Product Description
For decades, books about John or Robert Kennedy have woven either a shimmering tale of Camelot gallantry or a tawdry story of runaway ambition and reckless personal behavior. But the real story of the Kennedys in the 1960s has long been submerged -- until now. In Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years, David Talbot sheds a dramatic new light on the tumultuous inner life of the Kennedy presidency and its stunning aftermath. Talbot, the founder of Salon.com, has written a gripping political history that is sure to be one of the most talked-about books of the year.

Brothers begins on the shattering afternoon of November 22, 1963, as a grief-stricken Robert Kennedy urgently demands answers about the assassination of his brother. Bobby's suspicions immediately focus on the nest of CIA spies, gangsters, and Cuban exiles that had long been plotting a violent regime change in Cuba. The Kennedys had struggled to control this swamp of anti-Castro intrigue based in southern Florida, but with little success.

Brothers then shifts back in time, revealing the shadowy conflicts that tore apart the Kennedy administration, pitting the young president and his even younger brother against their own national security apparatus. The Kennedy brothers and a small circle of their most trusted advisors -- men like Theodore Sorensen, Robert McNamara, and Kenneth O'Donnell, who were so close the Kennedys regarded them as family -- repeatedly thwarted Washington's warrior caste. These hard-line generals and spymasters were hell-bent on a showdown with the Communist foe -- in Berlin, Laos, Vietnam, and especially Cuba. But the Kennedys continually frustrated their militaristic ambitions, pushing instead for a peaceful resolution to the Cold War. The tensions within the Kennedy administration were heading for an explosive climax, when a burst of gunfire in a sunny Dallas plaza terminated John F. Kennedy's presidency.

Based on interviews with more than one hundred fifty people -- including many of the Kennedys' aging "band of brothers," whose testimony here might be their final word on this epic political story -- as well as newly released government documents, Brothers reveals the compelling, untold story of the Kennedy years, including JFK's heroic efforts to keep the country out of a cataclysmic war and Bobby Kennedy's secret quest to solve his beloved brother's murder. Bobby's subterranean search was a dangerous one and led, in part, to his own quest for power in 1968, in a passion-filled campaign that ended with his own murder. As Talbot reveals here, RFK might have been the victim of the same plotters he suspected of killing his brother. This is historical storytelling at its riveting best -- meticulously researched and movingly told.

Brothers is a sprawling narrative about the clash of powerful men and the darker side of the Cold War -- a tale of tragic grandeur that is certain to change our understanding of the relentlessly fascinating Kennedy saga.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 66 reviews)

Good Backdoor Info...

This is a good book to give you ideas of waht was on the mind of RFK after his brother's murder. It also gives us an idea of why he never publicly expressed a conspiracy but was just waiting to get back into the White House to bring the killers to justice. Of course they made sure that he never made it there.

For me, being born in 1972, I was always forced to watch anything about the 1960's on TV growing up even until now. I always wondered why we had to be concerned with that decade. When put into perspective, it makes sense. That decade saw multiple polictical murders! A president shot down, a Senator - the president's brother shot down, a powerful civil rights leaders shot down as well as the many instances of domestic terrorism towards blacks by the hands of savage white racists! That was a decade unlike any other in US history!

The worst part about it was that these murders were just all the work of "lone nuts" and never given A1 invastigations. The US government did not care. When your government does not care about all of the circumstances surrounding the murder of your own president and a US Senator - the either must have been the cause or they were happy that it happened.

This books gives you an idea of what was on the mind of these two murdered brothers and even JFK's drug use in the White House! It is already known that the Kennedy brothers (all of them) were/are out of control sex fiends who disrepsected their wives and had woman after woman and threw them away, but this book details the greed of sex fiends and the fact that these guys did not care if the "jump-offs" were married or not. They did not care if they were called again. I guess money and power will make you do that. The weird part is, JFK managed to do all women even with his bad back!

This books is a good read to get the no-so publicised stories and it goes deeper than just mentioning events that are well know. I would get it.
November 23, 2008

Finally some answers . . .

