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Best Evidence
Critics called the movie JFK fiction, but they won't be able to say that about this shocking, unimpeachably convincing book that pieces together startling new disclosures behind John F. Kennedy's assassination. David Lifton's skilled analysis leads to one irrefutable that the plot did not begin in the twisted mind of a lone assassin but was a successfully executed conspiracy that reached the highest level of the federal government. "Sometime during Kennedy's thousand days, a secret veto was cast on his presidency and his life."Lifton's obsession with unanswered questions has led him again and again to the "best evidence" - that the president's body fell into the hands of people who deceived the nation and the world and who, to this day, have not been brought to justice.
920 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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August 5, 2020
I have to take my hat off to David S. Lifton. The author was just a UCLA Physics student in '63.
Sparked by the Zapruder 'head snap' footage he pulled on a thread that began a fifteen year trawl through U.S. Government archives. The Warren volumes, the House Select Committee, a huge list of released documents under the freedom of information act. 'Best Evidence', published 1980, is not chasing after a shooter on the grassy knoll, or concerned with Oswald, Ruby or JM Wave. Lifton's body of evidence is the body of John F. Kennedy, following it's path from Elm Street to Parkland to Love Field to Andrews AFB to Bethesda.
I have been engrossed and amazed, through seven hundred pages, in such detailed forensic pathology and tenacious investigative work from a dropped out Physics student, working on a shoestring to uncover Secret Service deceptions that Government Commissions and Committees, costing millions of dollars have failed to question. A startling and very profound account of the crime of the twentieth century and the blackest of black ops.
In 2003 I attended the JFK Lancer 'November in Dallas' conference. I sat by the hotel pool with the ex U.S. Navy Bethesda Chief of the Day Dennis David. He spoke to me of the casket swap with tears streaming down his face. I now fully understand his forty year pain.
Sparked by the Zapruder 'head snap' footage he pulled on a thread that began a fifteen year trawl through U.S. Government archives. The Warren volumes, the House Select Committee, a huge list of released documents under the freedom of information act. 'Best Evidence', published 1980, is not chasing after a shooter on the grassy knoll, or concerned with Oswald, Ruby or JM Wave. Lifton's body of evidence is the body of John F. Kennedy, following it's path from Elm Street to Parkland to Love Field to Andrews AFB to Bethesda.
I have been engrossed and amazed, through seven hundred pages, in such detailed forensic pathology and tenacious investigative work from a dropped out Physics student, working on a shoestring to uncover Secret Service deceptions that Government Commissions and Committees, costing millions of dollars have failed to question. A startling and very profound account of the crime of the twentieth century and the blackest of black ops.
In 2003 I attended the JFK Lancer 'November in Dallas' conference. I sat by the hotel pool with the ex U.S. Navy Bethesda Chief of the Day Dennis David. He spoke to me of the casket swap with tears streaming down his face. I now fully understand his forty year pain.
July 8, 2013
Complete farce and an embarrassment to not only empirical researchers, but quite possibly to humanity as a whole. Lifton has managed to invent theories out of thin air that are so ludicrous as to make one's eye's bleed after 50 pages or so, and yet the book never stops, with one hideously asinine supposition after another. Sadly, I ate this up when I read it in University, but luckily I've been exposed in later life to better books such as Case Closed and now Reclaiming History by Bugliosi. Common Sense and Occam's Razor shall prevail over Best Evidence in the end, or at least, one hopes so. Save yourself the money, get this from a local library and ask yourself the same questions that Bugliosi (a trained trial lawyer with decades of experience as a high-profile prosecutor) asks - does a single, implausible theory that Lifton puts forward actually make any sense? Conspirators lurk in every shadow, but no one ever suggests why, or gives a single speck of substantive evidence.
October 17, 2013
I was probably thirteen or so when I first came across this book in my local bookstore. Back then, I didn't know that there was any reason to question the fact that Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK; heck, I didn't even suspect that the American government would ever deliberately lie to the public. This book opened my eyes - and not just about the JFK assassination. It would take me a little while longer to learn to distrust every single thing the government tells me, but David Lifton definitely succeeded in convincing me that the truth about the JFK assassination was not to be found in the Warren Report. All these years later, Best Evidence remains a must-read for those searching for the truth about the events that took place in Dealey Plaza almost fifty years ago. As crowded as the field of books on this subject has grown, this book remains unique in a number of ways.
