JFK and the Unspeakable

Why He Died and Why It Matters

By: James W. Douglass

Narrated by: Pete Larkin

Length: 22 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

At the height of the Cold War, JFK risked committing the greatest crime in human history: starting a nuclear war. Horrified by the specter of nuclear annihilation, Kennedy gradually turned away from his long-held Cold Warrior beliefs and toward a policy of lasting peace. But to the military and intelligence agencies in the United States, who were committed to winning the Cold War at any cost, Kennedy's change of heart was a direct threat to their power and influence. Once these dark "Unspeakable" forces recognized that Kennedy's interests were in direct opposition to their own, they tagged him as a dangerous traitor, plotted his assassination, and orchestrated the subsequent cover-up.

Douglass takes listeners into the Oval Office during the tense days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, along on the strange journey of Lee Harvey Oswald and his shadowy handlers, and to the winding road in Dallas where an ambush awaited the president's motorcade. As Douglass convincingly documents, at every step along the way, these forces of the Unspeakable were present, moving people like pawns on a chessboard to promote a dangerous and deadly agenda.

©2008 James W. Douglass (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The best account I have read of this tragedy and its significance.... But don’t take my word for it. Read this extraordinary book and reach your own conclusions." (Oliver Stone)

One Book EVERY AMERICAN Needs to Read

If you could sum up JFK and the Unspeakable in three words, what would they be?

See "Additional Comments" Come on- - - three words to summarize a book this powerful, this revealing and this important. You must be kidding.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The author for his courage and dedication to impeccable research and maintaining as much impartiality as is possible for a book of this kind.

Which character – as performed by Pete Larkin – was your favorite?

Can't say.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When it became clear that both Khruschev AND JFK were determined to avert the nuclear wars that both of their generals and admirals were trying so hard to initiate.

Any additional comments?

This book is the absolute best book I have ever read on the subject of the reasons-for and the results-of the JFK assassination. Douglass brings to light truths about JFK's devotion to co-creating a peaceful world with Premier Khruschev and the fact that JFK had faced his own death for so long and in so many ways that he was more prepared to fight the valiant battle plan than any President before or after. Douglass brilliantly brings out the humanity of both Kennedy and Khruschev and the nightmarish battles they had to fight with their own subordinates, who wanted to start preemptive wars between our two nations. The documentation of other assassination scenarios in the U.S. which were overlooked or completely obfuscated and the way that evidence was discarded made this book stand high above most I have read. My personal collection on the JFK murder is over 175 books, plus articles, and correspondence with the principal authors and authority figures surrounding the assassination, investigation and its research. If every student was required to read this book as a prerequisite to graduating from high school, our nation would be transformed into a far more peace-oriented and life-sustaining tribe of people. James W. Douglass deserves highest honors for this work.

Maybe The Best Book On The Subject

Fifty years from now, only a few books about the JFK assassination will be remembered. One is Mark Lane's Rush To Judgment. Another is Crossfire, by Jim Marrs. Now we have maybe the best I've seen, JFK And The Unspeakable.

James Douglass provides the context needed to understand why the assassins of JFK would take the monumental risk of killing a U.S. President, then running a cover-up for decades. President Kennedy entered office as a cold warrior, but then he turned away from the Cold War. His nuclear test ban treaty was just a taste of the changes JFK envisioned. He was already starting a Vietnam withdrawal and was having secret communications with the Soviet Union and Cuba. The military-industrial-intelligence complex was threatened by a second JFK term, they felt double-crossed, so they killed him. They plotted a public assassination because it would send a message to anybody else who was thinking about crossing them. One result of the assassination is our permanent state of war in 2011.

Only a third of the book is about the assassination, but Douglass shows us enough. We see how the intelligence operative Lee Harvey Oswald was set up as the patsy. We observe the beginning of the cover-up. Douglass presents enough evidence to make his case, but he doesn't mire us in "assassination minutiae" which would disturb the clarity of his presentation.

The narration is what I call "transparent." If you've ever seen a movie and never noticed the music, the music was having its effect without being conspicuous. The narration by Pete Larkin is not a "performance," it's a clean transmission of the book to the listener, well done.

Awesome

Any additional comments?

At first I was a bit skeptical about what angle a thelologian would take on this subject. Boy, was I surprised. Is one of the finest history books I have ever read (and listened to in my car) and perhaps the finest book I have read on the JFK assassination. Well worth the investment.

Curtain rods and credentials

When ever I get ready to believe that Oswald was innocent of any wrong doing, I go back to Frazier's testimony that Oswald carried that package into the TSBD. Just before I'm prepared to condem Oswald I think about those gentlemen on the grassy knoll with the fake Secret Service credentials. After listening to this book at length, I have come to the conclusion that Oswald was dirty in this regard. He carried a weapon into the TSBD and was told to place it on the sixth floor. This would explain, Oswald being on the second floor shortly after the shooting. He left the building to meet up with his co-conspirators, totally blind to the fact the he was being blamed for the actual shooting of Kennedy and Tippet. "I didn't shoot anybody, I'm just a patsy. I've done nothing to be ashamed of." In his mind leaving a rifle on the sixth floor was probably nothing to be ashamed of since he didn't use it.

This book covered a lot of area's that only add to the mystery of who was involved and strengthens the whole "end-around, mis-direction play" that has kept the cover-up intact for fifty years. It also proves that the "Lone nut" garbage is the conspiracy theory and no where close to the truth.

Awesome Book!!!

This book opens the listener up to unimaginable revelations about JFK. It goes into great depth into answering the question of why as well as how he was killed. The only draw back I found with the book is it seemed very mixed up. One minute your in 1963 and then your back in 1960; it jumps back and fourth through most of the book.

