Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot

Like the rest of the works in the "Killing" series, this is not a history book. Rather, it is a historical fiction which blends facts, conjecture and creative liberties to tell the tale of JFK and those around him in an intimate and compelling manner.

The book moves quickly, and doesn't make clear

Show More

which parts are proven fact and which are based on assumptions or crafted for creative purposes, but that is a reality in any book which assumes the perspective of being 'inside the head' of a historical figure.

This book will likely offer some knowledge you didn't have about JFK, Oswald and others, and will play out in a manner that will feel reasonable and very possible.

If you take it for what it is; a creative account of how things might have happened, with the gray areas of history filled in seamlessly by the authors, then it is a good read that will educate you a little and move you a lot.

Show Less

Reading soon after "Killing Lincoln", I found that I enjoyed this one much more. Perhaps it was because the events were a little more contemporary, even though they still happened before my birth. Maybe it was because the fascination with the Kennedy's remains pervasive in America. In any case, I

Show More

breezed through quite easily.

However, small details were offputting to me, like Jackie Kennedy's suit worn in Dallas. It was not a Chanel suit, but a reproduction made by an American designer. I find that important, especially since she had worn the suit several times before, and had it made specifically in the US to please the public.

Another glossing over was the media's relationship to JFK. This was the last president to benefit from the respect of hte media in staying out of his private life. The media could have ruined the perfect vision of Camelot, if they had not been so enamored with JFK.

Lastly, the statement that the Vietnam War was "popular with voters". This is certainly the first time I have ever heard this notion, and I would need to see significant evidence to that end, as I can provide much proof that it was the opposite.

All-in-all, I would recommend, with the comment to take much of it with a grain of salt.

Show Less

9 hours/7CDs. Bill O'Reilly gives his historical narrative and timeline of the life and murder of John F. Kennedy both before and after his assassination. It narrates the portrait of a young man new to office during the Bay of Pigs, talks plainly of Kennedy's lurid personal life, but still

Show More

acknowledging John F. Kennedy's contribution to the ideals of a strong America which Kennedy truly believed in. As usual, O'Reilly gives a fair and balanced account although I thought he went easy on the character of Linden B. Johnson the Vice President by other accounts I have listened to about the aftermath of the assassination.

Show Less

If you liked killing Lincoln, then you will certainly also enjoy Killing Kennedy. O'Reilly points out the parallels between the assassinations of the two presidents while drawing a colorful picture of Kennedy's life from his youth through his death. As someone who was only a toddler at the time

Show More

this event happened, this reader found it very interesting to learn more details from Kennedy's life. As in the Lincoln book, it makes you want to say, "No, don't do that or don't go there!" The story has the same outcome as always, however. An excellent way to relive or experience history for the first time.

Show Less

Didn't expect to like this. But O'Reilly and his co-author did a good job, I think. And it was very readable. The title is a bit of a misnomer. It is about the assassination and death, but it is also about Kennedy's presidency, and includes a fair amount of background on his life and family. Also

Show More

background on Oswald, Castro, and other characters in Kennedy's life.

Show Less

Perhaps it's my fault. Perhaps I've overdosed on All-Things-Kennedy over the past couple years. I watched the cable TV series on the Kennedys and have recently read several books and in-depth articles about the era. Maybe this is the reason that I found "Killing Kennedy" more of a historical

Show More

re-tread than a book that unearths new nuggets. In all candor, I learned very little about JFK that I didn't already know. In addition, the title is somewhat misleading, given the fact that less than one-fourth of the book deals directly with the assassination, its aftermath or the various conspiracy theories. A more appropriate title would have been the Kennedy Years (although that moniker was probably snatched up decades earlier.) Having said all this, O'Reilly and Dugard have authored an easy-read book that would likely be devoured by folks who don't know much about the JFK era and are interested in learning about the "Camelot" years.

Show Less

The story reads like a movie. The way O'Reilly switches back and forth from the glorious Kennedy to the pathetic Oswald with objectivity makes Killing Kennedy seem like as accurate an account as we who were not born at the time can hope to have - devoid of the hero-worship spin put on Kennedy by

Show More

other so-called reporters who come off as little more than fans rather than as historians. In this book, Kennedy was at once flawed and impressive - in other words, he was human. And the troubled Oswald is not unlike these troubled adults who shoot children in Connecticut schools nowadays. If only we learn something from him and others since him... I was already familiar with the facts surrounding Kennedy's horrendous murder, but I must say that I FELT it for the first time reading this book. I have no idea how Mrs. Kennedy ever slept another night in her life after experiencing what she experienced that day in Dallas with the love of her life. One point of criticism - the first person, present tense was sometimes awkward since this was not an autobiography, but overall very good read.