Lifton was one of the early Warren Report critics; the book was not published until 1980, but Lifton's research efforts began immediately after Life published frames from the Zapruder film. As a graduate student in physics, Lifton knew that a shot from behind would not have caused the violent "back and to the left" motion of President Kennedy's head following the moment of impact. That was the impetus of his work. It quickly became a passion that interrupted and eventually ended his graduate studies (it's pretty difficult to go through the 26 nonindexed volumes of evidence in the Warren Report while pursuing a graduate degree in physics). Unlike some researchers, he was never in this for the money; in fact, I don't know how he managed to support himself over the 15 years or so he devoted to this case. He did have one thing that other early Warren Report critics did not have, though - personal access to one of the Warren Report investigators, Wesley Liebeler. Lifton's record of his conversations with Liebeler - and the overwrought reaction of other Warren Report critics to his relationship with "the enemy" - paint quite a vivid picture of the early years of JFK assassination revisionism in the 1960s.
Lifton doesn't try to explain every facet of that awful weekend of November 22-24, 1963. You won't read much about Oswald, Ruby, or the group of standard suspects here. What distinguishes Lifton's work is his concentration on the medical evidence - ostensibly the "best evidence" in any murder case. While other early critics accused the Warren Commission as well as the autopsy doctors of covering up the truth, Lifton eventually came up with a scenario where all of these parties were actually truthful. In his view, it was the medical evidence - the body and the autopsy X-rays and photos - that lied. The autopsy doctors described completely different wounds than those reported by the Parkland doctors because the body of the slain President was altered somewhere between Dallas and the autopsy at Bethesda to make it look like JFK had been shot twice from behind. That is the crux of Lifton's argument.
While Lifton never truly succeeds at pinpointing when and where (or by whom) the body alterations were made, he does point to many confusing and unexplained aspects of the body's arrival and handling at Bethesda. His attempts to interview everyone who was there in and around the autopsy room that night led to an assembly of confusing stories involving decoy ambulances, two different coffins, and a team of mystery men on hand to watch and control everything that went on there that night. How do you explain reports of a hearse delivering a plain casket with JFK in a body bag vs. reports of the body arriving in an ornate casket with the President wrapped in a sheet? Different people reported entirely different stories taking place at entirely different times from that night in the morgue. The volume and complexity of all this information sort of gets the better of Lifton in the end, I think, as some of his attempts to figure out where and when the body was altered come across as fishing expeditions, but I really don't know what more he could have done in this regard.
Lifton's body alteration theory is - for obvious reasons - rather difficult to embrace, but that's not to say he is completely off base with his arguments. Frankly, I've long accepted the idea that almost anything is possible when it comes to this infinitely complex case. I think there was a conspiracy at the highest levels of government to eliminate Kennedy, and I think the masterminds behind it would have gone to any length - even such an unimaginable one as body alteration - to get the job done. I do not put anything past the secret rulers of this country.
Whatever you think of Lifton's theory, though, Best Evidence is still well worth reading. He walks you through his entire thinking process over the course of fifteen years of work, points out many of the inordinate number of flaws in the Warren Report and House Select Committee investigations, and raises a number of troubling questions about the conduct of numerous Secret Service agents (although he never goes so far as to point an accusing finger at them) - and he was really the first person to ask pointed questions about the autopsy results to Commander Humes, Colonel Finck, and those who X-rayed and photographed the body. This is a book that truly belongs on the shelf of anyone seeking the truth about the JFK assassination.
Lifton was one of the early Warren Report critics; the book was not published until 1980, but Lifton's research efforts began immediately after Life published frames from the Zapruder film. As a graduate student in physics, Lifton knew that a shot from behind would not have caused the violent "back and to the left" motion of President Kennedy's head following the moment of impact. That was the impetus of his work. It quickly became a passion that interrupted and eventually ended his graduate studies (it's pretty difficult to go through the 26 nonindexed volumes of evidence in the Warren Report while pursuing a graduate degree in physics). Unlike some researchers, he was never in this for the money; in fact, I don't know how he managed to support himself over the 15 years or so he devoted to this case. He did have one thing that other early Warren Report critics did not have, though - personal access to one of the Warren Report investigators, Wesley Liebeler. Lifton's record of his conversations with Liebeler - and the overwrought reaction of other Warren Report critics to his relationship with "the enemy" - paint quite a vivid picture of the early years of JFK assassination revisionism in the 1960s.
