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Title: American Assassins: The Darker Side of Politics by James W. Clarke ISBN: 0-691-02221-6 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: March, 1990 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (4 reviews)

Rating: 2
Summary: Beware Disinformation
Comment: Princeton University Press published this book by a Political Science professor at Arizona. It is a psychological study which aims to sort various assassins into several "types."

While the book has a certain merit when discussing 19th Century political murderers and mandmen, it is full of outright disinformation about the murders of the Kennedy brothers. Oswald never met Sylvia Duran; she was tortured by the CIA and forced to "confess" that she had met him. CIA officials such as David Phillips have admitted under oath that the visitor to the Embassy where Ms. Duran worked was NOT Oswald. See Peter Dale Scott, Deep Politics and the Death of JFK, University of California Press 1992.

Rating: 5
Summary: Essential reading!
Comment: I first came across this book in preparation to direct the musical "Assassins". It was extremely helpful, because of its extremely insightful look into the 16 men and women who have tried (successfully and unsuccessfully) to assassinate national political figures, including (but not limited to) the President. Clarke has a simple, easy to read chapter on each assassin. He explains that very few of these people were actually insane, and goes on to suggest that thinking them insane does not serve to explain them, and therefore does not help to prevent future assassinations. He explains their actions without excusing them, and allows us to understand them and their acts without presuming them "insane" or "evil" ahead of time. I highly recommend this book.

Rating: 5
Summary: Powerful and Provocative
Comment: For those of you familiar with the Stephen Sondheim musical Assassins, this book is essential to understand the show's themes in a historical context. Clarke suggests that there's something uniquely American about these assassinations, and his conclusions are as brilliant as they are disturbing.

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