This is the most riveting account of the Kennedy assassinations I have read to date. Mr. Talbot meticulously documents and cross references his information and sources. This book is a disturbing wake up call to Americans about the danger of rogue agencies, an overly powerful military complex, and the vulnerability of any president who is morally, intellectually, and psychologically determined to keep a steady hand on the helm in a world as dangerous to us from within as from without. I think this should be mandatory reading for all Americans. I myself have purchased 4 copies and have them all lent out at all times. Friends who originally read one of my copies are now buying copies themselves. I urge every American to READ THIS BOOK! Thank you, Mr. Talbot.
November 03, 2008

Too Slanted To Be Credible

David Talbot admires the Kennedys -- especially John and Robert. OK, fine. Nothing wrong with that. I do not share that admiration but I do think they were OK guys whose reputation exceeds their reality.

David Talbot portrays the Kennedy Administration as one of virtue and rightness that was hounded by evil right wing idealogues who hated everything liberal and were willing to destroy the world if it meant destroying Communism. As a right wing conservative myself I would be the first to admit that some of the conservative icons of that era were scary but not to the extreme that Talbot tries to portray them. And that is where I found this book to be such a drag.

The basic premise of this book is that right wingers in the government conspired against the President -- not necessarily to murder the President but their actions resulted in that act coming to fruition. Talbot portrays the President as not being hounded into foolish action when the Bay of Pigs adventure went bad -- an adventure he did not start but also did not finish. President Kennedy was a man of peace and love willing to work with people within the government and outside the government that the right wing establishment detested. President Kennedy was a man of peace and love willing to work with foreign governments -- yes, even the Communists that the right wing establishment detested and was willing to destroy even it meant destroying the world.

If you believe Talbot, many of the "crimes" and "adventures" perpetrated by the intelligence community -- most notably the CIA -- and the military were done over his objections or without his knowledge. After all, President Kennedy and his brother were good and decent God fearing men above such indecency. For this the right wing establishment grew to hate the President to the point they were willing to end his presidency.

After the tragedy in Dallas Talbot portrays Robert Kennedy as a tormented man. That is believable. Talbot also portrays Robert as a man who truly believed that the tragedy in Dallas was the result of a conspiracy within the government. If Robert had not died as he did -- Talbot hints at another conspiracy perhaps perpetrated the right wing conservatives -- he would have won his party's nomination in 1968 (never mind Hubert Humphrey had the nomination virtually locked up when Robert won the California Primary), won the presidency, and would have reopened the investigation into his brother's death.

As for all the less than flattering revelations about the Kennedy Administration that were revealed in subsequent investigations in the 1970s and beyond, Talbot pretty much dismisses them as lies. Yes, he does admit that John was not exactly the most faithful husband in the world and that he may have experimented with some powerful and illegal drugs while in the White House, but when it came to some of the misdeeds that happened nationally and internationally he and his brother were pure and innocent. Their accusers were pretty much the same individuals who hounded the two brothers and were not above lying not only to cover for themselves but to also demonstrate that physical assassination was not enough as they had to participate in character assassination.

Were the Kennedys bad people? No. Was John Kennedy a bad president? I do not think so but I do not think he was a great president either. The mystique around his administration is what might have been. But David Talbot's attempt to rewrite the events of the Kennedy Administration and his brother's attempt to carry on the "dream" after 22 November 1963 is totally slanted to the point of lacking credibility.

This book portrays the Kennedy's as they probably wish to be remembered. But I do not think this book portrays reality.
October 30, 2008

Great Book

Great Book. Talks about just about anyone who could have assassinated JFK. Not only does it give insight to JFK's presidency but also what kind of man Bobby Kennedy was.
October 16, 2008

did not receive it.

I received an email telling me that I will not receive this book. Seems it is out of stock.

October 14, 2008

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
by Vincent Bugliosi

Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power
by Robert Dallek

The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America
by Thurston Clarke

Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989
by Michael R. Beschloss

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
by Tim Weiner