In this “illuminating” insider account “Willens covers all his bases [in] a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the [Warren] commission report.” (Publishers Weekly) Everything was over in seconds, but the events of November 22, 1963 have been debated for more than five decades. The presidential commission tasked with finding the truth about the Kennedy assassination, headed by then-Chief Justice Earl Warren, concluded that Oswald had acted alone. But the report did little to quell conspiracy theorists. Warren himself calmly dismissed the criticism, assuring his fellow commission members that “history will prove that we are right.” This eye-opening account by Howard P. Willens, one of the few living staff members of the Warren Commission, reveals that Warren's words were prescient. Drawn from Willens' own journals and extensive notes on the investigation, History Will Prove Us Right tells the complete story of every aspect of the investigation into one of the century's most controversial events from a uniquely first-person perspective. “Fascinating . . . Many will still disagree with the Warren Commission’s conclusion, but this book serves a valuable function by laying out how it did its work.” —Booklist “ A behind-the-scenes take on the investigation, its personalities and methodology. One by one [Willens] discards alternatives to the lone gunman theory.” —The Guardian “The commission got it right — Oswald was the sole assassin —and that conclusion holds up after 50 years of scrutiny.” —The Washington Post “Willens's account deserves close and careful scrutiny by anyone interested in the Kennedy assassination.” —Library Journal “A superbly written account by someone who knows precisely what needs to be said and how to say it.” —Kirkus Reviews

Pulitzer Prize Finalist: “By far the most lucid and compelling account . . . of what probably did happen in Dallas—and what almost certainly did not.” —The New York Times Book Review The Kennedy assassination has reverberated for five decades, with tales of secret plots, multiple killers, and government cabals often overshadowing the event itself. As Gerald Posner writes, “Fifty years after the assassination, the biggest casualty has been the truth.” In this first-ever digital edition of his classic work, updated with a special comment for the fiftieth anniversary, Posner lays to rest all of the convoluted conspiracy theories—concerning the mafia, a second shooter, and the CIA—that have obscured over the decades what really happened in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963. Drawing from official sources and dozens of interviews, and filled with powerful historical detail, Case Closed is a vivid and straightforward account that stands as one of the most authoritative books on the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

And conclusions -- The assassination -- The shots from the Texas School Book Depository -- The shots from the Texas School Book Depository (continued) -- The assassin -- The assassin (continued) -- Detention and death of Oswald -- Investigation of possible conspiracy -- Investigation of possible conspiracy (continued) -- Lee Harvey Oswald: background and possible motives -- The protection of the President -- The protection of the President (continued) -- Appendix 1: Executive order no.11130 -- Appendix 2: White House release -- Appendix 3: Senate Joint Resolution 137 -- Appendix 4: Biographical information and acknowledgments -- Appendix 5: List of witnesses -- Appendix 6: Commission procedures for the taking of testimony -- Appendix 7: A brief history of Presidential protection -- Appendix 8: Medical reports from doctors at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Tex -- Appendix 9: Autopsy report and supplemental report -- Appendix 10: Expert testimony -- Appendix 11: Reports relating to the interrogation of Lee Harvey Oswald at the Dallas Police Department -- Appendix 12: Speculations and rumors -- Appendix 13: Biography of Lee Harvey Oswald -- Appendix 14: Analysis of Lee Harvey Oswald's finances from June 13, 1962, through November 22, 1963 -- Appendix 15: Transactions between Lee Harvey Oswald and Marina Oswald, and the U.S. department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the U.S. Department of Justice -- Appendix 16: A biography of Jack Ruby -- Appendix 17: Polygraph examination of Jack Ruby -- Appendix 18: Footnotes.

Praised by The New York Times; O, The Oprah Magazine; Bitch Magazine; Slate; Publishers Weekly; and more, this is “a bracing corrective to a national mythology” (New York Times) around the civil rights movement. The civil rights movement has become national legend, lauded by presidents from Reagan to Obama to Trump, as proof of the power of American democracy. This fable, featuring dreamy heroes and accidental heroines, has shuttered the movement firmly in the past, whitewashed the forces that stood in its way, and diminished its scope. And it is used perniciously in our own times to chastise present-day movements and obscure contemporary injustice. In A More Beautiful and Terrible History award-winning historian Jeanne Theoharis dissects this national myth-making, teasing apart the accepted stories to show them in a strikingly different light. We see Rosa Parks not simply as a bus lady but a lifelong criminal justice activist and radical; Martin Luther King, Jr. as not only challenging Southern sheriffs but Northern liberals, too; and Coretta Scott King not only as a “helpmate” but a lifelong economic justice and peace activist who pushed her husband’s activism in these directions. Moving from “the histories we get” to “the histories we need,” Theoharis challenges nine key aspects of the fable to reveal the diversity of people, especially women and young people, who led the movement; the work and disruption it took; the role of the media and “polite racism” in maintaining injustice; and the immense barriers and repression activists faced. Theoharis makes us reckon with the fact that far from being acceptable, passive or unified, the civil rights movement was unpopular, disruptive, and courageously persevering. Activists embraced an expansive vision of justice—which a majority of Americans opposed and which the federal government feared. By showing us the complex reality of the movement, the power of its organizing, and the beauty and scope of the vision, Theoharis proves that there was nothing natural or inevitable about the progress that occurred. A More Beautiful and Terrible History will change our historical frame, revealing the richness of our civil rights legacy, the uncomfortable mirror it holds to the nation, and the crucial work that remains to be done. Winner of the 2018 Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize in Nonfiction

More than any other people on earth, we Americans are free to say and write what we think. The press can air the secrets of government, the corporate boardroom, or the bedroom with little fear of punishment or penalty. This extraordinary freedom results not from America’s culture of tolerance, but from fourteen words in the constitution: the free expression clauses of the First Amendment.InFreedom for the Thought That We Hate, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Anthony Lewis describes how our free-speech rights were created in five distinct areas—political speech, artistic expression, libel, commercial speech, and unusual forms of expression such as T-shirts and campaign spending. It is a story of hard choices, heroic judges, and the fascinating and eccentric defendants who forced the legal system to come face to face with one of America’s great founding ideas.