Ronald A. (rarendt) reviewed Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on + 107 more book reviews
I can't remember how many Bill O'Reilly books and audio books I have started and not finished; if fact, I think this is the first one I have finished - not because I particularly liked it, but because I wanted to see how many factual errors I could find in it.
Here are several from the very first cd: Jack Kennedy was NOT a second lieutenant when PT109 was sunk - there are no second lieutenants in the Navy - the lowest ranking officer in the Navy is an ensign. Kennedy was a Lt-jg at the time of the sinking which stands for lieutenant junior grade (equivalent to a first lieutenant in the Army, Air Force, or Marines. This is common knowledge to anyone who has even a nodding acquaintance with the military - where I served for 21 years. These tables or rank are published in hundreds of places. It led me to believe that the entire book was very sloppily researched, but of course Bill O'Reilly sounds so sure of himself about everything, he just expects us to go along with him.
Then he makes the statement that by losing his ship JFK was in danger of being court-martialed. I've read a lot of military history (obviously more than O'Reilly) and I have NEVER heard of a commanding officer being court-martialed for losing his ship in a combat situation - or even in a peacetime situation. I think this was the grossest kind of embroidery to make the story seem more fascinating.
It goes on and on like this - with a lot of assertions to make the story seem more dramatic (7cd's of them) - most of which can't be fact-checked.
I bought the audio book from Half-Price Books new for $9.99. I am so glad I didn't pay the $29.99 list price, and I will save lots more money by avoiding "Killing Lincoln", Killing Christ", etc ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
Here are several from the very first cd: Jack Kennedy was NOT a second lieutenant when PT109 was sunk - there are no second lieutenants in the Navy - the lowest ranking officer in the Navy is an ensign. Kennedy was a Lt-jg at the time of the sinking which stands for lieutenant junior grade (equivalent to a first lieutenant in the Army, Air Force, or Marines. This is common knowledge to anyone who has even a nodding acquaintance with the military - where I served for 21 years. These tables or rank are published in hundreds of places. It led me to believe that the entire book was very sloppily researched, but of course Bill O'Reilly sounds so sure of himself about everything, he just expects us to go along with him.
Then he makes the statement that by losing his ship JFK was in danger of being court-martialed. I've read a lot of military history (obviously more than O'Reilly) and I have NEVER heard of a commanding officer being court-martialed for losing his ship in a combat situation - or even in a peacetime situation. I think this was the grossest kind of embroidery to make the story seem more fascinating.
It goes on and on like this - with a lot of assertions to make the story seem more dramatic (7cd's of them) - most of which can't be fact-checked.
I bought the audio book from Half-Price Books new for $9.99. I am so glad I didn't pay the $29.99 list price, and I will save lots more money by avoiding "Killing Lincoln", Killing Christ", etc ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
Mike A. (adsmike) reviewed Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on + 25 more book reviews
Bill O'Reilly is a consummate story teller. Killing Kennedy is a great historic document explaining one of the most tragic stories of the 20th century. A very good read.
