Pictures of the Pain: Photography and the Assassination of President Kennedy
Never before the Richard Trask volumePictures of the Painhas any book provided such an exhaustive, even-handed survey of documentary evidence in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Dispassionate in its assessment of the facts, rigorously free from speculation or bias,Pictures of the Painis especially valuable in helping us to understand clearly what is known, what is not known, and what can never be known.Most writers on this subject succumb to the temptation to skew or manipulate the evidence: Richard Trask never does. Mr. Trask does not always flatter my own reporting on the assassination but he is scrupulously, unfailingly fair to me and to everyone else. He has written the definitive book on the subject.Dan Rather, JournalistHis chapter on the Zapruder film is brilliant and riveting.ReviewfromChoicemagazineThe magnificent book,Pictures of the Painby Richard Trask, which I have quoted often in [my] book, was the result of ten years of meticulous research on the photographic history of the assassination. Presented in a coolly objective way, the 638 pages are chock-full of much information and detail Trask unearthed that had never been previously published. The book is an absolutely invaluable reference that has been widely relied upon by the assassination research community.[His book] only has one objective THE TRUTH.Vincent Bugliosi, author ofReclaiming History[The Trask book is] the finest work in the photographic evidence that has been or will be produced.Harrison E. Livingstone, author ofKilling Kennedyand several other books on the subjectA magisterial book. Scrupulously researched, well written, and admirably designed and printed.Anthony Frewin,The Lobster, EnglandSince 1963, book after book has been churned out on the Kennedy assassination. With few exceptions, these have been works of advocacy. Long after they have been forgotten, the Richard Trask works of true historical scholarship will be remembered. HisPictures of the Painset a standard for objective scholarship which has made it a leading reference work.Josiah Thompson, pioneering assassination researcher and author ofSix Seconds in DallasWhether one views the death of JFK as an act of one lone man or the act of a deadly conspiracy, the book holds up admirably either way.Vince Palamara, researcher and authorAt the risk of triteness, I would venture to say that Trask puts us there at Elm and Houston ... in an age where sensational journalism, sloppy methodology and outright fakery seem often to replace incisive assassination research, this book is a tough act to follow.Jan R. Stevens,The Fourth DecadeThe book will become recognized as one of the seminal reference works on its subject.Brian Woolley, Senior Reporter,The Dallas Morning Newsand author ofNovember 22An essential basic book for every researcher on the case ... a masterful job.Martin Shackelford, noted assassination researcherSome of his observations are very perceptive, others even eloquent. The book is a blessed relief from assassination literature loaded with assumptions stated as fact, polemical diatribes, etc.!Jim Folliard, noted researcher ---- Letters to the Author[Your book is] the finest work in the photographic evidence that has been or will be produced.Harrison E. Livingstone, author ofKilling Kennedyand several other books on the subjectA magisterial book. Scrupulously researched, well written, and admirably designed and printed.Anthony Frewin,The Lobster, EnglandSince 1963, book after book has been churned out on the Kennedy assassination. With few exceptions, these have been works of advocacy. Long after they have been forgotten, the Richard Trask works of true historical scholarship will be remembered. HisPictures of the Painset a standard for objective scholarship which has made it a leading reference work.Josiah Thompson, pioneering assassination researcher and author ofSix Seconds in DallasWhether one views the death of JFK as an act of one lone man or the act of a deadly conspiracy, the book holds up admirably either way.Vince Palamara, researcher and authorAt the risk of triteness, I would venture to say that Trask puts us there at Elm and Houston ... in an age where sensational journalism, sloppy methodology and outright fakery seem often to replace incisive assassination research, this book is a tough act to follow.Jan R. Stevens,The Fourth DecadeThe book will become recognized as one of the seminal reference works on its subject.Brian Woolley, Senior Reporter,The Dallas Morning Newsand author ofNovember 22An essential basic book for every researcher on the case ... a masterful job. -Martin Shackelford, noted assassination researcherSome of his observations are very perceptive, others even eloquent. The book is a blessed relief from assassination literature loaded with assumptions stated as fact, polemical diatribes, etc.!Jim Folliard, noted researcher --Letters to the author