Lifton doesn't try to explain every facet of that awful weekend of November 22-24, 1963. You won't read much about Oswald, Ruby, or the group of standard suspects here. What distinguishes Lifton's work is his concentration on the medical evidence - ostensibly the "best evidence" in any murder case. While other early critics accused the Warren Commission as well as the autopsy doctors of covering up the truth, Lifton eventually came up with a scenario where all of these parties were actually truthful. In his view, it was the medical evidence - the body and the autopsy X-rays and photos - that lied. The autopsy doctors described completely different wounds than those reported by the Parkland doctors because the body of the slain President was altered somewhere between Dallas and the autopsy at Bethesda to make it look like JFK had been shot twice from behind. That is the crux of Lifton's argument.
While Lifton never truly succeeds at pinpointing when and where (or by whom) the body alterations were made, he does point to many confusing and unexplained aspects of the body's arrival and handling at Bethesda. His attempts to interview everyone who was there in and around the autopsy room that night led to an assembly of confusing stories involving decoy ambulances, two different coffins, and a team of mystery men on hand to watch and control everything that went on there that night. How do you explain reports of a hearse delivering a plain casket with JFK in a body bag vs. reports of the body arriving in an ornate casket with the President wrapped in a sheet? Different people reported entirely different stories taking place at entirely different times from that night in the morgue. The volume and complexity of all this information sort of gets the better of Lifton in the end, I think, as some of his attempts to figure out where and when the body was altered come across as fishing expeditions, but I really don't know what more he could have done in this regard.
Lifton's body alteration theory is - for obvious reasons - rather difficult to embrace, but that's not to say he is completely off base with his arguments. Frankly, I've long accepted the idea that almost anything is possible when it comes to this infinitely complex case. I think there was a conspiracy at the highest levels of government to eliminate Kennedy, and I think the masterminds behind it would have gone to any length - even such an unimaginable one as body alteration - to get the job done. I do not put anything past the secret rulers of this country.
Whatever you think of Lifton's theory, though, Best Evidence is still well worth reading. He walks you through his entire thinking process over the course of fifteen years of work, points out many of the inordinate number of flaws in the Warren Report and House Select Committee investigations, and raises a number of troubling questions about the conduct of numerous Secret Service agents (although he never goes so far as to point an accusing finger at them) - and he was really the first person to ask pointed questions about the autopsy results to Commander Humes, Colonel Finck, and those who X-rayed and photographed the body. This is a book that truly belongs on the shelf of anyone seeking the truth about the JFK assassination.
October 27, 2011
I picked up David Lifton's Best Evidence in 1981, I think the original paperback edition. I had just moved to Saudia Arabia, where I learned the English language bookstores had limited selections. Back home for a week to accompany my family to Saudi, I stopped in a bookstore, saw this, and picked it up. Prior to this, I had never given the JFK assassination much thought, and certainly didn't wonder whether the official version was correct or not.
This book was an eye-opener. Lifton painstakingly goes through the evidence as it was presented in the autopsy report. Although he is quite detailed, I never bogged down in the descriptions. His discussion of the medical evidence did not require specialized medical knowledge. Whatever terms might have been unfamiliar he explained, and I kept reading without resorting to outside references.
Lifton's technique in the book is to discuss his personal journey into the world of assassination researchers, and then through to publishing this. He documents his relationship at UCLA with Warren Commission staffer Wesley Liebler, which is a delightful addition to the book.
Medical evidence. Magic bullet. Chain of command. Movement of the president's corpse. Windows of opportunity to do what Lifton suggests happened to the dead president. It's all in this book. This is a must read for anyone who wonders what happened that day and evening in Dallas, on Air Force 1, and in Washington DC. This was my entry point into this world of doubters, and has led me to many other books. I've read this twice, and will read it again at least once more before I make my final journey.
This book was an eye-opener. Lifton painstakingly goes through the evidence as it was presented in the autopsy report. Although he is quite detailed, I never bogged down in the descriptions. His discussion of the medical evidence did not require specialized medical knowledge. Whatever terms might have been unfamiliar he explained, and I kept reading without resorting to outside references.
Lifton's technique in the book is to discuss his personal journey into the world of assassination researchers, and then through to publishing this. He documents his relationship at UCLA with Warren Commission staffer Wesley Liebler, which is a delightful addition to the book.
