19-08-2013, 01:50 AM
Fixed up review somewhat.
MORE IMPORTANTLY this MUST BE RESPONDED TO HOPEFULLY BY SEVERAL PEOPLE.
UNFORTUNATELY AMAZON SUSPENDED MY COMMENTING PRIVELEGES BUT THEY LET ROBERT MORROW POST EVERYWHERE AND HE IS....
Please respond to this in the comments section..
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars A controversial book !, August 17, 2013
By Paul Gelman "PAUL Y. GELMAN" (HAIFA , ISRAEL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: JFK's Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President (Hardcover)
I must confess that at the beginning I thought that I would give this book 5 stars. It is well written and the style is extremely elegant. Add the fact that there is not even one boring moment during its 362 pages of text.
But.. Here come the "But".
The problem with the book is at the end of end, ot to be more precise: with the last chapter, called "After Dallas". There, on page 353, Mr. Clarke remarks that:
"What might have been" is speculation, but what Kennedy intended to do is not".
To follow this line of thought and to develop it, one is supposed to supply evidence for such a statement. However, there is nothing which could satisfy the professional historian, since in the best case, this book takes a U-turn and becomes a counterfactual history.
To discuss what Kennedy intended to do, one must have proof for it. Here Mr. Clarke produces some statements uttered by some presidential aides and other figures, but all in all, he sounds extremely unconvincing.
On the very contrary, there is evidence that Kennedy has never given up the plan to get rid of Castro, and the best proof for this is the "Mongoose Plan", which was the brainchild of his brother, Bobby, and there is not even today one iota of evidence in the archives to refute this claim. The Presidential Recordings of those times augment this view.
I therefore rest my case. One can say that, in the best case, this book is a hagiography of Kennedy and nothing else. Or, it had to carry another subtitle called: "An intellectual exercise in counterfactual history".
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Thank you for your feedback.
Report abuse | Permalink
Comment Comment
MORE IMPORTANTLY this MUST BE RESPONDED TO HOPEFULLY BY SEVERAL PEOPLE.
UNFORTUNATELY AMAZON SUSPENDED MY COMMENTING PRIVELEGES BUT THEY LET ROBERT MORROW POST EVERYWHERE AND HE IS....
Please respond to this in the comments section..
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars A controversial book !, August 17, 2013
By Paul Gelman "PAUL Y. GELMAN" (HAIFA , ISRAEL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: JFK's Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President (Hardcover)
I must confess that at the beginning I thought that I would give this book 5 stars. It is well written and the style is extremely elegant. Add the fact that there is not even one boring moment during its 362 pages of text.
But.. Here come the "But".
The problem with the book is at the end of end, ot to be more precise: with the last chapter, called "After Dallas". There, on page 353, Mr. Clarke remarks that:
"What might have been" is speculation, but what Kennedy intended to do is not".
To follow this line of thought and to develop it, one is supposed to supply evidence for such a statement. However, there is nothing which could satisfy the professional historian, since in the best case, this book takes a U-turn and becomes a counterfactual history.
To discuss what Kennedy intended to do, one must have proof for it. Here Mr. Clarke produces some statements uttered by some presidential aides and other figures, but all in all, he sounds extremely unconvincing.
On the very contrary, there is evidence that Kennedy has never given up the plan to get rid of Castro, and the best proof for this is the "Mongoose Plan", which was the brainchild of his brother, Bobby, and there is not even today one iota of evidence in the archives to refute this claim. The Presidential Recordings of those times augment this view.
I therefore rest my case. One can say that, in the best case, this book is a hagiography of Kennedy and nothing else. Or, it had to carry another subtitle called: "An intellectual exercise in counterfactual history".
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Thank you for your feedback.
Report abuse | Permalink
Comment Comment