Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America

It’s amazing how much work must have gone into this to provide us with such detail and backing!! I am amazed at some of these authors and their ability to go and research the most obscure corners, mostly forgotten by most, to bring it to us in a book. Simply incredible!!!

"Wow!!!! This book is a tome of information and documented fact concerning the Bushes, father and son. I began to question the narrative of the Bush Administration once we commenced the use of White Phosphorous in Fallujah in late 2004, a known war crime. Operation Phantom Fury, the battle in which I personally served, is just one of many crimes committed by the Bush Dynasty. This book is excellent and well written, but one must have a pen ready to record astonishing facts. The wealth of information in this book requires patience and a willingness to reread certain excerpts to get the whole picture Russ Baker is providing. Hence, the facts are numerous.One of the most prophetic facts evinced in this book came from a ghostwriter hired to help George W. write his pre-2000 campaign book. The author, who was eventually fired and not allowed to write the book, stated, in 1999, that George W. openly discussed invading Iraq. Bush's reasoning for such an endeavor was none other than to aggrandize himself in the approval polls and in the public's eye. Many will label this a conspiracy theory book, but facts are facts and hard to dispute. Those who usually attack such works only do so to avert any potential reader from partaking of this marathon. In society, many use the "Conspiracy Theory" line as a copout as opposed to actually looking at the evidence provided. This method helps them maintain their blissful state of ignorance.Mr. Baker took great pains to ensure that each chapter is properly footnoted, giving the reader the opportunity to flip to the back and examine the source citation for him/herself. Not only is the book a great read, but it also can be used as a quick reference for facts dealing with the Bushes. This is a great work that effectively connects the dots of Bush Sr. and George W.'s misdoings in this country and how they got away with it. Another interesting topic in the book pertains to the Bushes deep connection to the bin Laden family. It seems that no one is willing to take on this topic and openly discuss it. However, Russ certainly does. Remain ignorant at your own risk. It is a must read for all concerned citizens. "

First of all 10 out of 10 to Russ Baker for his painstaking research and meticulous handling, sorting, sifting and reporting of the information. Obviously he is driven by some force many of us don't have inside of us nor would we know how to use if we did.This book, for me, was a hard read. Not in terms of the subject matter but more in terms of the overwhelming amount of evidential information supplied. Names and relationships are in abundance along with far reaching geographical ties to places, business', people many of us have never heard of. At times you ask yourself how far did the Bush's reach?Many times I had to refocus as my brain's full signs were reading into the red. Absorbing and assimilating the information becomes almost impossible unless you have a sketch pad handy and can draw your own map to help you navigate the 500 or so pages of information.The Bush family, as painted by Baker, seem, via a clandestine cloak, to have been involved in every major political "happening" since WW II and Prescott Bush, W.'s grand daddy, even before that. Fiercely loyal as a family the Bush's have protected each other and dismissed threats with a swift passion that should be admired due to the complexity.Baker lays out a very plausible case for Bush senior's involvement in JFK's assassination via relationships with key names and places of the time. Also Baker delves into motivations for involvement which always seem to come back to Texas and oil which, ultimately, lead back to greed. Poppy's involvement with Watergate is painstakingly detailed with time lines, relationships, political maneuvering and ever switching alliances.The first two thirds of the book are predominately Prescott and Poppy with W's antics touched upon based on the time line. Baker details W's Air national guard "military" service during the height of the Vietnam war. Again, as is seemingly the overwhelming case with W, privilege and protection from above appear to have played a major role in securing his guard position despite W's apathy and lack of capability. Baker explains how the guard service Bush was obligated too took second place to what he "wanted" to do which was help his father campaign. The last two years of W's service seem to just fallen away due to W's more "pressing" engagements.As poppy drops out of prominence and W. rises to the front then it's W's turn for a more forensic investigation. It's hard to find anything substantial that one can credit to W. His life seems to have been handed to him on a silver platter which in turn, W melted down and turned into lead. As this book, and many others I've read on W portray, the man is one huge train wreck. His abilities in anything appear to be limited, his curiosity and natural desire to learn and grow seem none existent and yet, through his family ties and relationships he rose to the top. As you read Baker's book you realize that had W been born a "Smith" or a "Jones" in a suburb of Milwaukee we'd never have ever heard his name as he doesn't have what it takes to ascend on his own merits.To summarize, if political history is your thing or you have a morbid curiosity with one of America's most influential families this book will serve you well. It's articulate, heavily researched and melds various political happenings and relationships in a very plausible way. If, however, your interest in the Bush's is more a "kick the tires" nature the abundance of names, places and events will probably overwhelm you and you might not make it through.

Baker is a brilliant and trustworthy investigator, following the thread of CIA activity through high level American politics from Eisenhower and Kennedy through to the Bushes. He makes a highly convincing case that the demise of Kennedy and Nixon were both CIA managed coups, and that the elder Bush was a CIA agent long before he became head of that agency. Really a spectacular history of the ruling class, and especially relevant now that politics is more explicitly populism vs elitism... To paraphrase the younger Bush - to all you C-grade college students with elite intelligence connections, you too can be an establishmentarian president of the United States. Here's how.

This is an excellent book although it is unusual in the sense that the author is not part of the well established cadre of Bush critics that emerged out of the "truth movement" following 9/11. I am not all the way through the book yet but I am thoroughly enjoying it. The author has reached people that are usually beyond the reach of researchers primarily concerned with 9/11. The workings of the old money clique in the US are made very apparent in this book. The connections between old school, banking, the oil industry and the CIA are elucidated clearly. This book is a must for any one interested in contemporary American history.My one disappointment in reading so far is that there is no mention of an early incident in Brownsville, Texas, involving a grisly multiple murder scenario in relation to which George W. Bush was sought for questioning, as a potential witness, by law enforcement authorities. Nobody knows definitively what happened in this case but it is my understanding that avenues of investigation, insofar as they related to attempts to question Mr. Bush, were truncated by people with power enough to control police investigations. It would have been interesting to read the author's impression of this incident.

Anyone who thinks they know what has been going on for the last 50 years in the US and around the world should take a long hard look at this finely written book which sets out, in detail, the networking of the Bush family. It reveals how they used gold and capital looted by the Nazis to fund political campaigns, appointments, character, and physical assasinations. With Jebediah Bush running on the "oil ticket" in 2016, this book is more important than ever! I highly recommend it.

As we enter a possible new chapter of 'Jeb' Bush....there's stuff we need to know about the Bush family, and this book is a cracking start. Very readable, but does flit quite a bit chronologically between 'Poppy' (dad) and junior (son), which can be a little distracting. Mr Baker has clearly done his homework on this project and interviewed a lot of people.Very in-depth coverage of the build up to the JFK incident focusing more on the interlocking relationships of influential business and political leaders who had issue with JFK. A lot of new analysis with Junior's lack of time with the National Air Guard drilled into and his numerous positions on energy companies with CIA links . If I had one disappointment it would be the lack of coverage on the Crisis Management Team which was set up shortly before the assassination attempt of Reagan which neatly allowed Poppy Bush a back door to the job he had been after for so long, but than darn Reagan refused to die.All in all, a very good job indeed. Happy to recommend this to anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of the power politics of those who wish (and do) rule us.

Sans prendre position, ce livre vous permet de voir à l'étranger comment s'organise la lutte pour le pouvoir.Un bel ouvrage !