Medical evidence. Magic bullet. Chain of command. Movement of the president's corpse. Windows of opportunity to do what Lifton suggests happened to the dead president. It's all in this book. This is a must read for anyone who wonders what happened that day and evening in Dallas, on Air Force 1, and in Washington DC. This was my entry point into this world of doubters, and has led me to many other books. I've read this twice, and will read it again at least once more before I make my final journey.
January 5, 2022
Highly recommend. To be honest, I only made it 3/4 the way through before the library wouldn't let me renew. While the discoveries and topic are fascinating, it is a dry, long read. I'd like to come back to it soon.
February 5, 2024
Fascinating read. This is a heavily researched day by day, event by event telling of the author's investigation into the medical aspects of the Kennedy assassination. Lifton takes his readers along with him as he explored each possible avenue of what happened to Kennedy.
July 3, 2020
I used to be interested in the John Kennedy assassination conspiracies and read quite a lot about it. However when I read Vincent Bugliosi's book Reclaiming History, I realized how foolish the conspiracies were and how childish I'd been to even wonder about them. Bugliosi proves the case against Oswald as a prosecutor would and leaves no doubt that had Oswald stood trial none of the deranged theories would have ever seen the light of day.
February 17, 2018
The book that got me started. The first people to see JFK after he was shot was the doctors at Parkland and what did they say about where the bullit must of hit his head. Take a week and really read this book.
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September 27, 2017"Best Evidence" by David Lifton from 1981 is a groundbreaking book on the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Lifton chronicles his own journey in understanding the truth behind the president's murder. As a graduate student in engineering at UCLA in the mid- 60s Lifton discovered that a Warren Commission lawyer, Wesley Liebler, had joined the UCLA faculty. Lifton introduced himself to Liebler and the two began a frequent colloquy on the facts of the assassination. Liebler believed the findings of the Warren Report, Lifton did not. In his reading on the JFK case Lifton discovered a report written by two FBI agents who attended JFK's autopsy at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center on the evening of November 22,1963. In that report Lifton discovered a phrase in the report that caught his attention Referring to the deceased president on the autopsy table the autopsy prosector stated: "There is surgery to the head namely in the top of the skull." Lifton called the doctors at Parkland Hospital in Dallas where JFK was taken immediately after the shooting, and discovered that no surgery was done on JFK there, with the exception of a tracheotomy in the lower neck to aid his breathing. With that, Lifton realized that clandestine surgery was done on President Kennedy's head PRIOR to it reaching the autopsy room at Bethesda. Lifton details the implications of that illicit surgery and what it reveals about the nature of the plot that killed the 35th President of the United States. I give "Best Evidence" my highest recommendation!
December 11, 2023
For anyone interested in the assassination of President Kennedy, (which should be every American citizen), should read this book. There are literally hundreds of books on the assassination but David Lifton's work is the only one to provide a logical, if unthought of by most everyone), conclusion. I can not recommend this book highly enough. Sadly, although published nearly forty-five years ago, no further investigation has been made into Lifton's research. November 22, 1963 was one of the saddest and most horrific in all of our country's history... and yet even the recommendation of the 1979 House Select Committee's final conclusion of a conspiracy has never been followed up. If you want an answer, read LIfton-- but don't think you will ever hear an official response.
August 17, 2021
Best book I've ever read on the JFK assassination. A long read but worth the grind. Lifton suggests at some point from Dallas to Bethesda JFKs body was tampered with to support shots having only been fired from behind him contradicting what witnesses in Dealey plaza saw and heard and what doctors and nurses saw at Parkland hospital.
Bethesda autopsy gave a different picture as the body according to Lifton was already altered and was used as the official evidence that the Warren commission based its lone gunman conclusions on.
Bethesda autopsy gave a different picture as the body according to Lifton was already altered and was used as the official evidence that the Warren commission based its lone gunman conclusions on.
November 29, 2021
Wow. Quite the book. Very intense. Excruciatingly detailed and documented. A very long book!! It seems possible his theory is correct but every reader will have to decide on their own. One thing is for sure Oswald did not shoot JFK.
December 17, 2019
Good grief, this was long. But worthwhile, and recommended reading.
March 2, 2021
After all the research, the disguise and deception is as ridiculous as the Umbrella Man doing the shooting.
April 4, 2021
The best JFK book if you are interested in the details of the physical evidence from the autopsy.
