Kennedy's Last Days: The Assassination That Defined a Generation Hardcover – June 11, 2013

This is not a good book about Kennedy or his assassination that is meaningful in anyway. It is a romanticized retelling of a tiny portion of the Kennedy time period that is heavy on personal pictures and reminiscences of O'reilly and short on facts and the truth. The bibliography leaves out all important sources of the facts about the Kennedy presidency and assassination. This fifth-grade level book -- or booklet really -- does great harm in reinforcing lies about the assassination of Kennedy that do not expose known deceptions and cover ups of government officials.It is not much more than a picture book with expanded captions of images that are all in the public domain. And all of the written information is in the public domain. In other words, no information or insight is found in this book and can all be found for free on the internet. And many sites on the internet provide a similar organization so it does not even provide a good collection or organization of of public domain information.It really should be labeled a children's book. I am not being facetious. It is very, very poorly written in a very dumbed down vocabulary and writing style. It is a storybook that retells a very small selection of Kennedy "Camelot" fairytales and finishes with an abbreviated version of the fabricated fictional account of the assassination exactly as it did not happen. The nonsense of the "Oswald did it alone" myth has been so irrefutably proven to be false that only someone totally unfamiliar with the facts would believe it -- and THAT is what O'reilly is counting on and is what has him laughing all the way to the bank (because he knows the truth). I'll have to give you an example from the book or people will go nuts claiming that I did not read the book. I pick for my example O'reilly's listing of famous people born in 1961.First, this is a relisting of exactly what you get from Googling "who was born in 1961". This is indicative of the entire contents of the book. The book is essentially a hardcopy printout of images and text that can be had by doing some Googling and searching some JFK wikis. O'reilly is essentially making money printing Google results.But it's worse than that. O'reilly's contract author (O'reilly does not actually write anything and probably does not actually read everything either) edited the list of people born in 1961 to make sure that everyone on the list conforms with the "Oswald did it" myth. How can that be you ask? In the list of people born in 1961 the name that is edited out is Woody Harrelson who is definitely the most interesting person born that year regarding the JFK assassination. Because Woody Harrelson is the son of Charles Harrelson. And Charles Harrelson was one of the hit men positively identified in a photograph of "the three tramps" being taking away by "police" after the assassination of JFK.You probably don't know about Charles Harrelson at all unless you know about the actual facts of the JFK assassination that do not come from people like O'reilly. Charles Harrelson blows the "Oswald did it" myth. Charles Harrelson is admitted by all to have been a convicted hit man who died in 2007 while in prison serving a sentence for a contract killing of a judge. His son Woody Harrelson is now a famous actor and is by far the MOST interesting person born in 1961 directly related to someone directly connected to Kennedy's assassination.But O'reilly (really his people hired to write a simpleton's feel-good book about Kennedy) omitted Woody Harrelson from the list!O'reilly is an educated professional who knows the truth about JFK but chose instead to be part of perpetuating the lie to make money. Romanticized "Kennedy's Camelot" feel-good storybook retellings of JFK's life and tragic end sell way better than the nonfiction books about JFK's less than puritan life and the organized group of nefarious elements that plotted and succeeded in carrying out a coup d'état in the U.S. Books with sentences like "Jackie's eyes sparkled" sell way better than those that uncover the sordid truth about Kennedy's adulterous affairs and probable murder of Hollywood actresses that gave blackmail material to LBJ and Hoover to first force LBJ into the vice presidency and then to stop RFK -- the Attorney General of the United States -- from investigating his own brother's death even though he was Hoover's boss!O'reilly is a coward and charlatan. It is a career-wrecker for a journalist to say "Oswald didn't do it". O'reilly thinks you and I are stupid and will buy a simpleton's storybook retelling of history as long as is it is feel-good. But with this subject matter he is doing grave damage in retelling the most horrible lie of U.S. history and his charlatanism is harmful.Do not buy this harmful junk no matter what nonsense someone claims about donations being made to some cause. Donations rarely make it to those who are claimed to benefit and no amount of donations make up for the fact that O'reilly is making money perpetuating lies.

This riveting account of the horrific assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy is adapted from Bill O'Reilly's bestselling "Killing Kennedy." This fascinating, illustrated edition is designed for age 10 and over. The author chronicles a valuable, historical narrative of the tragedy that not only changed my generation, but the entire nation. Bill O'Reilly presents information on the shocking events leading to the assassination, the political crisis JFK was facing, and life of JFK and his family in the public eye. In addition, the author describes an angry drifter, known as Lee Harvey Oswald, who was taken into police custody while accused of the most notorious crime of the twentieth century. The prime suspect escapes, is captured, then shot dead, and I remember quite well watching the TV with my dad as Oswald fell to the ground. This horrifying event repeated itself on the News, as much as the chaos of the scene of JFK in the car, after the shooting. One of the worst memories planted in my mind was JFK's funeral, with his wife and two very young helpless children as they stood in silence, while the entire country mourned. One of my best memories of when JFK took office was looking forward to his brother visiting my school, and always viewing the passion JFK had for his children. Bill O'Reilly describes in detail a gripping, thrilling story of a day that marked history as it shed darkness into the world. In conclusion, he also highlights a brave leader, a hero, and a President who wanted to make the world a better place to live in. My dad never forgot Pearl Harbor, my daughters will never forget 9/11 and I remember November 22, 1963, as if it were yesterday. Despite all conspiracy theories, questions unanswered about Oswald's reason for action, or if he acted alone and mysterious findings in the investigations, the answers will never be found. However, the terrifying assassination of JFK and the consequences of this tragedy, along with changes that took place in that era, can never be forgotten. Most important, there is indeed a marked difference in presenting a thrilling historical story that one is an expert on researching, in comparison to living through those uneasy years of sadness, chaos and discontent. Insightful, captivating, and concise. Highly recommended!--Geraldine Ahearn(Author Geri Ahearn)

My grandsons are 8 and 13, and both became immensley interested in learning about JFK's assassination. I bought this for the 13 year old, who had read O'Reilly's original Killing Kennedy. The 8 year old grabbed it and refused to put it down at bed time. He is always resistant to do his required 20 minute reading each night. For some one this young who is interested in history it was able to be grasped and understood. I do believe it's targeted for kids in Middle School and certainly comprehendable for that age group. But as I mentioned, for those interested kids that are younger it was a book that was understood, informative and enjoyable. I have found that based on both boys interest in the subject that I have purchased several more JFK materials including Oliver Stone's JFK DVD and the documentary Executive Action which was from 1974. I would encourage grandparents (my age group) to pass along this subject matter to any receptive grandchildren, and to even encourage those who have not had a lot of exposure to this most dramatic period in our country's history. I'm thrilled 'my boys' eat it up like they do.

This is not, by any means, a scholarly book, although it’s entertaining enough. Just don’t expect to get much learning done!

Great book.

I was 12 yrs old when Kennedy was assassinated and it has always been a huge event in my life. I went to a Catholic school and on that day, November 22nd in 1963, our teacher told us that our President had just been killed. Bill O'Reilly not only filled in all the details of what was happening those last days before the assassination but also gave me a history lesson of real events that took place. This book is full of drama and emotion and every child from middle school on up should read it. It will seem like a gripping book of fiction and before you know it, you can't put it down!

Brilliant work by O'Reilly and Dugard on a important historical event for kids. These guys are just CLASS and their presentation is superb for the age group.

Great book