JFK: Why was he killed

If you could sum up JFK and the Unspeakable in three words, what would they be?

The answer to the question "why" is more important than who as it points to the military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned about. The greed for money is still alive and well.

What was one of the most memorable moments of JFK and the Unspeakable?

Everything is memorable because Mr. Douglas has supporting evidence for it all.

Have you listened to any of Pete Larkin’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. Because one has to absorb the truths.

Any additional comments?

Everyone should read, especially those who think Oswald pulled the trigger!

The Unspeakable at Last Spoken

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I have and will. To gain a deeper understanding of, not only the assasination, but of the workings of the shadow government to supplant constitutional government, of, by, for the people, with one fashioned and controlled by them to serve their narrow interests at the expense of the national welfare.

Who was your favorite character and why?

John Kennedy, because I learned more about his courage and thoughtful plans to disengage from the insanity which threatened at the time and has since become our daily bread. What a different world it might be had he lived to see his plans brought to fruition.

What does Pete Larkin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I'm a slow reader because I often have to go back and rephrase something when it hasn't sounded right in my head. Larkin's understanding and familiarity with the material provides that dramatization of the story line in an uninterupted flow effortlessly.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Prophiles in usurpation.

Any additional comments?

It should be required reading in every high school and test questions on its contents a prerquisite for holding public office. We might get our national integrity back.

The answers at last!

If you could sum up JFK and the Unspeakable in three words, what would they be?

After a dozen books over the years, I now have the answers on why he was killed and how.

The Unspeakable: a believable conspiracy theory.

If you could sum up JFK and the Unspeakable in three words, what would they be?

Eye opening narrative

What does Pete Larkin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I can listen while I'm having insomnia. Pete L. makes it sound like he's reading something of import.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Kennedy fighting the powerful Steel Companies' execs for the good of the US economy and ordinary Americans. Something politicians today will not do.

Not a book on the assignation.

Reader beware. This is not a book dedicated to the JFK assassination ( which I mistakenky made ) This book could better be titled "What those bad boys in the Pentagon and CIA did to Camelot." I am a believer in the single gunman theory (Oswakd did it). I knew when I bought this book that this was a conspiracy slanted book. My giving only 3 stars to this review had nothing to do with ideological slant.
The biggest problem the listener has to endure is that the author does not believe in linear progression. One minute you're talking about the Berlin airlift, next minute Kennedy is dead, then back to castro and kennedy lives again. then its time to talk about Nikita K. for a bit then its back to Oswald.. This might be the editors fault
.
Another problem is that four of the biggest names in conspiricy circles hardly even gets a mention. Pope John XXIII has more discussion time then David Ferrie, Guy Bannister, Clay Shaw and Jim Garrison put together. Even if the author totally discounts these mens participation, a small discussion as to why would have been appropiate. I may have to go back and recheck but I dont even remember the name of Anthony Zapruda being mentioned. There was no anaylsis of the "magic bullet theory." The biggest iconic relic of conspiracy therorist isnt even mentioned, the pristine bullet found on JFKs stretcher.

Another problem for this book is that it moves at a glacial pace. Again, a better editor might have to be employed if there is a sequel.

If you believe that the CIA killed Kennedy, you will probably like this book. If you believe Oswald did it alone and you want more info, you will be disappointed. If you just wanted to learn about the assassination for the first time, try another book first.

Devastatingly convincing!

This book blew my mind!! It's going to leave an impression on me for a very long time.
Based on newly released documents under the Freedom of Information Act, new evidence of JFK's demise have come to light. A very compelling argument is discussed, using the documents and witness statements. An easy book to understand. I think the question "Who killed JFK and why?" have been brought to a conclusion that is both devastating and convincingly accounted. An easy 5☆ rating,

The truth around America’s most infamous event.

This a wonderful account of the events surrounding the assassination of one of the truly great American’s. The author has pulled so much of the information together, including a whole lot I had never heard about, it is expertly told and perhaps the best book surrounding this dark day in history. You can see how these events shape modern history and the present.

JFK

Well what a book. At last the truth behind his death. The story wanders about from time period to time period , but it is intriguing and very listenable. I remember so well the Cuban stand off and the shock of his death. The world was stunned and greatly saddened. Brilliant.

Provoking

This is a deeply researched and thought provoking piece. Fundamental reading and insightful. Excellent narrator.

Conspiracy or fact?

Would you consider the audio edition of JFK and the Unspeakable to be better than the print version?

Never read the book but the story if sometimes heavy on too much detail is rivetting

Who was your favorite character and why?

JFK- I did not realise he had a vision for world peace motivated by risks of Cuban crisis. He convinced Kruschev to embrace his vision but was constantly thwarted by CIA , the military & the giant industrial corporations

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The early stages where Lee Harvey Oswald is set up by CIA

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Too big for that & tbh high levels of concentration needed

Any additional comments?

Listen & learn...I know conspiracy theorists have a bad press but just too many facts that all lead to one conclusion. The CIA decided & implemented the to assassination of the president of the USA.

Really interesting and if true quite scary

Interesting theories on Kennedy and the motivation behind his as well as other assassinations are plausible. Especially as US politics are so intertwined with big business. Kennedy threatened the income of many big firm by acting as peacemaker

TRUMP & RFK Jr. 2024 unity ticket!

The Best thing that could happen for US and for the World is Trump & RFK Jr. as President &Vice President.

thought provoking

started off slow but soon got going, well researched and loads of insight, one of the better JFK books

Amazingly compelling

After listening you'll be convinced that JFK's assassination was all planned in the pursuit of continued cold war and war machine.

Important reading material

This is something everyone should read or listen to because it’s important for the world to know the truth