August 17, 2021
In-depth information about an aspect of the assassination that I had heard about but hadn't read much about. It also addresses a recurring theme in Philip K Dick's works: What is reality?
September 9, 2022
Most informative and eye-opener book written about the Kennedy assignation. It debunks the false information presented by The Warren Commission. We may never know the truth.
December 26, 2023
Meticulously researched. Utterly terrifying if even half of this book is accurate. And I believe it is much more than half. I used to think we were the 'good guys'...pardon my naivete.
October 14, 2013
A very powerful book. While reading this book I had to put it down in a coffee shop at least five times and say, "Wow, this ACTUALLY happened???" I was very intriqued with the portions of the book in which the author, James Lifton, describes how their was two ambulances and possibly two caskets (or even a body bag) with the President in it or not in it. In fact, when Jackie was next to the casket before going on to Air Force One, it might have been a fake empty casket. Yeah, hard to swallow.
What I didn't really like about the book is that it went too much into how the bullet entered and left his brain. I understand it was to show that the brain was tampered with before the autopsy to prove that the bullets only came from one direction (Oswald) and that there couldn't be more than one shooter, but I'm not a doctor. I will never be a doctor and a lot of the stuff written about I just will never understand. Not exactly the best thing to read about while eating lunch, too. I wish the book went more into what was Oswald like as a person before the shooting? How did he end up at the Book Depository? What went on with Kennedy a few months, weeks and days before the shooting? The same question with Lyndon Johnson. This book mostly focuses on the MEDICAL evidence concerning the brain, the autopsy and x-ray photos and how the body may or may not have been altered with either before it went on Air Force One or while it was on Air Force One or not at all.
Look, this may have been the best researched book I've ever read. I can't really think of too many books better in that matter. But it's not written like a Hemmingway story. It's almost like a lawyer telling you ALL his facts and ALL his interviews to prove a point. He did prove that point, but edit it down a little. Pick the best spots and the most interesting findings. This book was 700 pages and an okay book, but I felt it would have been an unbelievable great book if whittled down to about 500 pages.
In summary, if you're a big JFK fan, you will probably like this but prepare to not read anything else for at least three weeks.
What I didn't really like about the book is that it went too much into how the bullet entered and left his brain. I understand it was to show that the brain was tampered with before the autopsy to prove that the bullets only came from one direction (Oswald) and that there couldn't be more than one shooter, but I'm not a doctor. I will never be a doctor and a lot of the stuff written about I just will never understand. Not exactly the best thing to read about while eating lunch, too. I wish the book went more into what was Oswald like as a person before the shooting? How did he end up at the Book Depository? What went on with Kennedy a few months, weeks and days before the shooting? The same question with Lyndon Johnson. This book mostly focuses on the MEDICAL evidence concerning the brain, the autopsy and x-ray photos and how the body may or may not have been altered with either before it went on Air Force One or while it was on Air Force One or not at all.
Look, this may have been the best researched book I've ever read. I can't really think of too many books better in that matter. But it's not written like a Hemmingway story. It's almost like a lawyer telling you ALL his facts and ALL his interviews to prove a point. He did prove that point, but edit it down a little. Pick the best spots and the most interesting findings. This book was 700 pages and an okay book, but I felt it would have been an unbelievable great book if whittled down to about 500 pages.
In summary, if you're a big JFK fan, you will probably like this but prepare to not read anything else for at least three weeks.
January 2, 2022
Much less of a kooky conspiracy book than anyone would have you believe, and much more of an in-depth investigation of the flaws of the Warren Commission and an examination of how the the deep pressure to come up with an answer, any answer, can cause anyone to overlook glaring problems.
Lifton is both frank about his own conviction of conspiracy, while laying out minute-by-minute details of the night of November 22, 1963 without ever losing sight of the difference between the facts and his interpretation of them. You the reader are free to agree with his interpretation or not (I do not), but the legal and historical facts of the case are so thoroughly researched and carefully exposited that only the most closed minded of teachers pets could read this and walk away in good faith still believing there was no cover up of anything, even if the only thing intentionally covered up was incompetence and chaos. Lifton ends by saying this is only a hypothesis, and only a new investigation, with subpoenas and sworn testimonies could clear it up. Obviously at this point we’ll never get that.
