The Kennedy Assassination Tapes is a book presentation by
Max Holland of his introductions to and transcriptions of audio recordings related to the assassination. A substantial number of recordings are of
Lyndon Johnson's telephone calls to politicians and contemporary figures.
For the book Holland references William Manchester's
The Death of a President more than fifteen times, but this should not suggest poor objectivity (Holland 5-34). The Washington Daily News, Washington Post, New York Times, Dallas Times Herald, and Wall Street Journal were all cited in the book's copious footnotes (Holland 324-329). Richard Tofel said "Max Holland's editing and annotation are superb, and his 60-odd pages describing the events of Nov. 22, 1963, are gripping."
Amazon.com is correct (quoting Bookmarks) that Holland's research has produced an edited, well-documented chronology of conversations from the inception of the Johnson administration:
The source material used in The Kennedy Assassination Tapes is well known and has been widely used, most notably in Michael Beschloss’ Taking Charge . . . . But Holland presents the conversations unfiltered by narrative—edited for concision and relevance—and saves his comments for the notes. If Holland is more editor than author, he’s still successful in the role.
Works Cited
"Amazon.com: The Kennedy Assassination Tapes: Books: Max Holland." Amazon.com. 20 Sep. 2006. www.amazon.com . Keywords: Max Holland.
Holland, Max. The Kennedy Assassination Tapes. New York: Knopf, 2004.
Tofel, Richard J. Rev. of The Kennedy Assassination Tapes, by Max Holland. Wall Street Journal 15 Oct. 2004: W.6.