"Upon impact with the street, sparks were emitted as the bullet fragmented. The lead core of the bullet separated from the copper jacket."
 |
Rendezvous With Death by H.R. Underwood Trafford Publishing
book review by John E. Roper
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated nearly fifty years ago, yet the event lingers on as one of the greatest controversial topics in American history. Although Lee Harvey Oswald is generally acknowledged as the principal perpetrator of the crime, speculation has raged for decades as to whether he worked alone or if there was another shooter, if the plot to kill Kennedy was actually orchestrated by others such as the CIA or KGB, and whether Jack Ruby killed Oswald simply out of crazed grief over the death of his president or to silence him. After extensive research, the author presents some of the frequently conflicting findings of investigators and government committees over the decades along with many of the minute details associated with the case. From this wealth of background information he offers what he feels is a plausible explanation of the assassination, while recognizing that his conclusions may not be the definitive solution to all of the mysteries surrounding one of the most traumatic events in the history of the presidency.
Underwood begins with a character study of Oswald that amply illustrates how mentally disturbed he was as a person long before the murder. He then launches into a look at the assassination itself by comprehensively examining each of the three shots commonly accepted by most researchers. Finally, the author details the larger controversies such as whether there was a single bullet or multiple shots fired and the more prominent conspiracy theories. In all, Underwood has constructed a highly readable and fact-filled compendium that should prove very useful to students of the tragedy.