What do you think?
Rate this book
Accessories After the Fact
Originally published in 1967, Meagher’s masterful dissection of the Warren Report, based on the Warren Commission’s own evidence, has stood the test of time. In some cases, declassifications of government records have corroborated the author’s suspicions and analyses, such as her amazing assertion that Oswald had never actually been charged with Kennedy’s murder, despite sworn testimony to the contrary. Meagher’s book raises serious questions not only about Oswald’s guilt in the JFK assassination and related crimes, such as the Tippit murder and the Walker shooting, but also about the methods and honesty of the Warren Commission, the FBI, and various Dallas police and other officials.
When the Church Committee first began to re-examine the Warren Commission and its relationship with intelligence agencies in 1975, investigators were shocked by what they discovered. In Accessories After the Fact, Sylvia Meagher delivers a blistering blow to the credibility of the Warren Report, and decades after its original publication researchers and readers are still discovering what made her work so important.
When the Church Committee first began to re-examine the Warren Commission and its relationship with intelligence agencies in 1975, investigators were shocked by what they discovered. In Accessories After the Fact, Sylvia Meagher delivers a blistering blow to the credibility of the Warren Report, and decades after its original publication researchers and readers are still discovering what made her work so important.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 12, 2012
Sylvia Meagher along with such early critics of the 'official' rendering of the facts behind the JFK assassination, such as Lane, Epstein, Wecht, Salandria, Weisberg and Twyman are the essential giants, whose shoulders researchers still stand upon today. Sylvia Meagher wrote extensively on the Kennedy case, but is best remembered for two major works: the 'Subject Index to the Warren Report and Hearings and Exhibits', published in 1966, and her crowning achievement, this publication from 1967 'Accessories After the Fact'.
A work of massive historical importance, I was unable to obtain this book in the U.K., and had to purchase my copy through Amazon, with it's yellowing pages, shipped from the U.S. £26 and worth every penny.
After almost fifty years, the official whitewash of the Warren Commission report remains as the historical truth. As the author writes in her Epilogue "No attempt has been made in this study to deal comprehensively with every aspect of the Oswald case. Such a comprehensive, all-inclusive study would involve perhaps a second set of 26 volumes, which like the Hearings and Exhibits would be read only by a minute segment of the public. The author's purpose has been to reach as many people as possible with a message that has lost none of it's urgency or importance during the years which have elapsed since the publication of the Warren Report. It is hoped that message has been made apparent by means of the comparisons presented in this study between the raw evidence and the misleading and sometimes spurious presentation of that evidence by the Warren Commission."
I find it very difficult to remain as circumspect as Meagher. More than misleading evidence, I see outright lies. Even the thirty sixth president, (not included in this book) submitted outright lies in his deposition to the Commission.
As we squint back across the decades at the posse on the trail of truth we can rightfully question, like Sundance, "who are those guys?" Chairman, Chief Justice Earl Warren was later rewarded the post of Attorney General under that polecat Lyndon. Two Senators, Russell and Cooper. Richard B. Russell had long Democratic party links with Johnson, Bobby Baker and Abe Fortas. John Sherman Cooper was a circuit judge prior to election as Republican Senator of Kentucky. Representative Gerald R. Ford, real name Leslie Lynch King Jr. (what's in a name) was the Commission link to the F.B.I. and a close friend of that paragon of virtue J. Edgar Hoover. In the preface to his book, 'A Presidential Legacy and The Warren Commission', Ford said the CIA destroyed or kept from investigators critical secrets connected to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He said the commission's probe put "certain classified and potentially damaging operations in danger of being exposed". The CIA's reaction, he added, "was to hide or destroy some information, which can easily be misinterpreted as collusion in JFK's assassination". He became the 38th president. Allen W. Dulles ex CIA chief, sacked by JFK. John J. McCloy an old friend of Dulles, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by LBJ in December 63 stated that any possible evidence of a conspiracy was "beyond the reach" of all of America's investigatory agencies — principally the FBI and the CIA — as well as the Commission itself. Representative Hale Boggs of the famous quote, 'Hoover lied his eyes out to the Commission, on Oswald, on Ruby, on their friends, the bullets, the gun, you name it.' General Council J. Lee Rankin was the 31st United States Solicitor General, from 1956 to 1961. In 1952, Rankin managed the Dwight Eisenhower for President campaign in Nebraska and in 1953, Eisenhower selected Rankin to serve as United States Assistant Attorney General. Assisting these eminent men were over two dozen Assistant Council and Staff Members such as Arlen 'magic bullet' Specter and Howard P. Willens who acted as liason between the Commission and the Department of Justice.
With so many legal briefs assembled together it is incredible to read Meagher's catalogue of the travesties of justice contained in their report.
Drawing near to the fiftieth anniversary of the coup d'etat in Dallas, we the people have only another quarter of a century to await the release of Commission documents locked away in the archives. As Warren stated himself 'the whole truth might never be known in our lifetime.'
A work of massive historical importance, I was unable to obtain this book in the U.K., and had to purchase my copy through Amazon, with it's yellowing pages, shipped from the U.S. £26 and worth every penny.
