Crossfire

Why it’s on the list: Jim Marrs’s compendium of Kennedy-assassination conspiracy material, and one of the two books Oliver Stone used as the basis for JFK. Read as a primary source on the conspiracy literature rather than on the assassination: Marrs’s case is not accepted by historians, and its value is in showing how the genre assembles an argument.

Where I heard about it

• Replies to @typesfast — listed as “Crossfire (about the Kennedy assassination)” in the replies to his question “What’s the best history book you’ve read?”, June 2025. The full set of replies lives on What’s the best history book… (tweet).

Connections

• John F. Kennedy — the subject.
• Conspiracy Theories — the book is a landmark of the form.
• Language of Discourse — how a contested event gets narrated into certainty.
• What’s the best history book… (tweet) — the thread this recommendation came from.