Dallas 1963
A groundbreaking saga of American history — and a gripping narrative of rocketing madness in the American heartland. DALLAS 1963 is a literary nonfiction epic that features a doomed president, his cunning vice president, the richest man in the world, the most powerful preacher in America, a defrocked military commander, Martin Luther King, Jr., a Mafia warlord, the most extreme media mogul in the nation – and the most extreme member of Congress. DALLAS 1963 is a cinematic retelling of the ultimate perfect storm — a welling gathering of out-sized incendiary, forces. It is an intimately detailed, riveting portrait of how President John F. Kennedy was barreling straight into a corner of America that had been hijacked by hysteria.
“Luxuriant.”
—The New Yorker
“Gripping”
—The Detroit News
“For the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination there are dozens of books coming. But the only one, for my money, that really distinguishes itself is this terrifying account of the potent blend of right-wing hysteria, subversive reactionaries, and violence that bubbled over in Dallas in the years before Oswald pulled the trigger. The scariest part: the paranoid right was as freaked out then as they are now."
—Lucas Wittman, The Daily Beast
“After fifty years, it’s a challenge to fashion a new lens with which to view the tragic events of November 22, 1963—yet Texans [Minutaglio and Davis] pull it off brilliantly.”
—Publishers Weekly
“All the great personalities of Dallas during the assassination come alive in this superb rendering of a city on a roller coaster into disaster. History has been waiting fifty years for this book."
—Lawrence Wright, author of "The Looming Tower" and "Going Clear"
"Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis's DALLAS 1963 is a brilliantly written, haunting eulogy to John F. Kennedy. By exposing the right-wing hatred aimed at our 35th president, the authors demonstrates that America—not just Lee Harvey Oswald—was ultimately responsible for his death. Every page is an eye opener. Highly recommended!"
—Douglas Brinkley, author of "Cronkite"
"Minutaglio and Davis capture in fascinating detail the creepiness that shamed Dallas in 1963.”
—Gary Cartwright, author and contributing editor at Texas Monthly
"In this harrowing, masterfully-paced depiction of a disaster waiting to happen, Minutaglio and Davis examine a prominent American city in its now-infamous moment of temporary insanity. Because those days of partisan derangement look all too familiar today, DALLAS 1963 isn’t just a gripping narrative—it’s also a somber cautionary tale.”
—Robert Draper, contributor, New York Times Magazine
“The authors skillfully marry a narrative of the lead-up to the fateful day with portrayals of the Dixiecrats, homophobes, John Birchers, hate-radio spielers, and the ‘superpatriots’ who were symptomatic of the paranoid tendency in American politics.”
—Harold Evans, author of "The American Century"
"Chilling"
—Kirkus Reviews
"Published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of JFK’s assassination, this fine book proves that there is always something new to be said about that much-discussed subject."
—David Pitt, Booklist
"Every great book season needs that one deeply researched non-fiction heavyweight, and this fall, it's DALLAS 1963, a collaboration between writers Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis that should be enthralling catnip for history junkies."
—Matt Barone, Complex Pop Culture
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