My hypothesis: it’s possible that the body was accidentally routed to Walter Reed, an autopsy begun, and when the orders of the Kennedy Family trickled down was hastily covered up as the events of the night progressed. Anything else, such as the planting of bullet 399 or Humes’ testimony, were merely follow up attempts to hide this snafu. But what I think happened is not important.
The book could have been more powerful if it presented itself more as a case study of human nature. It could have been comparable to Eichmann In Jerusalem if it did that, with some catchy subtitle like “the venality of power.”
What we get instead is not bad, however. A gripping page turner, half true-crime, half legal document, and half investigation of human nature, with a dash of being let in on a secret of national proportions.
Lifton is both frank about his own conviction of conspiracy, while laying out minute-by-minute details of the night of November 22, 1963 without ever losing sight of the difference between the facts and his interpretation of them. You the reader are free to agree with his interpretation or not (I do not), but the legal and historical facts of the case are so thoroughly researched and carefully exposited that only the most closed minded of teachers pets could read this and walk away in good faith still believing there was no cover up of anything, even if the only thing intentionally covered up was incompetence and chaos. Lifton ends by saying this is only a hypothesis, and only a new investigation, with subpoenas and sworn testimonies could clear it up. Obviously at this point we’ll never get that.
My hypothesis: it’s possible that the body was accidentally routed to Walter Reed, an autopsy begun, and when the orders of the Kennedy Family trickled down was hastily covered up as the events of the night progressed. Anything else, such as the planting of bullet 399 or Humes’ testimony, were merely follow up attempts to hide this snafu. But what I think happened is not important.
The book could have been more powerful if it presented itself more as a case study of human nature. It could have been comparable to Eichmann In Jerusalem if it did that, with some catchy subtitle like “the venality of power.”
What we get instead is not bad, however. A gripping page turner, half true-crime, half legal document, and half investigation of human nature, with a dash of being let in on a secret of national proportions.
April 8, 2016
This book is about the author 19s process of doing research and investigation into the Kennedy Assassination. He uncovers huge differences between the Warren Commission evidence, FBI evidence and the different autopsy reports. Part of the story is how he gets pulled into more research the more he found. He builds a personal relationship with one of the people on the Warren Commission and uses that insight into what was considered as the 1Cbest evidence 1D. There is fantastic documentation into the Warren Commission, who set it up, who was involved, who actually did the work and who made the final decision about what was published. Lifton goes into great detail about chain of custody problems, lost evidence and autopsy conflicts between Dallas and Bethesda Navy Hospital. He finds documentation of FBI personal interviews with very credible witnesses that were completely ignored. He investigates the statistical impossibility of the large number of people involved that came to an untimely death within a year after the assassination. There are detailed chapters on the Zapruder film and how the presidential limo was handled and who had custody prior to the 1CCSI 1D investigation took place. In the end Lifton concludes that even when the files are opened to the public, the truth will remain hidden 26why 26because what was put in the files was altered or false to begin with. This is not a direct conspiracy theory book, but it leads you to conclude yourself (by preponderance of evidence) that some combination of government involvement was involved.
This is a very long book but it 19s my favorite by far.
This is a very long book but it 19s my favorite by far.
June 16, 2018
I really enjoy reading this book about JFK. I definitely learned more from this book than in my 1960's history class.
February 14, 2022
This is perhaps the best book regarding the evidence of the JFK assassination conspiracy and puts forth the most believable hypothesis of how an assassination and subsequent coverup could have been carried out. This book primarily focuses on asking pertinent questions regarding the Warren Report and its findings related to the president's body being that it is the ‘best evidence’ of the case. Lifton meticulously tracks autopsy reports, interviews a plethora of witnesses, and it is worth mentioning that a great portion of this book is citations of these sources (some of which were also included in the Warren Report, others not) and direct quotations to back up his claims. While this book was rather dry and read like a medical textbook at some times, it simply had to in order to convey the wound discrepancies following the assassination given the body being the primary subject. Overall, if your goal is to try and better understand this event, I would recommend reading this book as well as reading either the Warren Report itself or some other book from the official story side. Try to answer some of Lifton's questions he poses that were not answered, and in some circumstances, actively avoided by the Warren Commission.
October 12, 2012
I don't like conspiracy theories because they require a machine with thousands of moving parts to operate flawlessly in total secrecy. A successful conspiracy, therefore, requires less than a handful of people to control the primary source of evidence. This is Lifton's premise regarding the Kennedy assassination.
