- Paperback: 478 pages
- Publisher: Free Press; Reprint edition (3 Jun 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0743269195
- ISBN-13: 978-0743269193
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,568,573 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've really tried very hard to enjoy BROTHERS but it's been a long hard road getting to the end of a complex and thorough piece of research and at times I nearly gave up on it. It's not that it's not a good book, but I found certain sections - especially the Kennedy White House years - especially dry.
The story it tells, however, is a fascinating one, and the dark corners of the Cold War are peered into meticulously. A large assortment of shady and shifty characters emerge from the gloom and the world they inhabited is revealed as being, quite frankly, terrifying. We are told, in very frank and uncompromising terms, the story of the John F Kennedy White House and the internal battles going on between the Hawks and the Doves during the early part of the cold war, and in many ways makes you feel very grateful that the man in the White House at that time was the man with the strength of character and self belief he had, because with anyone else in charge you get the impression that we may all really have been blown to kingdom come.
After the events of Dallas in November 1963, the story shifts focus onto the story of Robert Kennedy's last few years of life and his reluctance to address the subject of the investigation into his brother's death and his eventual fateful decision to run for the highest office in the land which ended with the tragedy at the Ambassador Hotel in 1968.
I'm not sure, in the end, that this book is the one it claimed it was going to be. Certainly, whilst it opens with the idea that Bobby was haunted and obsessed by the assassination, mostly it seems to imply that he was going to investigate it further after winning the White House which of course he never did. The rest is conjecture and speculation, and whilst it is a fascinating account into the tragic circumstances surrounding the lives and deaths of the two brothers, I'm not sure that the lasting impression the book leaves me with is of the brothers themselves. Instead there is an unsettling sense of the evil that faceless men do in the dark shadows in the name of democracy and freedom and how difficult it is to stop them from engaging in their wickedness when they have committed to their course of action.
The story it tells, however, is a fascinating one, and the dark corners of the Cold War are peered into meticulously. A large assortment of shady and shifty characters emerge from the gloom and the world they inhabited is revealed as being, quite frankly, terrifying. We are told, in very frank and uncompromising terms, the story of the John F Kennedy White House and the internal battles going on between the Hawks and the Doves during the early part of the cold war, and in many ways makes you feel very grateful that the man in the White House at that time was the man with the strength of character and self belief he had, because with anyone else in charge you get the impression that we may all really have been blown to kingdom come.
After the events of Dallas in November 1963, the story shifts focus onto the story of Robert Kennedy's last few years of life and his reluctance to address the subject of the investigation into his brother's death and his eventual fateful decision to run for the highest office in the land which ended with the tragedy at the Ambassador Hotel in 1968.
I'm not sure, in the end, that this book is the one it claimed it was going to be. Certainly, whilst it opens with the idea that Bobby was haunted and obsessed by the assassination, mostly it seems to imply that he was going to investigate it further after winning the White House which of course he never did. The rest is conjecture and speculation, and whilst it is a fascinating account into the tragic circumstances surrounding the lives and deaths of the two brothers, I'm not sure that the lasting impression the book leaves me with is of the brothers themselves. Instead there is an unsettling sense of the evil that faceless men do in the dark shadows in the name of democracy and freedom and how difficult it is to stop them from engaging in their wickedness when they have committed to their course of action.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a fantastic read - written in an easy and informative style.
Like most people I knew the basics about the assassinations before I read this, but the truth behind the story is startling.
I came away thinking that had they both lived it would have been an absolute miracle! The vested interest groups aligned against them were powerful in the extreme. The hostility of the military was shocking - with the Joint Chiefs pretty much wanting to start WW3 to put the communists in their place. The CIA and FBI were virtually uncontrollable, set their own agenda (including assassinations) and colluded with the Mafia. The Mafia themselves hated the Kennedys for the way they (especially Bobby) went after them - as well as the powerful and corrupt unions (who seemed to be Mafia controlled). The Cuban exiles loathed JFK for the way he handled the Bay of Pigs (calling off air support when it was clear it was a doomed mission). The segregationists in the deep south despised the Kennedys for their support for equality.
And yet the brothers stuck to their missions with scant regard for their personal safety. They were desperately fighting what they saw as an amalgamation of the military, politicians, business and organised crime. No wonder they were disposed of.
It is incredibly sad to think that three outstanding leaders (JFK, RFK and Martin Luther King) were removed from the world stage when there was so much to do.
The book is presented as a time line - and the sections on that fateful day in Dallas were riveting - even when you know the outcome (I didn't know, for example, that the route was known to be unsafe, Dallas was hostile to the Kennedys, and that the secret service suddenly backed away in the moments leading up to the shooting). It is a mixture of 'whodunnit', political thriller, historical diary and social study. A well balanced and expertly crafted mixture.
The author delves into the characters of all the participants as much as is necessary and relevant, and I had the distinct feeling all the way through of good versus evil. David Talbot manages to evoke the sense of the time - the hopes and fears, the passion of the people, the enmities and the sinister manoeuvring of organisations who were supposed to be much better than they were.
