Recently published as "The Kennedy Brothers: The Rise and Fall of Jack and Bobby." As a teenager, I swallowed the Kennedy myth hook, line, and sinker. Mahoney presents a crack in that Kennedy myth. Describing the Kennedy's' involvement with the mafia and Robert's obsession with Castro, Mahoney presents a very viable idea of the real people behind JFK's assassination. ( )

5210. Sons & Brothers The Days of Jack and Bobby Kennedy, by Richard D. Mahoney (read 20 Oct 2014) This 1999 book by a man whose father was appointed ambassador to Ghana by JFK has lots of gossip and also does a fair job of listing events involving Joe Kennedy and his sons. Both admirers and haters of the Kennedys will find satisfaction in some of the things related. The author strives mightily to suggest that the Mafia impelled Oswald to kill JFK and that Ruby killed Oswald so Oswald would not tell on his being a tool of the Mafia. However, having read Vincent Bugliosi's definitive work, Reclaiming History, on 24 Aug 2007, it is clear that Mahoney is only suggesting, not showing, that Oswald was acting in a conspiracy. But there are good parts of the book; and the words on Bobby's life and campaign after Jack's assassination are poignant. But it has never seemed to me that Bobby would have been nominated if he had not been shot, and this book reinforced that feeling of mine. ( )