A Cruel and Shocking Act

The New York Times Bestseller
Named a Notable Nonfiction Book by The Washington Post

“Jaw-dropping scenes involving the destruction and manipulation of evidence . . . A persuasive, deeply researched account . . . A compelling read.” —The Washington Post

A taut, page-turning narrative from the bestselling author of The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation.

Veteran investigative reporter Philip Shenon rewrites the history of the Kennedy assassination and speaks to the questions that have haunted our nation for half a century: Was the President killed by a single gunman? Was Lee Harvey Oswald part of a conspiracy? Did the Warren Commission discover the whole truth of what happened on November 22, 1963? Shenon, a bestselling author who spent most of his career at The New York Times, finally provides many of the answers. In writing A Cruel and Shocking Act, Shenon discovered startling information that was withheld from the Warren Commission by the CIA, FBI, and others in power in Washington. Shenon's book features some of the most compelling figures of the twentieth century—Bobby Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, J. Edgar Hoover, Chief Justice Warren, CIA spymasters Allen Dulles and Richard Helms, as well as the CIA's treacherous "mole hunter," James Jesus Angleton.

Based on hundreds of interviews and unprecedented access to the surviving commission staffers and many key players, Philip Shenon's authoritative, scrupulously researched book will forever change the way we think about the Kennedy assassination and about the deeply flawed investigation that followed.