Twenty-Six Seconds

A Personal History of the Zapruder Film

By: Alexandra Zapruder

Narrated by: Alexandra Zapruder

The moving, untold family story behind Abraham Zapruder's film footage of the Kennedy assassination and its lasting impact on our world.

Abraham Zapruder didn't know when he ran home to grab his video camera on November 22, 1963 that this single spontaneous decision would change his family's life for generations to come. Originally intended as a home movie of President Kennedy's motorcade, Zapruder's film of the JFK assassination is now shown in every American history class, included in Jeopardy and Trivial Pursuit questions, and referenced in novels and films. It is the most famous example of citizen journalism, a precursor to the iconic images of our time, such as the Challenger explosion, the Rodney King beating, and the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers. But few know the complicated legacy of the film itself.

Now Abraham's granddaughter, Alexandra Zapruder, is ready to tell the complete story for the first time. With the help of the Zapruder family's exclusive records, memories, and documents, Zapruder tracks the film's torturous journey through history, all while American society undergoes its own transformation, and a new media-driven consumer culture challenges traditional ideas of privacy, ownership, journalism, and knowledge.

Part biography, part family history, and part historical narrative, Zapruder demonstrates how one man's unwitting moment in the spotlight shifted the way politics, culture, and media intersect, bringing about the larger social questions that define our age.

Critic reviews

"A fascinating and cautionary tale."—Wall Street Journal

"Zapruder is a gifted writer and storyteller who delicately unravels a minor mystery few people know or care about, but that she makes human, complex and quite interesting."—New York Times Book Review

"Making use of family and government archives, interviews, and her own memory, Alexandra offers a supple, tender portrait of a family lashed to history."—Boston Globe

"The fifty year saga of the most important witness to the JFK assassination-a home movie shot by Abraham Zapruder-is a high-stakes morality tale, suspenseful, thought-provoking, and at times nasty. Zapruder's embattled descendants defend their claim to the film, while researchers, conspiracy theorists, disapproving editorial writers and the federal government swirl around them, and millions of dollars hang in the balance."—John Berendt, New York Times bestselling author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

"A first-rate work of biography and history, addressing the film and the family in all their complexity and character...absorbing, deeply researched."—USA Today

"Enlightening...an intelligent blend of memoir and cultural criticism that breaks fresh ground in the crowded field of JFK assassination studies."—San Francisco Chronicle

"A moving and enlightening account of the famous film."—Joyce Carol Oates, The Washington Post

"Riveting...offers up a complex and highly entertaining story of an assassination, a reel of film, and a Texas-based clan, which also draws in Dan Rather, Life magazine, Geraldo Rivera, the Warren Commission, a pile of money, and a whole lot more."—The National Book Review

"The odyssey of America's most famous amateur footage is recounted with skill and sensitivity....Alexandra is a fine storyteller... the story never lags...Alexandra Zapruder has written a book which transcends the film and the tragedy in Dallas."—Washington Independent Review of Books

"Riveting."—The Dallas Morning News

"It is rare to find a book like TWENTY-SIX SECONDS that uncovers new informationa bout one of the most tragic events in American history...an intelligent examination of the changing media landscape, sudden notoriety, and its aftermath."—Washington Times

"[A] well-written exploration of conspiracy, propriety, copyright, and public good versus private gain...reaffirming [the film's] position as a true relic, one of the few in a secular world."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"An intriguing history of one of the most significant home movies ever recorded."—Kirkus Reviews

"Exhaustively researched."—Bookreporter

"Zapruder offers a unique perspective."—New York Post

"A fascinating history."—Men's Journal

Interesting

Well done history of the film and all of the complications that it has endured over the years. Definitely told from one perspective, but honestly a perspective that has never been heard.

Informative

Very interesting, well written. It was nice to get the story of the film directly from the family. How strange that I complete the book just after midnight on 11/22.

Outstanding book chronicling story behind the historic Zapruder film

Fascinating from start to finish. I highly recommend listening to this audiobook which was read by the author, making it even more compelling .

A must-read, compelling history of history’s most famous piece of film.

Whatever you think you know about the Zapruder Film, you probably will learn something or even a lot from this book.

The book provides insight into both history and the Zapruder family. It is very well-written and well-narrated by Alexandra Zapruder. Do yourself a favor and listen.

Thank You!

So well done. Tasteful, thoughtful, sensitively done. Thorough historically, factually, and really appreciated the legal insight and analysis scientifically, as well as the perspective from the personal impact on the Zapruder family.