Show Less

As I started "Killing Kennedy" I was expecting a different book and I was disappointed; I expected to rate the book no more than three stars. But I changed my perspective entirely by the time I was halfway through. Nevertheless, the book does have some negatives as well as a number of positives. I

Show More

think the title is misleading; this is much more than a look at the days just before and just after the assassination. It begins with the oath of office and highlights the high and low moments of JFK's presidency for the first 70% of the book. It also blends in his family life and other very personal episodes and shows his transition from rich Daddy's playboy son to respected world leader. It also tracks what was going on in Oswald's life during these same periods of time. But the book devotes more time to his sexcapades than was necessary to make the point, and seems to delight in emphasizing that MLK and LBJ also spent considerable time in pursuit of extra-marital sex. But it harps and harps on how much time JFK has left - many chapters end with a reminder that he would be dead in two months, or following a meeting with Dr King that JFK would be dead in 5 months and MLK in 5 years. The last 80 pages or so are devoted to the assassination and the days immediately following. This was certainly the most impactful part of the book but somehow it still seemed skimpy. Many photos and maps, all of which were helpful. But by the time I was finished I had two overwhelming and somewhat contradictory feelings about the book - one that it was pop history and written to entertain as much as to inform, and secondly that it was nevertheless moving and that I was glad I had read it. I will read "Killing Lincoln".

Show Less

Disappointing superficial narrative. Most of it, while true, is a recitation of titillating "tidbits"--might be a good way to interest the novice in the Kennedy assassination story, though.

He does mention Bugliosi's "Reclaiming History" oeuvre in the notes section in the back of the book.

Killing Kennedy, a good read that I recommend to my friends. It was interesting as I wasn't aware of a lot of the history in and around that time frame. Apparently I didn't pay attention in history class too well. So with that being said, I think that the information was helpful to me so I could

Show More

understand what it was like.

I read this book pretty quickly, and enjoyed it and enjoyed the follow up of the people involved at the end of the book.

Show Less

Good reading. Surprised at how little is still known about Harvey Oswald. Also seems that little additionaly information is given about the Kennedys but the book nevertheless is entertaining in spite of the sad outcome.

Good quick read. Some of the stylistic choices by the author can grow tiresome. Best example is that he kept referring to Kennedy as the man who had X days to live at the start of each chapter..... Come on bro! You're writing a book that everyone already knows the ending to.....

I think I liked this more than Killing Lincoln. It was a real page turner. Can't wait to read his new book when published, Killing Jesus.

Much has been written about both the life and death of President John F. Kennedy, some interesting and some not, some historically accurate and some not. This book qualifies as both fascinating and historically accurate and is definitely not “just another book about Kennedy”. If you only read

Show More

one book about the life and death of Kennedy, it should be this one. You will be both entertained and learn something in a most painless manner.
JFK was initially hired to lead the U.S. because he was young, good looking, charismatic, and had the power and money of Joseph Kennedy Sr. backing him. It didn’t hurt that he had a beautiful wife by his side. It was enough to get him elected, but was it enough to lead the nation, to wisely make the tough decisions that every president must make? In the beginning, no, it wasn’t and Kennedy made his share of mistakes and bungles. However with time and difficult lessons learned, Kennedy grew into the position and became a true leader of men and nations, though he had serious flaws, both personally and professionally that would never be resolved. Would JFK have been re-elected in 1964 had he not been assassinated a year earlier? Almost certainly.
In the end, this book brings us back, those of us old enough to remember, to the shining days that were known as Camelot and just for a few hours we are transported to a world we loved, a world of heroes and of conquering exciting new frontiers – racial equality, space exploration, and new frontiers for global democracy.
This book also peels back some of the glitter of those days, the sexual liaisons, political jealousies and jockeying, lies and half-truths. But it doesn’t shatter the image … these men, particularly Kennedy, whom we so admired were not perfect, they weren’t saints, they were men. The comparison to Camelot put forth by Jackie K has, in the words of the authors, “… shaped how (her) husband’s presidency is remembered to this day.” Nonetheless, they are heroes and will always be in our eyes, as they forged their way into uncharted new territories of which the nation’s founders could never have even dreamed.
If this book brings to mind the lovely carousel ride that was the Kennedy’s Camelot, the afterword reminds us of the roller-coaster ride that was the aftermath of conspiracy theories, Vietnam, and the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King.
The book also treats us to a look into the life of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man whose destiny was to kill Kennedy and end the legacy of Camelot. Oswald did not hate Kennedy and really had no beef about the man, but Oswald believed that he was born to be a great man, to be known by all as a great man, and it is in this that his life was filled with bitter disappointment for he was the definition of a loser. In the end, his decision to kill the president boiled down to a simple equation: if his wife would take him back, he would put his plan aside, otherwise, with nothing left to lose, he would go down in history as “the man who killed President Kennedy”.
For those of us who have not extensively studied this era and the principals involved, there is much to be learned from this book. Those of us who are of a certain age certainly remember that there was much written about Kennedy’s womanizing, rumors of his communist leanings, the beginnings of our involvement in Vietnam and the struggle to win racial equality. But throughout this book are many tidbits that most of us probably didn’t know, for example the deviousness of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and Martin Luther King’s excesses which were similar to Kennedy’s.
This is the second book written by the team of O’Reilly/Duggard … the first was Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever which I have not yet read, but certainly plan to now. I also hope to see more from these two accomplished writers. This is a book well worth the time spent reading it and one that you will remember for a long time.

Show Less

I liistened to this book on CD from the library - It relates details of Kennedy's life from his time that he was the captain of PT109 that sunk and the efforts he goes to to save his crew. It goes through the the failed Bay of Pigs as well as the Cuban Missile Crisis. It relates his womanizing with

Show More

Marilyn Monroe as well as many other women and his relationship with his beautiful wife, Jackie. I grieve with Jackie as she loses their third child, Patrick and she drifts away out of the public eye to be alone. The death of Jack at the hand of gunman Lee Harvey Oswald at the motorcade in Dallas is graphic and heart stopping. A very compelling read.

Show Less

I loved this book. I learned a lot about John Kennedy that I hadn't known, or maybe I had forgotten. I liked it a little better than "Killing Lincoln" maybe somewhat because I remember the day Kennedy was shot so clearly in my memory. I was in high school in French class, and I remember the teacher

Show More

Miss Barry started crying. I don't think I had ever seen a teacher cry before. By the end of that day everyone was crying. This book had a lot of interesting facts and it was extremely well written.

Show Less

Adds nothing to knowledge about the events of the JFK administration and assassination. O'Reilly is overly find of irrelevant innuendo and gossip.

I finished reading this book by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard a while ago but have needed time to process it. My feelings about the book are many and varied. I was young at the time of the assassination of President Kennedy and had a very limited view of what was actually going on in the world

Show More

at that time. Reading Killing Kennedy definitely gave me an education on what the political temperature was like back then. Because I am not a very political person, I had no idea what it was like to be President of the U.S. Since reading this book I believe I have a better understanding of what that position entailed.

My rating of Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot is dependent on my interest in politics because this was a book that dealt with politics it at times lost my interest. These times did not last long however because of my curiosity about the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the man himself. I am going to give this book a 4**** rating. If you are curious about politics and what part they played in the assassination of Kennedy then this is a book that will grab your interest.

Show Less

This is an excellent beginner book on Kennedy. Reads like a novel. However the authors misuse of past and present tense grammar interrupted the narrative. This isn't just a few times either, it is continual thoughout the whole book. I'm befuddled how this book ever went to print. I wanted to give

Show More

this a 4 or 5 star but the writing errors were too many and too serious. Still I would recommend it just be forewarned the writing can drive you abit nutty.

Show Less

Great book. Whatever you think of O'Reilly, read the book. If you don't want money to go to his pocket, order the book from his website, all profits go to charity.

I think I liked this more than Killing Lincoln. It was a real page turner. Can't wait to read his new book when published, Killing Jesus.

If you are interested in JFK’s salacious private life, his rumoured drug addiction, the role of the FBI and Bobby Kennedy in the ‘murder’ of Marilyn Monroe, or conspiracy theories involving the second gunman and the Grassy Knoll, Killing Kennedy is not the book for you.
But if you like

Show More

punchy, dramatic populist non-fiction that reads like a thriller, full of human interest and with a thoroughly immersive style, TV journalist and commentator Bill O’Reilly’s tightly written [and sometimes overwritten] account of how former marine corps sharpshooter Harvey Lee Oswald assassinated President Kennedy will prove an enjoyable read.
O’Reilly is a biased and unreliable historian who is sloppy with the detail, has no footnotes, is inadequately and unreliably referenced and has been accused of ignoring ‘facts’ that do not fit in with the official Warren Commission finding that Oswald acted alone. Despite this, his book is engrossing.
He presents Kennedy in a positive light, glossing over the infidelities and the sometimes dodgy history of the family: his precognitive style is irritating and intrusive at times, since barely a chapter goes by without an authorial hammering home the reminder that in just a couple of years, months, days, hours, the King of modern Camelot will be dead.
What is made clear though is the President’s vanity and obsession with creating the most favourable impression: it was at Kennedy’s insistence that he travelled in an open car which slowed down at a risky corner, allowing that fatal bullet to be fired – whether by Oswald, the Communists, the CIA, the FBI, Castro, or the Mob, who knows? And 50 years on, who really cares – as long as it makes for good reading.

Show Less

Interesting, but not as well-done as "Killing Lincoln" Too many trite comments.

I honestly can't say I learned anything new about Kennedy or his assassination from this book. Most of what's covered in here is either common knowledge (JFK was a man-whore) or I learned from reading Stephen King's fictional 11/22/63 (it really is amazing how much research he must have done for

Show More

that book). However, given that my history education was positively abysmal, I did learn about the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the beginnings of US involvement in Vietnam. So, for me, it was not a total waste of time.

The writing style really rubbed me the wrong way, though. It was written in present tense: "Kennedy stands on the balcony, looking out on the rose garden." And in general, it was very simplistic writing. In that respect, it reminds me of "Agenda 21," another book I read somewhat against my will. It puzzles me, as given the audience of Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck (which I'm assuming is primarily middle aged and older), you'd think that the caliber of the writing would be a bit better. Instead, it's written in such a way that I think the average sixth grader would easily comprehend it. (Of course, this begs for a smart ass comment about the IQ of most O'Reilly and Beck fans. I shall refrain, especially since I do like both of them.)

Overall, I can't imagine that anyone old enough to remember the shooting needs to read this. For someone my age, with a limited history background, this book is a decent, easily read start.

Show Less