Show Notes
On 22 November 1963 at 1230 in the afternoon, shots fired out a President Kennedy’s motorcade in downtown Dallas, Texas. Now, we all know it was definitely Lee Harvey Oswald from the Book Depository with a rifle and a magic bullet but, what about the witnesses? There were a collection of intriguing and disparate characters in Dealey Plaza that day, and I’m speaking with the man who has written about them.
Martin Fitzgerald is a long time expert on the assassination, and he’s written a book about the interesting stories related to but not all about grassy knolls and second shooters. He joins me for a chat about one of the most talked about events of the 20th century.
Martin Fitzgerald Links
The Umbrella Man & Other Stories
The Men Who Killed Kennedy (YT)
History Book Club Shop
Oliver Webb-Carter Links
Substack
Who Cares Who Wins?
Paean to Patrick Leigh Fermor
X
Instagram
Email me: [email protected]
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
More from History Book Club
For many allied troops in the Far East capture by the Japanese Imperial Army led to appalling treatment and forced labour on the Burma railway. The cruelty meted out to British and Americans was nothing compared to those Chinese and Philipinos. But what was the cause of this brutality? Was it the Japanese warrior code, or something inherent in Japanese culture?
It’s difficult to exaggerate how much of a star Greta Garbo was. When you become the subject of a classic Pete and Dud sketch from Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, then you can certainly say you’ve made it, and she’s certainly the most convincing and talented Greta to come out of Sweden.
William Boyd is one of our best loved writers, the author of bestselling literary fiction since his debut, A Good Man in Africa back in 1981. His novel Any Human Heart was longlisted for the Booker Prize and was made into a four part series starring Matthew Macfadyen and Jim Broadbent. He’s written a number of espionage novels, including Solo, a Bond novel, and has now written a trilogy of spy books, in which our hero is Gabriel Dax. He’s a travel writer in the 1960s, and becomes an agent of the beautiful and mercurial Faith Green, a senior MI6 officer. The books feature a number of 1960s events including the assassinations of JFK and Patrice Lumumba, the coup in Guatemala and Cold War defections. His latest is Cold Sunset and by now Gabriel Dax is a seasoned spy, but he faces betrayal at home.
Throughout our history cities have been drivers of innovation, from sewers to public lighting, via traffic lights and escalators. Today’s discussion is with Jonn Elledge, author of 31 Inventions That Built Our World, and we delve into a few of the ideas that have formed the modern world we live in.
With the 25th anniversary of 9/11, a day that will live in infamy, we are bringing UNITED 93 to the pod, as Alec and Tim join to talk about Greengrass movie.