After almost fifty years, the official whitewash of the Warren Commission report remains as the historical truth. As the author writes in her Epilogue "No attempt has been made in this study to deal comprehensively with every aspect of the Oswald case. Such a comprehensive, all-inclusive study would involve perhaps a second set of 26 volumes, which like the Hearings and Exhibits would be read only by a minute segment of the public. The author's purpose has been to reach as many people as possible with a message that has lost none of it's urgency or importance during the years which have elapsed since the publication of the Warren Report. It is hoped that message has been made apparent by means of the comparisons presented in this study between the raw evidence and the misleading and sometimes spurious presentation of that evidence by the Warren Commission."
I find it very difficult to remain as circumspect as Meagher. More than misleading evidence, I see outright lies. Even the thirty sixth president, (not included in this book) submitted outright lies in his deposition to the Commission.
As we squint back across the decades at the posse on the trail of truth we can rightfully question, like Sundance, "who are those guys?" Chairman, Chief Justice Earl Warren was later rewarded the post of Attorney General under that polecat Lyndon. Two Senators, Russell and Cooper. Richard B. Russell had long Democratic party links with Johnson, Bobby Baker and Abe Fortas. John Sherman Cooper was a circuit judge prior to election as Republican Senator of Kentucky. Representative Gerald R. Ford, real name Leslie Lynch King Jr. (what's in a name) was the Commission link to the F.B.I. and a close friend of that paragon of virtue J. Edgar Hoover. In the preface to his book, 'A Presidential Legacy and The Warren Commission', Ford said the CIA destroyed or kept from investigators critical secrets connected to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He said the commission's probe put "certain classified and potentially damaging operations in danger of being exposed". The CIA's reaction, he added, "was to hide or destroy some information, which can easily be misinterpreted as collusion in JFK's assassination". He became the 38th president. Allen W. Dulles ex CIA chief, sacked by JFK. John J. McCloy an old friend of Dulles, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by LBJ in December 63 stated that any possible evidence of a conspiracy was "beyond the reach" of all of America's investigatory agencies — principally the FBI and the CIA — as well as the Commission itself. Representative Hale Boggs of the famous quote, 'Hoover lied his eyes out to the Commission, on Oswald, on Ruby, on their friends, the bullets, the gun, you name it.' General Council J. Lee Rankin was the 31st United States Solicitor General, from 1956 to 1961. In 1952, Rankin managed the Dwight Eisenhower for President campaign in Nebraska and in 1953, Eisenhower selected Rankin to serve as United States Assistant Attorney General. Assisting these eminent men were over two dozen Assistant Council and Staff Members such as Arlen 'magic bullet' Specter and Howard P. Willens who acted as liason between the Commission and the Department of Justice.
With so many legal briefs assembled together it is incredible to read Meagher's catalogue of the travesties of justice contained in their report.
Drawing near to the fiftieth anniversary of the coup d'etat in Dallas, we the people have only another quarter of a century to await the release of Commission documents locked away in the archives. As Warren stated himself 'the whole truth might never be known in our lifetime.'
October 11, 2007
For those who are interested in finding out the truth about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, "Accessories After The Fact" is the most essential book on the subject. Author Sylvia Meagher, who like all the early critics of the Warren Commission was truly just an average citizen (she worked for the World Health Organization) compares every single conclusion of the Warren Commission with the "evidence" supposedly supporting it. The result is quite devastating to the official version of what happened on November 22, 1963. This book is especially important for those new to the subject, who are seeking the one must-read on the subject. It covers everything extremely well, and no one without an agenda can read it and still believe the government's version of events.
March 7, 2016
The author of "Accessories After The Fact" has not only read all 26 volumes of the the Warren Commission Testimony and Exhibits, she has studied them. It almost seems as if she has memorized them.
Strange to relate, the "The Warren Report" has little relation to the Testimony and Exhibits. Why the commission even published the 26 volumes of testimony and exhibits is a good question, because those 26 volumes (when studied with the determination of a Sylvia Meagher) give the lie to the report.
By comparing "The Warren Report" with the testimony and exhibits, Meagher shows that the Warren Commission was not interested in truth, was not interested in conducting an investigation, but was only interested in framing Lee Harvey Oswald so that the people who actually murdered President John F. Kennedy could escape justice.
Strange to relate, the "The Warren Report" has little relation to the Testimony and Exhibits. Why the commission even published the 26 volumes of testimony and exhibits is a good question, because those 26 volumes (when studied with the determination of a Sylvia Meagher) give the lie to the report.
By comparing "The Warren Report" with the testimony and exhibits, Meagher shows that the Warren Commission was not interested in truth, was not interested in conducting an investigation, but was only interested in framing Lee Harvey Oswald so that the people who actually murdered President John F. Kennedy could escape justice.
June 4, 2015
"Accessories After the Fact" A Seminal Work on the Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Sylvia Meagher is an absolute hero to researchers investigating the assassination of JFK.