As a conspiracy theory, Lifton's is logical and elegant. Whether it's true or not is a separate issue. Do I believe Oswald acted alone: one pathetic dweeb (the guy had the IQ of a radish) rapid firing a bolt-action rifle from a high window with a poor angle at a moving target sometimes obscured by trees? I wouldn't let Oswald pick up my dry-cleaning, let alone trust him to shoot the president. If anything, he would be the perfect patsy.
Was there a conspiracy at all? I don't know, but the "lucky shot plus magic bullet" theory is as hard to swallow as any conspiracy theory. At which point, Lifton's theory becomes very appealing. Even if it's not true, "Best Evidence" ranks up there with anything John Le Carré could have written.
As a conspiracy theory, Lifton's is logical and elegant. Whether it's true or not is a separate issue. Do I believe Oswald acted alone: one pathetic dweeb (the guy had the IQ of a radish) rapid firing a bolt-action rifle from a high window with a poor angle at a moving target sometimes obscured by trees? I wouldn't let Oswald pick up my dry-cleaning, let alone trust him to shoot the president. If anything, he would be the perfect patsy.
Was there a conspiracy at all? I don't know, but the "lucky shot plus magic bullet" theory is as hard to swallow as any conspiracy theory. At which point, Lifton's theory becomes very appealing. Even if it's not true, "Best Evidence" ranks up there with anything John Le Carré could have written.
July 26, 2008
It's hard to ignore the evidence set down by Lifton in this book, which does not go into the usual and obvious theories of who or how many people shot at JFK. Instead, the best evidence of the crime is examined -- and in this case the "best evidence" is JFK's remains. Autopsy photos, doctor and FBI reports at both Texas and Maryland facilities point to the same thing: the wounds inflicted and areas around them were altered from the time the body left Parkland to when it was received at Bethesda. People will believe what they want, make scenarios pro or con conspiracy. They will embrace or pooh-pooh the concepts and arguments first set down by Mark Lane in "Rush To Judgment", and none of us will ever know the whole truth. Yet it seems foolish, in light of what is now known through the myriad of details, to think that there was no organized effort to kill the president and adjust the evidence.
April 7, 2016
Fascinating book although I can't really accept Lifton's central thesis that President Kennedy s body was altered to fit in with the Oswald lone shooter theory. What is great about this book is Lifton's personal slant on how the mystery of the assassination gripped him and took over his life almost. Best of all, the book takes a new look at the Warren Commission and instead of saying look, the Warren Commission was false and a complete cover up he takes a sensible look at their work and how the idea of the body as best evidence affected the commission. It wasn't a cover up after all but given the evidence they had, what other conclusion could they have come up with except Oswald shot Kennedy. A well written, unputdownable book.
March 23, 2007
I may have the year wrong... I picked this one up as well as several others when Oliver Stone's "JFK" came out. If you believe there was a cover-up of the assassination (and I do,) this is a must-read. Lifton was a NASA computer programmer who put off going back to grad school to write this weighty tome.
It's a very logical and detailed deconstruction of the record surrounding those few days when the autopsy was performed at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Well worth reading.
It's a very logical and detailed deconstruction of the record surrounding those few days when the autopsy was performed at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Well worth reading.
June 30, 2009
Recommended by a friend, this is probably the only book I've read that supports a conspiracy theory of any kind, let alone regarding JFK. I found it interesting at the timed and had fun diving into the questions and unknowns, but I eventually donated my copy as it's just not something I feel compelled to keep on my shelf. If you are interested in a different take and the concept of "best evidence" - not perfect evidence or DNA or CSI - give it read.
September 6, 2009
This is the hardest book I've ever read. It took me weeks to get through it, but that's because it made me think on every page, and often look back to previous pages to reread previous evidence. I go back and read it every 10 years or so. I don't know if the hypothesis is correct - I suspect it isn't - but it is meticulously investigated, researched and footnoted, and for that reason it's a satisfying read.
July 5, 2010
I read this book after reading Jim Garrisons On The Trail of The Assassins and Jim Marrs Crossfire. David Lifton offered more scientific evidence then anyone I have read on the subject. This is a VERY DIFFICULT book to read. If you are dedicated to the JFK case and have not read this book, it is a must. I might suggest sitting down with a copy of Greys Anatomy when you are reading it. This is not for the meek.
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