The Death of a President

November 20 - November 25, 1963

By: William Manchester

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 33 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

As the world still reeled from the tragic and historic events of November 22, 1963, William Manchester set out, at the request of the Kennedy family, to create a detailed, authoritative record of President John F. Kennedy's death, including the days immediately preceding and following the assassination. Through hundreds of interviews, extensive travel, and first hand observation, and with unique access to the proceedings of the Warren Commission, Manchester conducted an exhaustive historical investigation, accumulating 45 volumes of documents, exhibits, and transcribed tapes. His ultimate objective - to set down as a whole the national and personal tragedy that was JFK's assassination - is brilliantly achieved in this galvanizing narrative, a book universally acclaimed as a landmark work of modern history.

©2013 William Manchester (P)2013 Blackstone Audio

Its like stepping through a portal into 1960s USA

If you could sum up The Death of a President in three words, what would they be?

The definitive account of the JFK assassination.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Death of a President?

When Dean Rusk is notified of the murder, the other folks on the plane interpret his reaction as indicating a nuclear war has started.

Have you listened to any of Joe Barrett’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I havent heard him, but he was excellent.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me both laugh and cry.

Any additional comments?

Its a bit of a hagiography. I think Gore Vidal called it a historical novel. But Manchester nearly worked himself to death writing and researching it. It was a great listen.

Btw, I really liked the narrator - his take on Johnson, the Dallas police chief, the Kennedy staff, Jackie, Secret Service agents.

Fascinating and Full of Information

I've been a student of the Kennedys since I fell in love with history and this book brought about so much new information (aka things I didn't know). It was fascinating. I was worried that the length would make it hard for me to get through but it didn't. It's made me want to get more books about the Kennedy family, the Johnsons and those few days. My own dislike was the narrator using accents/voices for the different people.

Great story, but...

Terrible narration. He was fine when he was reading text, but when he would read quotes and try to imitate voices/accents he sounded ridiculous!

WELL-DONE

Excellent, detailed events of the terrible events in our Nation's history of 22-25 November 1963. Great narration, too.

Amazing

Simply the best book ever written about the days leading up to, during, and after the Kennedy assassination.

Stop with the accents...

particularly the southern accent.
The book is very interesting...takes you through the assassination in a personal up close view point

The detail provided makes you feel as if you were there

I thought I knew everything about the assassination of President Kennedy. this book/reading showed me I had more to learn. i foundbit emotrional on so many levels, yet insightful and historical. highly recommend. i wish only that our current leaders would re visit Kennedy's speeches esp. regarding UN, Nuclear treaty and Mrs. Kennedy's letter to Russian Premier.

Highly Recommended Book for Lover of President History & President JFK

I have read many accounts of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. This is by far the most detailed and clearest account of his unfortunate assassination; America is/ was never the same. The author conveyed the optimist feeling and the mood of President Kennedy and America prior to his trip to Dallas and his assassinations. Further the author through his account, research relives vividly moments-by-moments the emotions, the temperament of everyone who was involved and apart of the aftermath of President Kennedy’s assassinations. If you are a historians, presidential historians and President Kennedy this book is highly recommended for you to read.

The Death of a President

This was a very informative book about the death of JFK i must give it a (A+)

Epic & outstanding.

If you enjoy details and rich descriptions, this is an absolute must. Enjoyed it thoroughly and learned details that I had no idea existed. Exceptional.