Prior to writing "Accessories After the Fact," Meagher purchased a set of the 26 volumes of Hearings and Exhibits published by the Presidential Commission on the Assassination of John F. Kennedy (commonly referred to as The Warren Commission).
She immediately discovered that the hearings and exhibits were in no particular order, and contained no index whatsoever! Clearly, such gross omissions by the government were intentional, as they made it extremely difficult for any serious citizen to evaluate the evidence that led to their conclusions.
Meagher took it upon herself to wade through the thousands of pages and created a comprehensive subject index that enabled researchers to make sense of the morass of material in the 26 volumes.
"Accessories After the Fact" is Meagher‘s exceptional work that dismantles The Warren Report. She meticulously demonstrates that the conclusions reached by The Warren Commission are not supported by its own published evidence.
Meagher's magnum opus from 1967 is just as fresh and trenchant today as it was 47 years ago. This is as great a book as any of the several thousand that have been written about the Warren Commission and the assassination of President Kennedy.
I have personally read over 200 books on the subject. "Accessories After the Fact" is right at the top of my list, and I recommend it without qualification!
Sylvia Meagher is an absolute hero to researchers investigating the assassination of JFK.
Prior to writing "Accessories After the Fact," Meagher purchased a set of the 26 volumes of Hearings and Exhibits published by the Presidential Commission on the Assassination of John F. Kennedy (commonly referred to as The Warren Commission).
She immediately discovered that the hearings and exhibits were in no particular order, and contained no index whatsoever! Clearly, such gross omissions by the government were intentional, as they made it extremely difficult for any serious citizen to evaluate the evidence that led to their conclusions.
Meagher took it upon herself to wade through the thousands of pages and created a comprehensive subject index that enabled researchers to make sense of the morass of material in the 26 volumes.
"Accessories After the Fact" is Meagher‘s exceptional work that dismantles The Warren Report. She meticulously demonstrates that the conclusions reached by The Warren Commission are not supported by its own published evidence.
Meagher's magnum opus from 1967 is just as fresh and trenchant today as it was 47 years ago. This is as great a book as any of the several thousand that have been written about the Warren Commission and the assassination of President Kennedy.
I have personally read over 200 books on the subject. "Accessories After the Fact" is right at the top of my list, and I recommend it without qualification!
December 20, 2013
Finally got around to this classic. Probably the best early critical work regarding the flawed Warren Commission.
Read
June 21, 2022Essential reading for JFK assassination buffs. This is my second reading after having read numerous other books on the topic. Meagher really paved the way for a deeper understanding of the Warren Report's shortfalls and deficiencies. I reread it because this version has some added insights and because I wanted to review what later books on the subject added to the story. I find that Meagher's early work is still the gold standard and clears away many of the misconceptions and, frankly, silly theories on the case written after it.
September 8, 2020
Probably one of the most overlooked and unassuming books about the JFK assassination. The primary method Meagher, a librarian, used was to go through the Warren report and assess its accuracy, using available evidence. She shows what a deliberate whitewash the report was.
April 2, 2020
I didn't realise when I bought it that this nutjob was going to spend this book refuting all of the facts. I stopped reading about 50 pages in because it's simply conspiracy theories & nothing more.
September 2, 2021
Dang, ya'll really fudged this one.*
*For legal reasons, this is a joke.
*For legal reasons, this is a joke.
November 28, 2023
Like most of the best books that address the assassination of JFK, this one does not set out to prove a preconceived thesis. Rather, author Sylvia Meagher thoughtfully, skillfully, and meticulously examines the claims contained in the Warren Commission's report, subjecting them to the sort of cross-examination that any competent defense counsel would have done in the event that Lee Oswald had ever come to trial for the murder of the President.
Meagher's most effective and damning technique is to compare and contrast the claims made by the Warren Commission in its summary report (i.e., the only part that was generally ever read by the public or commented/reported upon by the press) with the actual witness testimony and evidentiary exhibits contained in the Commission's own complete 26-volume report. Others have done this before Meagher and since, but no one has ever done it quite so comprehensively nor to such devastating effect.
If there are any flaws in Accessories , they are flaws of omission that are forgivable for an author writing in 1967, ten years before the House Select Committee on Assassinations and decades before the Assassination Records Review Board both added considerably (though far from completely) to the publicly available documentation that further contextualizes the constellation of events surrounding the assassination, Oswald, Ruby, etc.
Meagher's most effective and damning technique is to compare and contrast the claims made by the Warren Commission in its summary report (i.e., the only part that was generally ever read by the public or commented/reported upon by the press) with the actual witness testimony and evidentiary exhibits contained in the Commission's own complete 26-volume report. Others have done this before Meagher and since, but no one has ever done it quite so comprehensively nor to such devastating effect.
If there are any flaws in Accessories , they are flaws of omission that are forgivable for an author writing in 1967, ten years before the House Select Committee on Assassinations and decades before the Assassination Records Review Board both added considerably (though far from completely) to the publicly available documentation that further contextualizes the constellation of events surrounding the assassination, Oswald, Ruby, etc.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews