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Authors: Alan Parker, Phil Strongman Title: John Lennon And The FBI Files Publisher:   Sanctuary Publishing Country: UK Date: 6 Oct 2002 Format: Paperback Genre: Non-Fiction ISBN-13: 9781860745225 First Published:   2003 Rating: Rate Collection:   I Own It     I Want It  Community:  1 Owns Price Guide: Valuation Page » Search eBay #AD  » Search Amazon #AD This site contains affiliate links for which we may be compensated.

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206 pages. Book dimensions:‎ 13.97 cms x 1.91 cms x 20.96 cms.

From Amazon:

Recently released documents from the FBI portray John Lennon as a threat to himself and the world. Hounded by the US government for nine years, he was perceived as a volatile political activist, his anti-establishment mindset seen as a real challenge to civil order.

But how did a man who only ever wanted world peace become such a problem? John Lennon & The FBI Files delves into the official documents and explores the life - and death - of the world's greatest rock 'n' roll legend. Was one of the most popular icons of the time assassinated by a crazed lone gunman, or was Mark Chapman merely a brainwashed pawn, programmed to rid the world of a dangerous anarchist?

With unprecedented access to the complete FBI archives, Phil Strongman and Alan Parker dissect every element of these explosive documents, their findings supported here by commentary from friends and family members. What did the FBI make of the working-class hero as he spoke out against the state? Just what did they have on him?

Comments and Reviews

JPGR&B SUBS 6th Dec 2021		Review Reviewed at Amazon.co.uk by S P Mead TOP 500 REVIEWER 3.0 out of 5 stars a short publication that repeats the ideas and conclusions of Wiener's and Bresler's books Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 July 2016 As a Lennon fan, I was intrigued by the topic raised in this book. Its authors, Phil Strongman and Alan Parker, set out to show that Lennon's overt political attitudes and activism drew the attentions of the US authorities - most notably the FBI. Moreover, Lennon was the target of a unnecessary campaign - led by the mid-1970's Republican elite - to be deported from American soil. And, so suggest the authors, mixed-up within all of this covert and undercover surveillance was a possible plot to eliminate Lennon should be ever be considered too much of a risk ... There are some very good books that deal with the particulars covered by Strongman and Parker. Notably, Jon Wiener's Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files provides a detailed and scholarly discussion on the lengths the FBI went to in order to investigate Lennon and portray him as a dangerous outsider. And there's Fenton Bresler's Who Killed John Lennon? - which exposes the incomplete police investigation into Lennon's murder and the possibility that the killer - Mark Chapman - was a 'Manchurian Candidate' programmed to kill Lennon upon his return to the public limelight in late 1980. And for anyone interested in reading about the deluded psyche of the murderer, Jack Jones' Let Me Take You Down: Inside The Mind Of Mark David Chapman, The Man Who Shot John Lennon: Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman - Man Who Shot John Lennon is worth a read. Unfortunately, "John Lennon and the FBI Files" presents us with nothing new, and is not based on original research. Rather it's a simple re-stating of the main ideas found in Wiener's and Bresler's books. And it's a far weaker read as compared to either of those other publications. Very little of the book deals with the FBI's files concerning Lennon - as such, the title is misleading. What we get, instead, is a brief history of the FBI, the CIA, and the Beatles. We're informed that Lennon was - increasingly from the late 1960's - politically active. And we're provided an account of the murder. But it's poorly put together. The entire book is only 206 pages long - and over 20 pages are dedicated to a 'discography' and index; the main discussion of the book amounts to just 176 pages! While it's reasonably well-written, I didn't buy this book to be informed of the Kennedy assassination, or when Brian Epstein met the Beatles. Such matters are off-topic. Yet the book seems full of such off-topic chapters! What's left, after all the inessentials have been discounted, is little more than a few pages looking at why Lennon was the possible target of political assassination. And these few pages are no more than a regurgitation of other people's writings! Given such major limitations, I cannot recommend this book. Yet I do believe that the topic is worthy of study, and that the issue of why Lennon was murdered is important. Since this book highlights such concerns, I've awarded 3 stars. But I do suggest that potential readers opt for the other books I've cited in this review, as they're far more significant. 2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

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