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

"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."

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.

Russo, an investigative journalist long interested in JFK's assassination, concludes that it was precipitated by John and Robert Kennedy's secret efforts to depose Castro at all costs (the "Cuba Project"). Like Gerald Posner in Case Closed (LJ 10/15/93), Russo also believes that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman and views Oswald's still-disputed pre-assassination visit to Mexico City as proof of a Cuba connection. The book focuses on the post-assassination efforts of Bobby Kennedy, among others, to cover up JFK's role in plotting to kill Castro. Included are recent revelations by key players, such as the marine in charge of planning the Bay of Pigs invasion. A 15-page bibliography and extensive chapter notes are included, along with newly released photos, but there will be no indexAa real drawback for such a lengthy book. Because some new insights on the Kennedy assassination are provided, this speculative book is highly recommended for most libraries.AGary D. Barber, SUNY at Fredonia Lib., Silver Creek
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.