/promo; first printing of 100,000; author tour; TV satellite tour) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bancroft Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1890862010
• ISBN 13: 9781890862015
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 512