It is clear from reading this book that the US at that time was rotten to the core - I sincerely hope things are better today!
I enjoyed the book tremendously and recommend it very highly to anyone who wants to know more about the period, the assassinations, the Kennedy mentality, American society and just how rotten and corrupt powerful people and groups can become.
Like most people I knew the basics about the assassinations before I read this, but the truth behind the story is startling.
I came away thinking that had they both lived it would have been an absolute miracle! The vested interest groups aligned against them were powerful in the extreme. The hostility of the military was shocking - with the Joint Chiefs pretty much wanting to start WW3 to put the communists in their place. The CIA and FBI were virtually uncontrollable, set their own agenda (including assassinations) and colluded with the Mafia. The Mafia themselves hated the Kennedys for the way they (especially Bobby) went after them - as well as the powerful and corrupt unions (who seemed to be Mafia controlled). The Cuban exiles loathed JFK for the way he handled the Bay of Pigs (calling off air support when it was clear it was a doomed mission). The segregationists in the deep south despised the Kennedys for their support for equality.
And yet the brothers stuck to their missions with scant regard for their personal safety. They were desperately fighting what they saw as an amalgamation of the military, politicians, business and organised crime. No wonder they were disposed of.
It is incredibly sad to think that three outstanding leaders (JFK, RFK and Martin Luther King) were removed from the world stage when there was so much to do.
The book is presented as a time line - and the sections on that fateful day in Dallas were riveting - even when you know the outcome (I didn't know, for example, that the route was known to be unsafe, Dallas was hostile to the Kennedys, and that the secret service suddenly backed away in the moments leading up to the shooting). It is a mixture of 'whodunnit', political thriller, historical diary and social study. A well balanced and expertly crafted mixture.
The author delves into the characters of all the participants as much as is necessary and relevant, and I had the distinct feeling all the way through of good versus evil. David Talbot manages to evoke the sense of the time - the hopes and fears, the passion of the people, the enmities and the sinister manoeuvring of organisations who were supposed to be much better than they were.
It is clear from reading this book that the US at that time was rotten to the core - I sincerely hope things are better today!
I enjoyed the book tremendously and recommend it very highly to anyone who wants to know more about the period, the assassinations, the Kennedy mentality, American society and just how rotten and corrupt powerful people and groups can become.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Although a bit dense in the conspiracy-theory department, this is still a great read. In my mind Talbot over-dramatises the extent to which the Kennedy brothers were 'at war' with the CIA, the military and the Mafia. It is of course true that the Kennedy brothers were the ones who kept things from boiling over during the Bay of Pigs Crisis and the Cuba Crisis, standing firm against the more bellicose military commanders. It is true that RFK had railed against the Mafia for years. And of course it is true that the Kennedy brothers had a difficult relationship with the CIA, particularly in regards to Cuba. But to make the leap from friction within government agencies and difference of opinion to an assassination plot is an embellishment. Talbot is sober enough not to make that mistake, but he certainly points in that direction.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A real gem in the JFK genre, extremely well put together using eye...
As far as JFK books go Brothers really does get its teeth into the forces that were opposed to the Kennedy administration and lays down the evidence of the opposing forces with... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Astore Stargazer
Brothers by David Talbot
My wife ordered this book for me and I settled down to a riveting read. From page 224 onwards and into the next chapter the pages were jumbled up in the wrong order with some pages... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Philip Bartey
Brothers - Thought Provoking
I enjoyed this book very much and even though I knew what was coming I found some parts incredibly sad and hard to read. Read more
Published 9 months ago by pinkisback
Brothers
There was a lot to be learnt about the history of this period from this excellent study - the title of the book says it all.
Published 10 months ago by Mr. Anthony Byers
Thoroughly researched, readable and very informative!
An excellent read- this book has been very thoroughly researched- people in the know have given interviews, documents, speeches have been used and it provides a good and detailed... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Dr. J. M. Alter
The Kennedy Brothers
This book I found too repetitive with only the same subjects being used. The first 100 pages are all about the Bay of Pigs incident. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mrs. E. Souter
Enlightening
"If a president can be shot down with impunity at high noon in the sunny streets of an American city, then any kind of deceit is possible" and "We live in a dark age of clashing... Read more
Published on 26 Feb 2010 by Othon Leon
A battle of wills and strength of character - inside and outside the...
I read this before Michael Dobbs' 'One Minute to Midnight'(reviewed elsewhere) and it whetted my appetite for more information on Cuban Crisis. Read more
Published on 30 Jan 2010 by Child of the Fifties
Another beautifully written book on JFK
This book rivals James Douglass' book JFK And The Unspeakable
for its clarity and ease of reading. Read more
for its clarity and ease of reading. Read more
Published on 30 Jan 2010 by Ex Libris
Perfect present
Xmas present for my dad and he has not been able to put it down.
Published on 15 Jan 2010 by M. Sullivan
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